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William Bryant…your decision?
which way are you leaning for your repair…you have been researching forever…so curious what you have found…have you uncovered any concerns about the kang repair? Shouldice seems to be the default if you are uncertain….but there are a lot of pain reports with shouldice…even docs in dc said they had been visited by a number of patients from that clinic with chronic pain….of course it was from a lap surgeon probably lying to con me into coming to him….but i think the shouldice repair itself just looks super invasive….which way are you leaning and why? I am starting to think lichenstein might be the best….never met anyone with a single issue from it…all the probs i see are lap mesh related…which makes sense…its a dangerous hyped up garbage surgery
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10 Replies
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I believe the collective wisdom here incl. Dr. Towfigh’s is the gold standard is ultrasound with Valsalva (a technique). I had that at Kang’s and before positively made by MRI elsewhere. I had a CT but received contrary interpretations by doctors. Along the way I had some ultrasounds done by others but not properly. The other day I had an ultrasound of my chest (cardiac) and was so surprised 1) that such was done; and 2) the clarity of the pictures was awesome. (Got a green light by the doc for playing basketball.) Everything has to be interpreted, so it’s not just the hi-tech but recent is better. I don’t want to second guess your test result, but in fact they sometimes err.
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Yes Pinto, that’s a good idea! Re the ultrasound. I’m also thinking you may have said CT or MRI was better? Is that right?
Good news about kidney and battery, former of course much better and great relief.
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btw, tests can be wrong, sometimes thankfully. Once I got a call from a clinic telling me a urine test indicated I had kidney disease. It turned out false due to a reading by an inexperienced lab techie. Alarm turned to glee. You’ve received different readings but the one by technical measurement might not necessarily be correct. One gas station wanted to sell me a new car battery because their test indicated a near-dead condition; whereas I went on the same day to the same company but different location to find their test showed my battery had some life. It had enough juice to get me through a few months. The tech instruments differed, at least one of them faulty.
Now with ultrasound they produce images of internal organs or at least facsimiles. Have you thought of going back to the NHS operator with your contrary findings and ask for confirmation? What in the technical record indicates a direct hernia?
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What a coincidence Pinto, being in Korea upon noticing the hernia. Emergency is a risk too, you’re right. It played and preyed on my mind when I first discovered I had a hernia to the point of paranoia.
Then there’s age. I’m getting to be of advanced age so that needs to be factored in too.
I know I’ve probably asked this but where are you living? I’m in UK so whichever surgeon I use will be a reasonable trip and stay which adds to the need to make a right choice.
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“If I only knew then what I know now.” The moment I absolutely knew I had an IH (by self-diagnosis) I was in Soul Korea and didn’t know about Kang!! I was on a business trip and really scared. What if the thing erupted while there??? At the end of my work, there was a sightseeing trip planned and all, but I didn’t dare go. I stayed in my hotel bed until I could get on a plane back home. I was freaked out. To think if I had known Kang, wow, I could just take a taxi ride and get it all done. I came full circle back a yr. and half later.
My advice to William is if you don’t mind at all an unknown general surgeon in the case of an emergency surgery, then by all means do watchful waiting. It sounds like your everyday life is not particularly bothered by your IH. If however you do mind in either of those cases, then you ought to get your surgery done as soon as you can. Many members have said health is most important and a very wise investment.
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David M —garbage lap surgery destroyed my life…i was in excellent health until this butchery wrecked it…its near impossible to come back from. It was so deceptive…nearly every surgeon i saw promoted it as minimally invasive…and on its face it seemed to be—no cutting no stitching tissue together and hoping they hold. And they beamed you can take care of two hernias in one painless operation. Its a total con…in fact massive injury is done to the body by the moronic surgery…and the plastic they stick in you is HUGE. Never mind that its near impossible to place the mesh correctly…those big beach blankets get infected…migrate…degrade into your body….I cant believe the surgery is legal. Never mind that few going in with lap surgery wont end up getting both sides done whether they have a hernia or not…its a well known scam that these criminals use to collect from insurance companies and if the patient gets destroyed who cares? there is another sucker in the waiting room. The real problem is all of the hernia surgeries suck…and you just have to pick the least suckiest…but i think hands down LAP is the worst surgery there is. If you want to get mesh on the back side…boston hernia does it open surgery…i think open is way safer than garbage lap….I still wonder whether a simple open mesh surgery might be the best option…i dont know a soul who has had a bad outcome from that…most of the fools i know didnt even know mesh was put in them…thats how benign it seems to be. If you go the shouldice route there is an excellent chance of chronic pain….and you will be loaded up with propylene sutures…desarda or kang seem to be the best options for tissue….but maybe they fall apart after a few years like Voeller implied….
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William Bryant, I’ve wondered the same thing about Dr Kang and his success with Direct Hernias. Most of the people on this board who have visited him seem to have had indirect, and given that his surgeries are different for each, it’s not really much help to know that they had a good outcome.
Chuck, for a long time, I have batted around tissue repair vs open vs lap. I’m about undecided as ive always been. Lap surgery was originally lowest on my list, but it has moved up recently, all the problems notwithstanding. One of the cliche-ish sounding reasons for advising lap is the bicycle patch analogy, that a patch is stronger on the inside of a tube than the outside. While I think that sounds too pat, ive come to think that maybe given a large size direct that it actually does seem more likely to prevent the hernia from pushing through. Any thoughts on this? Also, can you quit so dramatic about your life being over? People cope, and we know you will,too!
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The problem with getting it addressed now is I could be swapping next to no symptoms for a whole worse situation. That’s the dilemma.
Do you know, Chuck, if Dr Kang can repair direct as well as indirect and also pantaloon hernias?
Like you I know a few people, directly, who have had mesh and no problems what so ever. Plus out of those, one of their sons had 3 hernias – all 3 mesh repaired non-issues. It’s baffling. Not one has had issues. They didn’t even know you can have non mesh and were all unaware mesh can cause problems.
That said, I’m not keen on mesh at all, although, as Pinto has pointed out, sine hernias would seem to need a mesh repair.
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William…yes—i think delaying treatment can be a major mistake…I think i paid for this and so did watchful…The quicker you get it addressed the easier to fix. I am also starting to wonder whether a simple open mesh approach…maybe the one utilized by Reihnorn at Boston hernia isnt the best approach—reinhorn says his chronic pain rate is .003 percent —of course he is probably lying like all the rest…but still. These tissue repairs are all very invasive lots of cutting and sewing weak tissue to weak tissue….I literally know close to 20 guys personally who found out they had a hernia on a monday…within a week they were in surgery getting open mesh shoved in…by just a general surgeon no specialist…and within a week they were all back to normal…its really dumbfounding. I spent many months on my decision and then made the wrong one. Kang seems to be a good way to go to…I would get on it before you are in a bad situation —-i envy that you still have time to get it right. Hernia surgery may well cost me my life as i dont want to live with chronic pain…it seems like the complication rate for hernia surgery especially lap and tissue repairs is extraordinarily high…
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Hello Chuck, still thinking of Dr. Kang as seems to have best results although that maybe due to doing fewer procedures than Shouldice clinic which seems like a hernia repair factory.
I don’t have loads of symptoms so have delayed as I could be swapping few rk no symptoms to something much worse. I know you’re now favouring early intervention?
One thing that does bother me is the ultra sound I had done by NHS said direct but all the consultants I’ve seen say by touch indirect. That’s one NHS consultant and two private. All 3 say indirect.
I’m worried it might be pantaloon and/or that Dr Kang is not so familiar with direct.
Maybe he can say if he can repair direct, indirect and pantaloon?
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