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Mesh question!
Hey all! Im new here ! Quick back story ! For alittle over two years I’ve had pain on my lower left side of my abdominal area , long story short , I had 2 ovarian cystectomies , doctors thought that was the cause of my pain (2017) , I went in 2017/2018 to 2 separate g.i doctors and got a colonoscopy done , both came back normal , april of this year my new gyn detached my left ovary from my abdominal wall in hopes that he found the source of my pain , and still after all those surgeries , I was still having the same exact pain , deep down I knew it was a hernia somewhere , I found a general surgeon , explained my symptoms , explained that when I coughs especially I would feel like my insides were ripping apart , he ordered an mri but no hernia was found , he did in fact notice that my uterus showed deformities and atrophy , so he wanted to look for himself . on nov 28th , I went to get my ex lap done , my uterus was squishing my bladder , he cut down dense adhesions that were attached to my uterus and abdominal wall , upon cutting down the adhesions , he repositioned my uterus and WALAAH once he moved the uterus , the hernia revealed itself ! He was able to place the mesh and so here I am !
However I’ve had many surgeries , hernia is definitely no something I’ve been thru until now . so here we are almost 2 weeks post op , and my incisions are great ! No pain what’s so ever , but #1 when I void (urinate) it hurts a lot , almost like having a c-section and having to pee after , and #2 a lump where the mesh is , its hard but tender to the touch . is that normal ? All who know what normal is , all who’s had different experiences , please share your thoughts and ideas ! Anything will be appreciated ! Thank you ❤
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7 Replies
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thank you for your input ! I really appreciate your advice and words of wisdom ❤
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gstantiago1, I forgot to add. Mesh surgery or any other hernia surgery corrects the defect but NEVER can make you a superman. A weakness once happens need to be taken care of and it does not mean everything will be like when you are 18 and can lift the mountains and thrown them in the pacific. You can enjoy quality life but always need to be careful otherwise hernia can develop on another location. The reason? The weak tissue – your original hernia came due to weak tissue and it will remain weak and may get weaker as you age. So always be more careful.
Disclaimer – the superman/woman theory exists in movies only. There is no such thing in life. 🙂
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[USER=”2761″]gsantiago21[/USER], let me give an example. Imagine the stomach as a pot. it is 3D pot and the stomach you can touch is the front surface The bottom surface extends from front to back. This bottom surface is the lining that keeps everything together or your intestines and all organs falls off ha ha. Now that the bottom surface gets weak somehow – genetic or other reasons – there is a small weakness or hole, through which something like an intestine falls through. You then have a hernia. There are dozen other ways hernia may develop but basically the weakness in this wall causes the hernia. So now coming back to find where the hernia is.. That is the tough part because the bottom surface extends from front to back in a 3D area. You cannot touch it since our body has other parts that prevent our hand to go in. This is one main reason sometimes even MRI can miss it – lying in supine position in MRI tube can hide the hernia.
An experienced surgeon can find some but still not everything is possible to be SEEN. Once a surgeon cuts, he can see the hidden hernias and put a mesh. Why the mesh? Because once the tissue is weak, repair may fix fine but it will happen again. So a mesh is introduced to keep the internal organs where they belong. Like you cannot see the hernia easily, it is hard to feel the mesh too.
So can you feel the mesh? No way. But if your pain persists, after the wound heals you should talk to the surgeon. Wound pain is different from the hernia pain. Not sure if I explained it correctly or not but that’s what I tried to, and what I understand.
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quote scaredtodeath:Does the Twix bar effect your flexibility/mobility
No, it never even feels anything. It is like you do not even know it exists. I do yoga, run and all and never causes any trouble.
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I’ve had a few surgeries , I know what adhesions are , ive had quite a few , the incisions dont hurt , they don’t itch , they are healing really well . all incisions are on my right side , the hernia was found in the lower left , but surprisingly I don’t have any incisions there , just the mesh . so exactly where the mesh is , I where that lump is . should it dissolve or something ? I dont know much about this since this is my first hernia . it kind of feels like something is being pulled , its an irritating feeling . but bearable. I have a followup on the 20th . the doctor didn’t seem concerned last week when I pointed it out.
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Does the Twix bar effect your flexibility/mobility
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Since I am male I cannot answer the first question 🙂 but second one I may be able to. I will be able to learn if someone answers. But I am assuming the pain is coming when the surgical area has not healed yet. Three weeks and still hurting? Did you talk to Surgeon? What did he say?
For up to 6 weeks the surgical cut area is painful and for some it can feel hard till a year. The scar tissue in some heals quickly for some it takes time (me). Scar tissue – when some cut happens to body, the blood system activates the clotting mechanism. People used to think clotting was simple but the last few decades revealed that clotting mechanism is very complex that releases a variety “factors” into the blood stream. So this scar tissue protects the cut and surrounding area. The white cells will slowly remove the scar tissue over a period. In other words, they are macrophages that eat up the dead tissue and repair it to normal. So the surgical cut area can feel like you have a frozen Twix chocolate bar inside your body. This will soften slowly. For some people softening happens in 2-5 weeks and for people like me it takes a year and more. For me, it took more than a year and my surgeon (Dr. Goodyear of PA) told me that after the body has done its max work if scar tissue remains, well, it remains – so you get used to that small size bar inside. It does not hurt but it is there nevertheless.
If the scar tissue itches, do *NOT* scratch or it may lead to some condition which will itch rest of your life. ha ha. So give it time. As long as it does not hurt, you are good with slow healing scar tissue (and the diminishing chocolate bar). 🙂
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