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No hernia found after open surgery?
Hi all. Was hoping just mainly to get some opinions on my scenario on what could be happening.
On May 2nd I went to my primary care doctor and presented with lower left abdominal pain near the groin. Through a physical exam, 2 different doctors confirmed they could feel a mass on my left side and referred me to a nearby hospital for a CT scan. You could not see this mass, only feel it.
On the same morning, I went to the hospital and a CT scan was performed. They then determined I’d need to be evaluated by the ER staff and surgeon to determine what was wrong (based on the imaging that was done.)
I declined to be seen by the ER at that moment, until I could have some things taken care of at home/work in the event I would need to stay overnight.
I returned to ER less than 24 hours later (May 3rd) and was seen. No other imaging was done in the ER. The ER doctor said a surgeon at the hospital did not want to do surgery right then, instead, asked I follow up in 3-5 days with the general surgeon’s office the hospital recommended, who ended up doing my surgery. Before leaving they did not give me any paperwork that confirmed a diagnosis, just general symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea. The ER called my primary care doctor that I had seen the day before and told him that I had a, what sounded like “internal” hernia but I realize now they likely said “inguinal”… That was my only knowledge at that time what was going on.
Upon arriving home that day I called the surgeon’s office to schedule an appointment, which was scheduled for May 9th.
On May 9th I had a brief (20 minutes or so) consultation with the surgeon’s office. They asked several questions and did a brief physical exam. The surgeon said I had a hernia and this kind of hernia was rare and could have been there since birth. He said they would use a camera to look inside before doing anything. They stated they’d folllow up with me in the coming days to discuss next steps.
3 days or so go by and their office calls to let me know they want to schedule pre-op appointment on 5/17 and then do the actual surgery on 5/21. They then said before they could do the surgery I’d have to pay $2,240 which was based on my insurance deductible and plan, etc. This seemed off to me, so I called my insurance carrier to confirm. They ended up telling me I had actually paid more than what the surgeon’s office told me I had paid toward my deductible, so I called the surgeon’s office back to let them know my cost should be lower. They said they’d call me back the next morning and let me know the actual costs after speaking to Cigna.
They called me the next morning and said my total cost would be around $1,800. I let them know I couldnt pay that right now so I’d have to follow up to confirm if I decided to move forward or if they had a payment plan, then we could. The lady said her financial manager agreed to let me pay $1300 down to get started… I still couldnt do this.
On 5/18 they called to see why I didn’t go to my preop appointment and I told them I had already explained that I couldn’t pay that out of pocket. The lady said it was fine, do not worry about the down payment, that the surgeon really wants me to have this surgery and I won’t need to pay anything to get started and that “he has never done this for anyone before” … I knew this was likely a lie, but decided to move forward since the surgeon felt it was definitely needed, since the hernia wouldn’t heal on it’s own.
She scheduled my pre-op *and* surgery for Monday May 21st.
Upon arriving on 5/21 at the hospital, the preop went fine but they had me listed as an “inpatient” instead of going home that day which was odd to me. The surgeon came in and said “didnt we tell you that we’re going to open you up? Not do the camera” .. I said No one did, but ok…he didn’t explain why they decided to not just use the camera instead of “opening” me up. It felt rushed but I agreed.
About 30 minutes before the surgery they came in with a document for me to sign agreeing to allow a medical student to be present for the surgery. I agreed. The surgeon *did not* come in prior to the surgery to “mark” anywhere on me where he intended to cut. Nor did they take any additional images prior to surgery.
I had the surgery that day around 2:00 PM and I vaguely remember a woman telling me that the surgery did not find a hernia at all. The following day, 5/22, when the surgeon visited me for the first time he reiterated that nothing was found, and that “this was good since we know nothing is wrong.” — The explanation didn’t seem right to me. Nothing else was really explained to me. Just that no hernia was found. No explanation of why they opted for surgery. No explanation why the incision was on my belly instead of in the area of the “hernia” near my groin.
I stayed in the hospital from 5/21 to 5/25. Under the impression everything is ok..just normal symptoms following surgery like pain, nausea, etc.
I went home 5/25.
I noticed the evening of 5/25 while changing bandages that the “knot” that was the original cause of pain that I went to my primary care doctor about to begin with was still there and it prompted some concerns.
– If no hernia was found, why was surgery recommended and done? What did the imaging show? Neither the hospital nor the surgeon told/showed me.
– Why was the surgery a large incision on the front of my belly instead of in the area of concern? (I.e.: the groin, left abdomen).
– Why was open surgery elected at the last minute instead of using the laprascopic camera like they originally planned?
– I’m also a Type 1 Diabetic and feel the open surgery has/will open me up to possible complications down the road as opposed to if they would have just used the camera. The healing process as a diabetic is much more complicated now with this type of surgery.
– The original medical concern still exists and is physically present and has still not been addressed
– The financial obligation I now have was based on their recommendation for surgery. There was never any doubts that were reiterated to me… They all seemed 100% sure that a hernia was the cause…both the hospital and the surgeon. How could nothing be found?
I know much of this is questions for the/a doctor but I’m just trying to get everything in my head down and see if ANY of this sounds like normal procedure for a hernia repair surgery. I’ve been advised to contact a lawyer, but I’m not a sue-happy person… Especially if another surgeon would have done the same things.
Any thoughts are appreciated!
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2 Replies
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This story is puzzling but I am not a doctor so it may be more puzzling to laymen like myself than those in the medical world. Nonetheless I would echo [USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] advice to get medical records, imaging records, diagnostic records, etc so that you can get a better understanding of what was going on, and so that you can get a better idea of how to move forward particularly if you still have problematic symptoms.
I suppose it’s entirely possible they did an exploratory surgery but found nothing?
Just out of curiosity, where exactly is your incision scar? Is it on your lower left abdomen? Personally when I hear “belly” I think of “belly button” area.
Good luck and keep us updated on your case.
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The first thing you should do is to get a copy of your medical records, from the first doctor to the last. It sure does look like some corners were cut and assumptions were made. It might be even more clear when you see it in writing.
You might not need to sue but once the people involved realize that the error is theirs and you’re not going to let it just slide by, they’ll probably be open to negotiation on your fees.
Beside that, you need your records for the future, especially since they did all of that and did not fix the problem.
Good luck.
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