ajm222

this is very interesting and helpful. thanks for sharing. if i could go back in time, i would have done an open tissue repair for my hernia under these circumstances.

yeah, you’ll be feeling all kinds of stuff for a while – some painful and some just weird. but as long as things are improving a bit month over month, I think you’re good. but it can take a while and there are definitely ups and downs, so you just have to extend the timeline. i can certainly understand the impatience. i always freak out with every…[Read more]

When doing robotic removal, there is typically enough scar tissue left behind to cover the original hernia defect. This may or may not hold long-term, but I don’t think a further tissue repair can usually be done at this time, beyond a stitch or two to reinforce things. Typically a tissue repair, if needed, would have to be done at a later date in…[Read more]

hey there paul –

i really should have journaled my recovery, but didn’t. but i do remember that the first week was rough – not because of removal pain but just swelling and feeling like my whole abdomen was huge and tight. i also had some discomfort at the trocar sites, particularly a lot of pulling and tugging on the side where the mesh was…[Read more]

I believe I read the cremaster does regain it’s function eventually in most cases

Good luck! I think in my case I just need more time to settle down hopefully. And my head gets in the way of things, and I have a touch of PTSD from all of this and tend to overreact to the slightest sensation. And I’m the sort of person that would do that anyway. It’s even worse now.

I actually went out for almost an hour and a half today, bot…[Read more]

Glad you’re doing better. And good you’re getting the repair. Though I think as hernias tend to get larger, it’s less and less likely they will become trapped and strangulated. But if you’re going non-mesh, probably best to get it done while it’s smaller.

Thanks. Yes, that is one viewpoint where I’ve done a 180 myself. I really think it was both the mesh but also the robotic surgery that has given me issues over the last few years. You are placing three or more separate holes (albeit small), in the upper part of the abdomen which is more visible and also more prone to herniating itself (though…[Read more]

also, for clarification, Billing said 1 1/2 to 2 years and Brown said 9 months, lap vs open. But I couldn’t tell which was which. Was the 9 months for open or lap? Would think that lap would be shorter. Thanks.

This is fantastic, thank you so much.

I feel the same thing in terms of worrying about a recurrence, and feeling soreness and weakness in the inguinal area, and tightness and fullness and tugging here and there all over the abdomen, at four and a half months after robotic removal. I also have the gurgling stuff as well. Sounds like I’ve got q…[Read more]

@good-intentions – just sent you a PM regarding your healing trajectory

It’s indeed hard to fathom. Who is the “expert?” Feel free to PM me.

FYI – I had my robotically-placed progrip inguinal mesh removed by Dr. Belyanksy in February, and it was removed robotically.

his situation mirrored mine and that of many others – there was no obvious hernia after mesh removal – when the surgeon peels and cuts away the mesh, they leave behind a ‘scar plate’ that covers the defect. no repair is necessarily needed at this time as a result. some tissue is removed though to get the mesh out, and the scar plate is of course…[Read more]

thanks for the encouragement and thoughts. i do agree. i think i made a good decision at the time based on the info i had. just doesn’t always work out. then made another decision and will be hoping for the best. and i’m hoping your issue gets resolved eventually as well. keep us posted.

Ah, so a tissue repair. Very interesting. Yeah, that’s a head scratcher. Regardless, you’ve been treated terribly. Totally unacceptable. I’d go elsewhere and just forget about your original surgeon.

I’m doing well. Almost four months post-removal. Have good days and bad, though bad days aren’t bad-bad. I’m not in pain really. Just have some d…[Read more]

that’s terrible, but not unusual unfortunately.

i didn’t realize you had surgery. what was done? and is this a surgeon that’s widedly known on these forums?

I’ve actually gotten really good at avoiding a sneeze by pinching my nose. Just pinching both of my nostrils together, if I do it quick enough, and then just focus on not sneezing, tends to work for me the vast majority of the time. Seems to stop whatever that tickle is that then starts the cascading events that lead to the sneeze.

A lot of these symptoms actually don’t sound like hernia symptoms. Blood in the stool certainly wouldn’t be one, and the extreme rectal pain. that sounds like something else that needs to be very carefully examined further, either by your regular physician or a GI doc.