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Looking for a re-do surgeion in the Fort Worth, Tx. area.
Had 2 inguinal and one ventral mesh repairs at the same time 2 years ago this month. The left inguinal mesh repair failed after 3 months. The others are fine. I have used a modified truss (abdominal Ace wrap and large wash cloth) for about 2 years. I saw my original Dr. at the time of the failure, and he said he needed to go back in and put a larger piece of mesh in. I was thinking to myself, “Why didn’t you use a larger piece in the first place?) He had me do the CT scan to verify it was a hernia, which it was. I decided to wait.
I saw another surgeon who told me the mesh had probably rolled up, but he couldn’t tell until he was in there. He would try to fix it laproscopically and if he couldn’t he would go with the open repair. Anyway, I fouund this site a month or two ago, and decided to post to see if anyone had any recommendations? By the way, I am 74 years young.
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3 Replies
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Texas has a few hernia specialists. Dr Kent Van sickle is one. But most likely you’ll have to travel.
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I had laparoscopic surgery of all three hernias with the same incisions. I am in Ft. Worth, Texas. From my understanding, and from what I have been told, my tissues are not a good canidate for non-mesh surgery, due to age and the natural process of tissue/muscle degradation. But you are right Good intentions, there is no reason for me to believe that another mesh implant would be any different from the first, except I would take it a lot easier in terms of lifting and pulling on things. But, what gives me hope is the fact that the other two repairs have been pain free and still holding. I hate to continue to wear an ace wrap and wash cloth, but if I go without, the bulge pops right out. I have to hold it in to shower. So, that is my quandry. But, I had a rough time after surgery. I had to stay 3 nights in the hospital because I could not urinate or defecate. After several bladder drainings, I could finally dribble a little and that was good enough to go home.
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What part of the world are you in? And what type of surgery the first time, open or laparoscopic?
Some people’s physiology does not actually behave like it is proposed that everyone’s does. The ideal s that the body becomes “one” with the mesh, creating an abdominal wall stronger than ever, with no discomfort. My mesh was constantly inflamed. Constant inflammation means constant weak tissue. More mesh seems like more problems.
You’re in that situation where the surgeons are trying to “salvage” the mesh procedure without really understanding what happened. You might be better off to go back a proven suture-based repair method. There are so many variations of mesh and method that nobody really knows what will happen in any individual patient. Your body didn’t “incorporate” the mesh as planned, no reason to expect better results on the second try.
There are people on this forum who have stories of multiple mesh implantations, with a string of failures. Be careful.
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