ajm222
Forum Replies Created
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Just read somewhere that a hydrocele can go away on its own in about 6 months. in your case, give its likely ‘unnatural’ cause, that may not be the case. but would be interesting to see if watching and waiting might see some resolution of the problem, which of course would be preferable to any additional surgery. is it uncomfortable or painful?
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Hey James – you had indicated in the past they lingering tightness was an issue, maybe because of scar tissue. After another 5 or 6 months, does this seem to be improving at all?
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I think you’ll be fine. The risk is more theoretical. If you can avoid them, do so. But if they think it will help it’s probably fine. I also have prostate cancer history with my dad.
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I looked into this very thoroughly when I got my first ct scan and ultimately the fewer the better obviously. Abdominal ct scans give you a pretty high dose of radiation in particular compared to others. But it’s one of those things that’s really hard to just say X number is too many. Lots of variables, lots of assumptions, lots of math, and ultimately impossible to say for sure if it’s going to cause problems 20 years down the road. Not a great answer, but again the fewer the better. My doctor friend says to avoid whenever possible. They can’t use the ones you already have?
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also, the surgery itself is pretty traumatic to the abdominal area i guess and there can be some remodeling of tissue that lasts a while. hard to say for sure. there can also be referred pain to areas around the surgery.
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It sounds more sore than a sharp nerve-type pain. That’s the good news if so. Sometimes the soreness can last a really long time and then dissipates after a while. You might be having a stronger inflammatory response. Doesn’t mean it will definitely go away, but for some 3 months is still ‘early’. Nerve pain is the really sharp shooting disabling pain indicating a trapped or damaged nerve. That’s more worrisome. But still treatable. There are treatments, and there is also removal. I’m almost 3 years out and still considering removal because of tightness and pain. Probably will do it. Tried to schedule before end of year but surgeon booked. So it can last a long time. Or I have seen some folks where it pretty much disappeared eventually but took a longer time. You should though check and make sure you don’t have a recurrence. A good removal specialist would be ideal as they have seen so much.
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The long term stuff is really interesting, though sparse. On the one hand, I’ve seen evidence that the longer one waits, the more improvement one sees. Saw one study suggesting after 5 years, the numbers continue fo drop, and then by ten years almost no one complains of life-altering pain and discomfort. Then I’ve seen a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that pain and discomfort can actually start years and years later after an injury or damage to the area or migration or infection, etc etc. Dr. Bendavid in an interview I saw said something like ‘it can take 5 to as many as 17 years’ for pain to mostly go away. Thought that was interesting. I’m guessing that the body has a way of dealing with pain so that along really long time horizons it does in fact diminish. But the area with mesh will also always be subject to injury or infection (however unlikely) as well, so problems can begin at any time. I think the latter is much less likely. And of course who wants to deal with pain and discomfort for a decade or longer in the cases of those who have had pin since surgery. And I’m sure there may be some situations where there won’t be improvement no matter what without intervention.
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So, Anonymous, are you still suffering with pain and discomfort at this time? How long ago was your original surgery?
As for removal, while it is definitely a riskier surgery, in experienced hands the outcomes are actually often good. Most folks I’ve reached out to were glad they had theirs removed and are better than they were. In some cases basically cured. There are definitely exceptions for sure. But I think the estimates are 80% are 80% better after removal. And I think the percentages go up depending upon your surgeon’s experience as well as the details of your original surgery and how it’s removed (i.e. robotic removal of a robotically placed mesh would have a better chance of improvement compared to a open removal of an openly placed mesh for example – because it’s the open mesh where some amount of nerve cutting is usually required).
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I believe only a few surgeons right now are capable of doing any kind of tissue repair laparoscopically, behind the muscle. And I believe there are some potential pitfalls with that. Dr. Towfigh I think can do it, and she mentioned one or two others.
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Hi James – how did your removal go? What were the details? Always interested in stories as I’m considering finally scheduling my removal. Thanks.
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Can inguinal mesh cause a ‘halo’ type effect on a whole side of the abdomen well beyond where the mesh actually sits? I’ve had a fullness/tightness and puffy feeling all the way up my right side since the surgery, along with mild soreness and some tightness for 2 years. Dr Proctor said a halo effect is possible (maybe hypersensitivity to foreign body?). Considering removal but worried because I’m not in terrible pain.
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Casimir – did you get any resolution to your issue?
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Thanks! Yes, that’s precisely what I was curious about and maybe suspected. I suppose it could both be curative and in some cases something that needs to be done very long-term. Length of treatment though is so rarely mentioned.
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This sounds like a nightmare. What does Dr. Brown say about your condition, and has he suggested any remedy?
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Interesting, thanks. Mine isn’t nearly that bad I don’t think. It’s really more just a feeling as if my right side is swollen a bit and tighter than my left. Always so hard to describe, but uncomfortable. Maybe that’s a difference between open placed mesh and robotically placed mesh as well. Doesn’t prevent me from doing most things, but I am always aware of it and a bit uncomfortable. Dr. Belyanski has a good analogy – it’s like holding someone else’s keys in your pocket. At first it’s nothing. After a while you want to give them back because it starts getting a little heavier and uncomfortable, but you can’t. As time goes on, it gets more and more distracting. Of course, in that same analogy you may eventually just learn to live with it even though it’s not ideal.
And yes, to some degree I think it’s a matter of how much discomfort you can live with, and that’s very subjective. But it was my understanding when I got the surgery I’d go back to ‘normal’ and not even notice it. And that hasn’t entirely been the case. I’m not in pain really anymore, so I am thankful for that (soreness diminished greatly a little before the two year mark). But I do wonder daily if I can improve upon my situation by having this removed. Seems like a lot of folks who have removal say the foreign body sensation they experience immediately goes away. Oddly though the fullness I feel seems to extend way higher than where the mesh is, so I wonder if it’s something else. Or if perhaps it is in fact related. One surgeon told me the implant can have a ‘halo’ effect and you can feel different in areas well beyond the mesh. And removal is obviously fraught with potential complications (though it does seem like most are better off). But the psychological aspect clearly has been unrelenting for me. So just for that reason it’s starting to seem worth the risk.
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That’s good to know, thanks. I was thinking if my two major symptoms (same as yours, though pain now mostly gone) didn’t clear up enough, it wouldn’t be worth it.
When you say foreign body sensation, what does that mean to you specifically? Seems there is a wide range of definitions for this.
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also, you say you still have pain and tightness at 5 months. i think these were originally the reasons to get the mesh removed. would you say the removal decreased these symptoms fairly substantially? if so, and if you’re still only at 5 months out, i do think the remaining symptoms will get better slowly over time, probably completely.
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I’ve seen several on this forum who have had removal say that over long periods of time the tightness seems to very slowly get better, and the same with any lingering pain. seems it can take a very long time (a couple of years perhaps), but they suggest it’s a continual state of improvement. the best option might simply to be to continue to exercise and just move and act as you normally would and then see if in another several months you notice any more improvement (however small). if so, i think that’s a good sign that eventually it will resolve on its own.
pain is also a funny beast, and that can occur even in the absence of anything structurally ‘wrong’ with a person’s body. meaning the signals can continue to be sent across these newly established nerve pathways even if everything has healed, and only time will serve to slowly dampen and silence these connections – like your body just takes longer to be convinced that it no longer needs to keep using these pathways to send messages/signals. and TMS theory even suggests that when under stress etc., these dormant pathways can even be lit up again and cause pain out of nowhere, decades later, again in the absence of anything structurally wrong.
just some thoughts
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Actually never mind 😉
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I’ve seen several on this forum who have had removal say that over long periods of time the tightness seems to very slowly get better, and the same with any lingering pain. seems it can take a very long time (a couple of years perhaps), but they suggest it’s a continual state of improvement. the best option might simply to be to continue to exercise and just move and act as you normally would and then see if in another several months you notice any more improvement (however small). if so, i think that’s a good sign that eventually it will resolve on its own.
pain is also a funny beast, and that can occur even in the absence of anything structurally ‘wrong’ with a person’s body. meaning the signals can continue to be sent across these newly established nerve pathways even if everything has healed, and only time will serve to slowly dampen and silence these connections – like your body just takes longer to be convinced that it no longer needs to keep using these pathways to send messages/signals. and TMS theory even suggests that when under stress etc., these dormant pathways can even be lit up again and cause pain out of nowhere, decades later, again in the absence of anything structurally wrong.
just some thoughts