[Baris]

Hi good intentions,
in terms of mesh i am not against it. I understand that it is needed in some cases especially with elder patients with direct hernias. What frustrates me most is the fact that i had two indirect hernias which with the shouldice technique mesh is pretty much never needed as stated by the chief surgeon. I have images of the hernias whilst in surgery and the space the fat has come out of is very small. And maybe that explains why im in so much pain.
In terms of mesh i wouldnt be able to say but for no mesh surgeries i really do believe losing weight especially fat will enable a better repair and also recovery.

[Baris]

Hi chaunce,
yes maybe tgat was the case but would it be right to state uve learnt the tecnique in canada and do the same thing but change a main area to it in terms of sututres?? That just becomes a new technique in my eyes and maybe if yhat was discussed prior to surgery that would of been much more ideal in enabling me to make the best desicion. The diet is a very low carb one and specifically states that it is temporary due to the sudden changes and reduction in calories consumed. I just believe its super healthy and i can manage it forever if i really needed too and a lot of previous shouldice patients have stated that they actually do continue with the main concepts of the diet. Id certainly say i feel much better.

[Baris]

Hi good intentions.
id start right from the begining.
after doing my research these times last year i decided to opt for the desarda technique and spoke to moham desarda.
i had tbilateral inguinal hernias.
i found dr koch on the desarda website and decided to get in touch.
at the time i went directly through bio hernia who were extremely helpful and great at organising everything.
when i arrived and was assesed a day before surgery i asked the dr if he can please peform the desarda. He told me that he will check once he opens me up whats best and that desarda is mainly for skinny people and not suitable for my size (6ft 3 was 105kg). He stated that if the shouldice was to be used he will not cut the cremester muscle like they do in shouldice clinic as he finds it pointless having testicles dangling.
on the day of surgery 16/08/2017 after i recovered from the general anasthesia we had a brief chat and thats were inwas told the shouldice technique was used with absorbable sutures. I felt great after two days of intense pain i was fine and greatful my bowels were working properly for the first time in a couple years. 5 days later i returned to london.
About 10 weeks into my recovery i felt as if my surgery areas were weaking so i took a flight back to germany to be seen. He told me there and then that nothing is wrong and told me to continue strengthening it.
Come end of november i contacted the doctor again and told him that my left side has a bulge coming through and my right side feels very weak and bulgy. I took a flight out there agian. He said there was no hernia and what i felt was blood rushing down to my legs. After having a discussion and talk he told me that he will reoperate both. He reoperated 14/12/2017 and told me that the left side had a little hole and therefore he just went over it with a small permanent suture. On the right side he told me that he used a german mesh called dyna mesh which has big pores and is soft. He said he used that because the posterior wall was weak.
After surgery i was in a lot of pain for the next few days and had local ansthesia 3 times before i returned to london. Nothing felt right . Nor my right or left side. I was told to be patient and wait as it was recovering and there was a lot of scar tissue he removed. My complaints never stopped since. My left side reoccured as soon as i had my first bowel movement in london. The right side lasted a few months however it felt so uncomfortable and as if my body was hanging stuck to something. I continued waiting in discomfort until about the 6th month as i was told not to do anything for 12 weeks.
I started running once supposedly better and it was constant pain. I kicked a ball gently and straight away my right side felt like someone had cut me with a knife. From then onwards my right side got worse and worse and within a week t was bed bound everytime i tried doing sports
In early june or late may 2018 the doctor was in london and i kindly asked if he can reasses me and see wether the hernias reoccured. He looked for a few seconds and told me once again that its not a bulge its blood running through my veins and the pain is caused on the right side by the scar tissue readjusting and reforming due to there being a mesh. I was very frustrated as i knew he knew that i had both hernias as kt was the same bulge that was there in the first place which he assesed and said surgery was needed back in 2017. Out of frustration and desperation i contacted the shouldice clinic. I told them of the situation and spoke to the chief surgeons assistant.
She said he was dissapointed a shouldice technique was used using absorbable sutures. The clinic told me this dosnt represent the success rate of the technique as a main area was altered with by using sutures that are absorbed.
she also told me that the main part of the technique is actually having the cremester muscle cut as this reduces the chances of reoccurence.
They were even more shocked at the fact that the surgeon decided to reoperate after only a few months. The chief surgeon said that at the shouldice clinic there is a one year wait for re surgery as it roughly takes this long for the muscles to heal and be at a good enough level to be restitched. They said my second surgery was a pointless attempt as failure was the only option due to being so fresh from previous surgery.
A lot of surgeons on their website or when u speak to them directly, will state they are shouldice trained when this is not the case. The clinic told me that they only allow doctors to observe for a few days whilst surgery is being taken place and that no training is given.
after speaking to the clinic and pleading for help the surgeon decided to operate on me at the end of this year or otherwise i had to wait till may 2019.
when they found out i was 105kg and that i was that weight when i had the first surgery, they wernt too happy. They booked me in and told me that i must come in at 89 kg for them to operate on me as this will allow the surgery to have a higher success rate. Its been 6 weeks since i first conctacted shouldice and today i am 91kg.
There has been a huge difference in the way i feel since ive lost the weight. The side with no mesh is literally pain free but just a bit restrictive however the right side is more painful and have sharpen pains since the weight loss. I generally feel a lot better since the loss and maybe thats due to also recovering.
ive had a very bad time over the last few years especially last year and its put me through a lot, mentally, pyhsically and financially.
The proffesionalism of the shouldice clinic is what has impressed me the most. A leading hernia mesh removal surgeon dr kevin pietersen if im correct, states on his website if he were to have any issues in realtion to a hernia he will go to the shouldice clinic. And touching on mesh removal, the shouldice clinc do not do mesh removal unless there is a reoccurence of the hernia.
The diet plans ive been given and the level of care even before ive stepped into the clinic has given me hope and the feeling maybe this time id end this misery and be able to live a normal life.
My surgery is sceduled for the end of november and sadly or funnily, however it may seem, i am looking forward to the next surgery day just with the hope that i might be able to one day make a full recovery.

[Baris]

Hi good intentions,
i was the same weight before the surgery however i have also realised that with the mesh wateva instant move i do or strain slightly it is a very uncomfortable situation. I kicked a ball once after 6 months and couldnt get out of bed for a week. I was told after that it was scar tissue re adjusting. I did a lot of heavy lifting combined with football. Although the surgeon states that he dsnt like to use mesh in athletes involved in intense sports i still believe in my situation permanent sutures from the first surgery would of been more ideal rather than ones that are absorbed.

[Baris]

Hi jeremy.
He told me the day before surgery exactly what he will do. I actually went to him for a desarda repair thinking that would be nore ideal and better and found him through moham desarda website. However he said once he will open me up he will decide which technique is suitable. After surgery was completed and inwas out of recovery i was told that a shouldice technique was peformed with absobable sutures. So no i didnt specifically request it. I believe its something he does quite common as he knew i was involved in high level sports at the time and still used absorbable.

[Baris]

Hi chaunce,
Dr ralph lorenz in berlin also does the shouldice surgery and is a good friend of dr koch. I funnily asked dr koch if he had a hernia wer would he go too and dr ralph lorenz was the man he said so id definently say have a look. Also berlin is much more convenient as the closes airport to dr koch is easily over 90 mins away and difficult to get to with public transport. Dr Muschaweck has a great setup in munich but her prices can be triple the amount of the other two doctors that i have stated. But do your research carefully and also wanted to ask if you have contacted the shouldice clinic for more information? The clinic will clearly state that the technique is not a shouldice if sutures that are absorbed are used. Good luck

[Baris]

Hi jeremy,
i had my surgery done in cottbus germany by Dr Koch. It was arranged through bio hernia and he is a specialist in removing hernia mesh. I had my first in august 2017 didnt hold with absorbable sutures. I went back with complaints and he said no hernia. I insisted that i did and once he opened me i up at the start of december 2017 i had hernias again. he said he went over one side with a short permamanent suture and the other side he put a mesh over although i had enough muscle and it was indirect hernias. The side with the stitch reoccured straight away. The mesh side repccured after 3 months. I conctacted the shouldice clinic and they were very dissapointed why a surgeon will use the technique with absorbable sutures and without the cremester muscle being cut as this does not reflect back on the success of the technique. Cutting the cremester mucle makes a big difference with reoccurence rates with this technique as the founders have stated. They were more shocked the fact that although i had hernia why the doctor reoperated on me after just 3 months as they state that it takes 1 year for the muscle tissue to heal properly. So now i am scheduled to have surgery again at the end of the year this time at the shouldice clinic with the chief surgeon. I was asked to lose 35 pounds and was told that if that certain weight wasnt reached they wouldnt operate as again it made the surgery more risky. Its been a tough time but hopefully ill get there. But the hardest and most frustrating for me was the fact that i believed that i had done enough research and believed in ideas that sounded way too good. If your opting for a shouldice id certainly say contact the clinic in toronto. Doctors will say they have learnt there and so on. However speaking to the chief surgeons assistant they can only come and watch for a couple days and training is not provided. If shouldice id say contact the clinic.

[Baris]

Hi
ive had a shouldice technique operation with absorbable sutures and it only lasted a couple months. When i called the actual shouldice clinic to explain to them the issue and schedule surgery there they told me that a shouldice technique should never be peformed with sutures that are absorbed as this is highly likely to fail and were quite shocked this orocedure was actually performed..

[Baris]

Hi all, ive used bio hernia before and they were excellent in ensuring everything did go very smoothly. I travlled from london and I was operated on by dr Koch in germany although the surgery was not a success. now i am awaiting surgery in december from shouldice clinic to redo the surgery with non absorbable sutures.

[Baris]

Thank you for the links and other information. Like you said nothing feels normal about the two surgeries ive haf and therefore i would listen to the clinic in toronto and wait the full year before i decide for re surgery. Thinking about it all the top proffesional football players with inguinal hernia repair them through dr muschaweck… meaning she must be very good as these are players on millions a year. And if im right she uses the shouldice teachnique. Whilst reading through her history it states she learnt the technique by attending the clinic in canada. As i will defo opt for a no mesh surgery due to the amount of difficulties this mesh has caused me, wouldnt it be the most sensible thing if i just went to the shouldice clinic and had it done by the experts? Who have trained and experience years of this technique whilst also teaching other doctors?

[Baris]

Thank you for the reply and list of doctors.
I had a open surgery both times and the mesh inserted was a german pvdf dyno mesh. If i remember right the surgeon told me that it had larger pores and therefore would be comfortable. Also wanted to state that my genitofermoral nerve was removed both sides. I also have a lot of swelling on the pubic area and it still hasnt reduced on either side although its been 4 months. Can this be due to the reoccurence? Something that can settle if i had succesful surgery?