top hernia in wisconsin

[Cookrl]

Who are the top hernia doctors in Wisconsin?

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Avoid UW Health at all costs. Up until 2012 had a known 25% post surgical pain. According to their own resident exit survey, residents do a very high percent of the surgeries. Dr. Goldblatt in Milwaukee. If you can travel look at the names that keep coming up on this site and go to them.

[drtowfigh]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Wisconsin:

– Jacob Greenberg
– Matthew Goldblatt

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Dr Towfigh,

I am going to respectfully disagree with you.. Maybe things have changed.

Again, I refer people to the book Unaccountable and there is a chapter of Hospitals and clinic hanging the sign out that they specialize in an area but it is just a sign and the patients suffer or worse. As far as I know there is no standard for any Dr, clinic, hospital to be quote certified as a specialized clinic just a marketing department and ad budget.

I was one of the first patients in UW Health Complex Hernia Clinic. After research and being bounced around for a year, I could cut through the BS from the medical professionals like a surgical knife through skin. I held off until my insurance changed and went to another state for corrective surgery.

Do a google search on Post Hernia Pain when using alt. saline solution, done by AJ Russ on outcomes at UW Health. According to two of my Dr.s they still had issues with this late in 2012. The two Dr.s in other areas stated it was closer to 30% 1 year post hernia pain from this Hospital.

[goldenmsc]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Been there

Where did you finally get your repair done?

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Sorry for the delay in answering. I prefer not to say, but it was one of two in Florida that came highly recommended. One has since moved. Good luck on your search. Again I recommend the book Unaccountable to read about practices in US medicine. Should help out with very direct questions to ask to your doctor.

My redoing of the original surgery has been a great success for the past fours years but my original hernia occurred from coughing, so every time I cough or sneeze I always am concerned.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Gardner]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

I had good experience with Dr. Greenberg in Madison so far. Of course, UW Health as a hospital is not Shouldice (they do surgeries other than only hernia repair) but Dr. Greenberg is way above his peers in the state comparatively. Few points to add here:

– Unlike so many other surgeons out there, he agrees that mesh causes problems more often than not and that mesh removal (especially mesh plugs) is a warranted procedure.

– He is against the use of tacks in securing mesh in pre-peritoneal surgery.

– In evaluating my chronic groin pain, he questioned the judgment of the original surgeon who put a mesh AND a plug into the body of 6ft1 tall 195 lb man (myself). He believes in avoiding mesh plugs in the inguinal ring by all means possible. Mesh patch AND a plug is just too much mesh to handle.

– The original surgeon who repaired my inguinal indirect hernia was one of Dr. Greenberg’s teachers in Boston. Questioning your own teacher is what I’d call independent thinking.

– He is very clear about explaining the drawbacks and benefits of mesh removal. Many surgeons who remove mesh do not talk about the effects of mesh removal on vas deferens. Mesh removal could be a zero-sum game, where your pain is gone but so is your fertility.

Yes, of course, I am a bit discouraged that I still do not have a clear diagnosis for the re-grown lump in my inguinal ring and groin pain. But he is not keen on jumping to conclusions too quickly (which is professional, I think) – after two ultrasounds and an MRI, there is still no clear indication of what my lump is. Among hypotheses are: scar tissue growth around the plug, or lipoma regrowth, or small recurrence. Without an exploratory laparoscopic (which I do not want), there is probably no way to know for sure.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

It sounds like you are still seeing Dr. Greenberg.

Where did you have your original surgery?

Did you ask him how many total hernia surgeries he has done since he was licensed in 2011(I think that is the correct year) This is the Dr. doing them. Since this is a teaching hospital a large percent can are done by residents.

Outcomes of the surgeries?

What were the percentages of complications? What type of complications?

How many triple triple neurotomies he had done? Outcomes?

How many mesh removals he has done? Outcomes?

What are the odds that you had your original surgery done by a teacher of your present surgeon over 1,000 miles apart. If I found out that my current surgeon was trained by the surgeon that caused my problems, I would be out the door and never return.

Did you get the proper type of Ultrasound and MRI?

Maybe Dr Towfigh could review the images. It takes a true specialist.

Do they still have a 25 to 30% post surgical pain 1 year post op from hernia surgery?

Maybe they could send you to Germany to have it done. I guess only star athletes get that special treatment.

[Gardner]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

These are good questions to think about and to ask. 25%-30%? Wow, I did not know that. Is this an official/RCT finding?

With regards to my original repair, it was done by the head of surgery at one of Harvard’s teaching hospitals. I wanted someone with the most experience and best recommendations. I know it is sad that the outcome was not what I expected, but what can you do about it, aside from moving on?

With regards to Dr. Greenberg’s experience in removing mesh items through TAPP, he has done a few removals. I do not remember how many. You can read a testimony of one successful surgery by him here:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/557220/thread/1352666377/last-1435594855/Removal+of+a+Bard+Medium+Perfix+mesh+plug+%230112760

I did share the Ultrasound .gif file on this website, I did not receive any particular comments with regards to the ultrasound. Perhaps, the ultrasound imagery is too non-specific.

You mentioned Germany – yes, I did go to Germany this summer and talked to a surgeon (not the one in Munich). He said there is nothing anyone can do for me now except wait – if the bulge that I have is a recurrent hernia, it will eventually get bigger and will become self-evident. If the bulge that I have is calcified mesh – it will eventually get firmer and will be more visible on the scans. If the bulge that I have is some kind of an inguinal mass (lipoma), it will get bigger and will become more self-evident with time.

Or, I could go under the knife with exploratory and then find out what this bulge is.

[drtowfigh]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

To clarify, the studies show a 20% rate of ANY pain at 3 months postoperatively after open inguinal hernia repair with mesh. The prior comment is not acccurate.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

I was talking about one specific hospital. In the study by a j Russ on post hernia surgical pain done at this facility. In the text i was 1 percent off (24) is the correct number. I may be reading it wrong, since i am not that smart.

Also two fellow Doctors at this facility in two different departments stated that they know it could be as high as 30% again only at this facility. One also stated that the facility was putting together a committee to find out why the figure was so high and outcomes were so bad.

Please google the study and if i am wrong i will say so. I stand by the numbers for now.

[Chaunce123]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Gardner, Sorry that you’re going through this.

If you are thinking about re-do surgery I think it’d be prudent to get a few opinions from a few different experts, preferably each with a good amount of re-do and experience with possible mesh removal if that is deemed necessary.

There are a lot of names mentioned on this forum with experience, many on the west coast like Dr Towfigh and Dr Chen in LA. Surely there are others on the east coast and midwest as well.

If you are going to Germany or London you might want to see Dr Ulrike Muschaweck who gets a lot of traffic from global sports stars for groin pain and hernias. She does re-do surgery and mesh removal in some cases as well.

Keep us updated on your progress and decision making.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Gardner, It looks like from your response that either you or your insurance allows you to see almost anyone in the world unlike most of us. I mentioned Germany for another reason if you are local to UW Health.

Pick up the book Unaccountable. Your statement about seeing the Director of Surgery at leading teaching facility reminds me of a chapter in the book. He could have done the surgery but maybe he had not performed a hernia surgery for years or a resident did your surgery. Who knows but the surgical team. Its hard going into a supposedly minor surgery and coming out in pain and changes your whole life and than dealing with hopefully getting it fixed so you can move on. I remember when my wife was driving me to my first hernia surgery I was kind of day dreaming and started thinking of the old nursery rhyme humpty dumpty, maybe it was sixth sense and I should had her turn around.

I read the post but I could not find were it stated Dr. Greenberg did the surgery, maybe I missed it.

As someone who”s parents and myself were born at the old UW hospital, grow up in the dirt when they were building the current facility our family had many Dr. friends as neighbors and they stated if you need basic surgery go to General or Methodist but if you need cutting edge go to where Dr Greenberg practices.

Dr Greenberg might be the best surgeon,( who seems to be very thoughtful and honest) in the nation but there are many how do this all day long and have done hundreds if not thousand of removal’s’ instead one here and there.

Get a copy or review all of your medical records, I was shocked when I reviewed mine.

Wish you the best, it is a hard decision to make. Beenthere!

[marcello71]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Hello, fellow mesh patient from Wisconsin…
Now unless I’m mistaken, I have found there to be no surgeons in WI with experience removing lap placed inguinal hernia mesh unless it was infected(flat mesh not plugs mind you).
I’ve seen Dr goldblatt who is a very nice guy & sincerely cares about his patient’s safety which you can tell by just meeting with him, but he haden’t removed my type of mesh before(I wish he had done even just one removal cause that was the only deal breaker there).
So I moved on to see Dr Greenberg who is also a nice guy but a little more wooden seeming personality-wise. He had only removed plugs or umbilical hernia mesh TAPP(no flat pre-peritoneal mesh), usually only when they were infected & only when he was replacing it with phasix for a trial I believe. He was no longer part of a trial at that time so… He sort of dismissed me with a suggested gluten intolerance, saying further that hes never had to remove inguinal mesh like mine before..?
I do believe however that both of these guys are great at putting the stuff in, but goldblatt has far more experience in years as a surgeon.
I hope this helps, please let me know of any removal surgeons in Wisconsin that I may have overlooked Dr Towfigh…

[drtowfigh]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Marcello71,
You correctly point out that putting in mesh requires a different set of skills than taking out mesh. The number of surgeons experienced in mesh removal is very low. Maybe less than a dozen in the US.
I don’t know of any more in Wisconsin. Next closest to you may be Kentucky. :unsure:

[marcello71]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Who in Kentucky? No one in Chicago? How many lap inguinal mesh removals does a surgeon need to perform before you would classify them as capable of something like mine?

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Hi Marcello71,

Sorry to hear your ordeal has not moved forward. It is hard after your first surgery goes bad and than no one knows what to do to fix it and you have to fight for every bit of help you can get to resolve the pain and suffering and get your life back.

Ramshaw, I think is up and practicing at UT not that much further than Kentucky. Enjoy a meal at Calhoun’s On The River before surgery and than get a place in the Smoky’s near Gatlinburg to recovery for the week. Dr G is in Cleveland or if you can get to see Goodyear, Chen, Yunis or Towfigh. It took me 2 years battling my insurance company and finally I had a chance to change insurance to see anyone in the nation but with a 4 figure deductible. My recovery after my second surgery by a real hernia expert was amazing. I could have flown home that day and I was climbing over a chain link fence within 6 days. I am sure not recommended but the Dr. never told me I couldn’t do it but I felt so much better. Your recovery and outcome could be very different.

Your comment about research was very interesting, since this also happened to me at the same facility but different department. Dr. said if I(Dr) could get research money I would learn and do this specific procedure. He would not even attempt it and this being a non invasive procedure that was being preformed at an athletic club in town at the time. Very world class!

Also in Wisconsin there is a little known law that protects state employees against lawsuits with a cap of a whopping $250,000. UW Health is part of the state of Wisconsin. So ask the Dr. if they would sign a waiver of their rights under that provision. If not your legal rights as a patient are greatly reduced, very few lawyers will take a malpractice case with such a small settlement.

Good luck. Beenthere!

[drtowfigh]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

The surgeons must do at least a handful of mesh removals. In your case, that would be a handful of laparoscopic mesh removals.

None in Chicago.

I meant Knoxville TN, not Kentucky.

[marcello71]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Thankyou for the reply ‘been there’. It is too low of a cap for most lawyers to want to handle but regardless I am not a litigous person & do not plan on trying to sue anyone(plus no amount of $ would make things better, I don’t care about $ all I care about is getting my health & life back)…
I understand you had a good outcome from your removal ‘been there’, but was your mesh lap or open placed?
I also see your hesitance to state who did the removal & although I am very interested in knowing, I respect your privacy. So you said it was one of 2 in Fl that would be either Yunis or Ramshaw. It would really help me to know another good outcome came from the surgeon I think you went to. If I ask, we can use code names if you’d like… Was it ‘Big Red’? Was it the one of those 2 surgeons that recently relocated from Fl? ‘The shaw’?(too obvious?).
Let’s try this, was your surgery done in celebration Florida or Daytona Beach Florida?

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

I mentioned the legal aspect in case things go really bad like a male unable to perform by botched surgery and a month ago I was talking to someone in the medical field and she stated a friend of hers died during a hernia surgery.

My first was open by a Dr. who I should have never been referred to. He was a quote hernia specialist that did hernia surgeries all of time. found out afterword he had not done one in over 18 months and one of his staff members stated he had so little knowledge of doing hernia surgeries he probably did not know what mesh was approved at the facility. World class!

North of Lake Suzy.

I think if you research both Dr.s mentioned have multiple reviews and news stories about them. My choice between Ramshaw, Goodyear and Yunis was hard since they all were so understanding, involved and seemed to care. It came down to me that I had a place to stay for a week free. I like the idea of a Dr. that does not have a resident and their own surgical team. It was interesting they also know each other. After my first surgery trusting anyone in the medical field was very hard.

Not sure if I mentioned it before but I called and spoke with Dr G, Goodyear, Ramshaw, Peterson and Yunis each of them at least once but I might have spoken to each of them 2 or more times during office hours and office , after hours and not being billed, very impressive plus these calls lasted over 30 minutes. Totally different than my experience with my local highland ave hospital.

Again get the book Unaccountable, it was available at one time in the Dane library system. It will really open your eyes.

[marcello71]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

So you went to Sarasota, FL I presume..? (Just wink if its a yes)

I will look for the book ‘beenthere’ thanks. My other question is about insurance though, I have WI state Medicaid & I wonder about trying to switch insurance just so I can go out of state for this like you did. Did you have Medicaid & switch to Medicare..? Did you opt out & pay for private a private insurance plan instead? Why did it take 2+ yrs for them to allow you to go out of state? I’m finding it just as hard to get the help I need paid for…

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

The book Unaccountable will open your eyes to the care we really get. I found every chapter to could be directly related to my remarkable care from my first botched surgery. Love for you to read it and review it here. Starts out with a hernia problem.

If took two years of battling my insurance company to let me see a real hernia expert. I told them I would pay all travel expenses and gave them a list of 10 or so experts. They came back with a Dr. in my area that I have never heard of before. I was told he was a hernia specialist. Did research on him and could not find any information. I was told I had to see him in person to find out anything about him. So I wasted over an hour only to find out he just passed his boards, never had done a hernia surgery on his own and never any removal or nerve surgery. He also never did any specialized training in this area. I sad no way.

My wifes insurance changed and we had the option to go to a POS I think.

I have no idea how Medicare or Medicaid works. My insurance company was surprised that the cost was lower than in state.

Good Luck.

[seeker]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Hi BeenThere,

I was wondering – as you seem happy with your repair – what kind of mesh your doctor used. I’m also understanding that you consider the doctor doing the repair as important in your success. Any positive encouragement that you could offer – I would be grateful for. Please explain to me why you chose to use mesh in the end.

I am suppose to go for my femoral hernia repair on Thursday with a hernia specialist using Progrip mesh laparoscopically and even though I’ve been assured by two top doctors that this should be the safe and wise choice – I am experiencing extreme anxiety over the surgery. I am half thinking to go the suture route even though the chances are low for lasting as long.

I am sending an identical posting to WasInTN to get his opinion too.

Thank you for your response. Appreciate all of your postings.

I apologize for cutting in on another thread. Wasn’t sure how to direct my questions to Beenthere. It would be nice to have Personal Message feature on this forum.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Hi Seeker,

You can check all of my posts but my original surgery was for a Inguinal hernia which now I do not think I had but I think it was an Incisional hernia. My quote remarkable , world class surgeon who performed hernia surgeries all of the time, would only do mesh. I think he did not have the experience, skill or ability to do a non mesh surgery. About six weeks after this surgery things changed drastically and I think that is when my femoral hernia occurred. The original hospital had me see about 6 or 7 different Drs. with none ordering any imaging studies. I suffered a lot. I was than diagnosed with another inguinal hernia on the other side. Finally after 2 years of pain and suffering got new insurance and went to see three of the top hernia specialists in the nation. I decided on one and when he went in to fix the left side hernia he found the femoral hernia and than removed the old mesh.

I might sound like a broken record but get and read Unaccountable before your surgery, it will open your eyes. My trust level for medical care is still very low.

As for a femoral hernia and not being a Dr. is not one to wait around for long and I would go with what Dr Towfigh recommends but a large factor is what is your surgeon is familiar with and what type of mesh they work with day in and day out.

Make sure you get all of your questions asked. See the slideshow that was posted and I think I did a post regarding what questions to ask. Ask for a copy of the informed consent now to review and ask questions.

Can I ask what state?

Good luck and ask anymore questions. I answer as best as I can.

[seeker]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Thank you for your reply Beenthere.

I am in NY state. I am following Dr Towfigh’s forum advise for a surgeon. I really trust and like him – and he really listens to my concerns.

Did your surgeon use Progrip for your hernia repair? That is one my surgeon has suggested he will use. I swing between being dead sure that this procedure is what I should do to being terrified of having something implanted that is difficult to remove should it need to be. Having such a large femoral hernia at the moment – I need to make a decision before an emergency room surgeon will have to make the decision for me!!!!

Are you happy with your repairs?

Thank you.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

It is strange but I know every aspect of my first surgery but my second I guess I trusted the surgeon and we discussed the type of mesh before surgery but when my recovery was so fast it did not matter which mesh he used. I think both Dr. Goodyear and Towfigh or maybe it was another surgeon who stated it is not so much of what type of mesh but the experience, knowledge and ability of the surgeon with the mesh they use. My thought is The worst surgeon using the best mesh does not make any difference but the best surgeon using mesh that they are experienced with does.

Again from what I understand you do not mess around with a femoral hernia. I was not too happy finding out I was walking around with a ticking time bomb.

I am happy with my second surgery but it was totally unnecessary if I would have been referred to a hernia specialist the first time. I asked all of the right questions and got the right answers only to find out afterward the answers were just what the surgeon and staff wanted me to hear and to obtain consent. My sixth sense told me something was not right with the first surgeon but everyone I spoke with said how great he was and I would completely back to normal in six to eight weeks. Go with your gut feeling.

After my second surgery I was standing, walking and climbing over a chain link fence in 6 days, probably not what the Dr. would recommend but he said do what feels ok without lifting or too strenuous.

[sands]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Beenthere

Would you mind sharing with us which surgeon did your second surgery.

Thank you.

[seeker]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Beenthere-
Thanks for your responses. They have been very helpful!

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Seeker, I have not given out the name but some clues in previous posts. The hospital where the first surgery had me see two different general surgeons, my insurance referred me to 4 others in my area and let me choose one in the state I live in. I found none of the seven had the knowledge or experience to do mesh removal or triple neurectomy. I was lucky my insurance changed I could go anyplace in the nation with a 10% co pay.

I contacted Dr G in Cleveland, Peterson, Yunis, Ramshaw, Goodyear and spoke to each of them at length about my condition. All spent more time than I could believe on their dime. Thank you to the doctors that I listed for being so generous with your time. I also had on my list Billings, Amid, Chen and Towfigh who I did not contact. I did go see Yunis, Ramshaw and Goodyear, all were excellent and I would recommend all three. I based the final decision on I had a free place to recovery at. Go back and read my posts and maybe you can figure out which Dr.

Not sure if you are in southern OH but Ramshaw I think is in Knoxville TN which is not that far, if your insurance will cover the costs.

Good luck

[sands]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Been There,

Thanks for your helpful comments. I am looking for a surgeon in the near future either in Cincinnati, Ohio or Sarasota, Florida, so I think I have some good options. Thanks again.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Cleveland and Knoxville are only 4 hour drive times. Dr Yunis is in Sarasota.

Good luck

[seeker]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Beenthere,

What kind of mesh did you have for your repair?

[seeker]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

Just remembered that you said you did not know. I apologize for re-asking.

[Beenthere]

top hwrnia in wisvonsin

In the first surgery we had come to agreed treatment plan of light weight mesh. The Dr. used Proline PMII which is heavy weight. He could not explain why the change. But in the history and progress notes he never noted the agreed treatment plan. About a year later another at the hospital said he had done so few hernia surgeries that he probably did not know what approved types of mesh the hospital used.

[Author]

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