Has anyone ever reversed a hernia repair – more specifically a modified Bassini?

[Mike M]

@PeterC

I would consult with David Krpata, M.D at the Cleveland Clinic- 216.445.9989

If he could not help you directly I would think he could point you into the right direction for some options.

Cleveland Clinic is one of the best hospitals in the country imho and they do some amazing things at that hospital.

It is a major institution with trials and a massive amount of knowledge base.

It is my understanding that hospital also has a lot of knowledge specifically on Bassini repairs.

That is one of the places I would start if I was in your position.

I would also think Dr. Towfigh, Dr. Yunis, Dr. Kang might be able to help too or direct you to someone that specializes in that type of repair correction maybe?

I am very sorry to hear about your issues. There has to be someone out there that can rebuild this damage and get you back to some sense of normalcy.

[PeterC]

Hey Mark,

Dr. Brown sadly did not have a plan at all. He answered all my questions with what I wanted to hear then proceeded to do the exact opposite. He went against every single thing he said to me and my parents knowing that my entire career was riding on this and that I begged him to do the strict minimum and to approach it with tissue integrity preservation in mind.

Your proposition makes a lot of sense and I wish it was that simple. But from my experience – a lot of the doctors I met did not want to approach this objectively, take on the challenge and come up with a solution to help me. For some reason they almost all stop at ”where does it hurt” and then use a linear approach to how they would stop the pain from where I am right now.

That’s not what I need. Dr. Brown caused catastrophic structural damage to my core muscles and all the tissues are failing. As a professional dancer I spent my entire adult life studying the human body and the tensions in the body/the way muscles and tissues work with one another. Something critical was cut into and detached for me to go from being ripped with incredible core tension where my acupuncturist was struggling to insert needles during treatment from how conditioned my tissues were to suddenly my entire core from top to bottom to be sagging, unable to flex my rectus or obliques at all with more issues than I can list here. I cannot function on a day to day at all. I can stand for about 1 hour and walk for about 30 minutes thats the most physical activity I can do.

I believe the only solution would to reconstruct the entire groin area tissue by tissue but I’m almost sure thats not possible and/or I have no idea who would even be qualified to do it. And I’m not even sure it would help because the damage has been done and the original tension has been permanently released I’m not sure how much of it could be reconditioned even if my core was whole again.

I can tell you one of the doctors (not Meyers nor Yunis) that has been interviewed on this very website over a year ago had no idea what he was looking at and had the audacity to tell me ”I don’t see what he did wrong he went in the direction of the fascia”. This shocked me because this very doctor has a practice focused on being ”core specialists”.

Then you have Dr. Yunis who said what was done to me is nuts and seemed shocked on both occasions I consulted with him but also did not proactively advance a plan or anything to help me. I suspect its because he knows the damage caused by Dr. Brown is too extensive. He is the only one that did say ”I’ll try to help you the best I can” when I originally talked to him and seemed genuinely concerned but also his eyes were very much saying ”its doomed”.

All that to say I am lost and terrified and I dream of getting a bunch of doctors to help me out but I don’t know if they exist. I will go to Cleveland to see the doctor recommended to me by Mike M and go from there. I very much dread it because I’m at the point where I am embarrassed to show myself to a new doctor. I have nothing to be embarrassed about but every time a new doctor sees me and sees my before/after pictures and reads the operative report they all gasp, they all give me the look of ”man im so sorry” and it breaks me inside even more.

I appreciate your reply and your empathy towards me I really do.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by  PeterC.

[MarkT]

Hi Peter,

I’m glad to hear that you have been speaking with people like Drs. Yunis, Meyers, etc. It is really disheartening to hear how ‘crazy’ Dr. Brown’s plan was when others critique it…but that dynamic could actually help to identify a good course of action for you.

I don’t know how feasible this would be…but what about assembling a group of specialists to provide feedback on various treatment plans? Even if they won’t formally collaborate and compare notes, you could do this on an individual level.

If Dr. Meyers (and a couple more) would at least put their proposed treatment/surgical plan ‘on paper’, you can send it around to whoever is willing to look at it (along with your imaging, medical records, etc.) to solicit expert feedback.

Let’s say you end up with three different surgeons who each provide you with a somewhat detailed plan of what they would do to try and correct or improve your situation…then you get them to critique each other’s proposals…then you add a few more specialist to the mix, who might not be willing/able to operate themselves, but whose expertise might yield additional feedback on those three plans.

Thus, you would end up with a half-dozen or so opinions on each of the three treatment options to help you compile a list of pros/cons as you try to make a decision.

Seems that might work better than everyone working in isolation? I would even offer to pay people a consulting fee of some sort for their time to participate in this idea. So if Yunis won’t operate, maybe he will spend an hour or two with you, going over the three plans from other surgeons, for example.

[PeterC]

Hey @mikem

Thank you for the reply. I have recently seen Dr. Yunis and in his own words he said that what Dr. Brown did to me is ”f*cking nuts”. I do not think he fully grasped how impaired I am in my every day life and movement and I am not sure he was comfortable with surgically doing anything to me. I think he was more traumatized than I am looking at what Dr. Brown did.

I have also consulted with Dr. Meyers in Philadelphia but he seemed to say ”its nothing” and was very eager to get me into surgery which scared me to be frank. He seems to want to do a whole lot more cutting and at this point I am scared to death of doctors and surgeries so I am taking my time.

I will have a look at the surgeons you suggested and potentially go see them.

I realize that I’m probably never going to see any sort of quality of life back and am still traumatized by how much Dr. Brown was pushed as a ”great doctor” on this very forum so I am proceeding with extreme caution and skepticism but after 29 months without any progress I have to try something.

Thank you for taking the time to reply I really appreciate it.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by  PeterC.