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Mesh Removal Failure
I have had many questions recently about my mesh removal surgery and why I feel like things went sour. I am posting this because it is cathartic for me but I also hope it is educational for everyone considering mesh removal surgery. My mistake was I had hoped that getting the mesh out was going to solve all of my pain issues. It did not. It made things worse. I had a neurectomy which I understood from the surgeon was a necessity but now confronted with that reality I would have just lived with what I had. The pain now is 10 fold as is my functional deficit. My points are: ask every question you can think of and then ask more. Talk to people who have gone through the surgery and ask what questions you should ask. Think long and hard about the surgery and take a breath. Unless you’re infected or in intractable pain – put it off a bit. I wish I had. Getting the mesh out for some may be a god-send. For me – it was the biggest mistake of my life with consequences I will live with for the rest of my life. Learn from my mistake – I know everyone is different but think it through. Having the best surgeon is only part of it…I supposedly had one of the best. Surgery is a gamble. This is risky, invasive, painful and horrible. My opinion.
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8 Replies
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Correct. Original surgeon put mesh in and then did open exploration. Then mesh got removed by another surgeon. Genitofemoral was removed to alleviate testicle pain but it made it worse.
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Ah, so the one surgeon cut two nerves, but he wasn’t the removal surgeon. But the removal surgeon cut another nerve (the genitofemoral), possibly to help whatever pain was caused by the other surgeon? Is that right?
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Turns out it was unnecessary. Doctor thought he saw another hernia on a CT and opened me up and took out some fat which should have been left alone. Also cut two nerves to alleviate pain but actually made things worse. I don’t know where this idea of cutting nerves to stop pain got started. Ridiculous. Now I know.
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Ah thanks. That doesn’t seem like something that would cause problems on its own.
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After first surgery they did a groin exploration
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What did you say your surgical history was again? I know you had a laparoscopic mesh repair and a robotic removal but can’t recall the other surgery.
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The surgeon is well known. I was one of his failures. To be fair, this was a third surgery in two years but I feel like I should have done better. I’m in pain all of the time. The groin and testicular pain are so limiting that many days I can’t do anything,
Very sad and depressed. -
Who removed the mesh? Just like the many different kinds of mesh and the multitude of repair methods, there are many different ways to remove mesh.
Hopefully things will get better for you over time. I’ve found that staying physically active helps a lot. The opposite of when I had the mesh implanted. And change is very slow, but it is constant. There is no immediate relief once you get in to the chronic pain arena.
Good luck.
@droppain
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