Johnso
Forum Replies Created
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LD50:
I assume it will be available on her HerniaTalk LIVE channel soon but I watched it on her Facebook page. Just scroll down to the talk.
https://www.facebook.com/Dr.Towfigh/
Johnso
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Dr Towfigh:
Thank you for asking Noreen this question.
Her petition also included a request to “establish a patient registry for all implantable devices to enable long term follow-up and surveillance”. I assume she is still pursuing this because I do not believe one exists in Canada this time.
She certainly is an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated person who is doing what she can to improve patient safety.
Johnso
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Dr. Towfigh:
I am looking forward to listening to this talk.
I hope Noreen Wideman has the time to comment on the Canadian Government’s response to the Petition she initiated regarding Synthetic Mesh Implants that was presented to the House of Commons by Martin Shields (MP Bow River) in 2018.
johnso
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Jordan:
You may be able to get a recommendation from this forum:
https://forum.meshmedicaldevicenewsdesk.com/
All the best,
johnso
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Yes, I believe it was Mr Sea’s first post when he started the discussion. He was on the top of the “Newest Members” list at the time. He is no longer on that list or listed as a member. Maybe he was inadvertently removed when some of the spam members were removed.
I checked my browser’s history and the link to the discussion indicates “Page Not Found”.
It definitely was a very interesting and informative discussion. Hopefully the discussion can be recovered. If not I hope Mr. Sea returns and signs up again to keep us updated on the results of his repair and to answer questions. If he doesn’t I can understand why.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by Johnso.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 8 months ago by
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Watchful:
I know 2 people who experienced a rapid decline in their cognitive ability after surgery requiring general anesthetic. Another friend of mine after 3 surgeries requiring general anesthetic said he does not feel as sharp as he was prior to surgery. I can only hope the medical community develops a general anesthetic that is gentler on the mind.
During Dr. Towfigh’s Hernia Talk Live #98 “Watchful Waiting for Hernias” with Dr. Fitzgibbons, Dr. Fitzgibbons said for uncomplicated unilateral hernias a lot of his patients especially doctors prefer an open repair so they can avoid general anesthetic (30 minute mark approx).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpulDqYVy5A
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Johnso.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by
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Good Intentions:
I have watched a few inguinal hernia repair videos on the internet. One of these videos shows a surgeon using staples to fixate the mesh during a “Lichtenstein” repair. I don’t think this is acceptable practice.
Here is a link to Dr. Chen’s presentation “Open Lichtenstein – How and when I do it” at the 2017 Sages Convention.
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William:
In addition to travel insurance I believe what you will need is referred to as Medical Tourism Insurance. It covers complications arising from the planned medical treatment.
johnso
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Ian:
On Hernia Talk Live #85: “Hernia Surgery and the COVID Pandemic” Dr. Towfigh mentioned she will be making her paper on Mesh Implant Illness and mesh removal available on her website after it is published. I assume she is referring to her Beverly Hills Hernia Center website. Hopefully she will provide a link on this forum when the paper is available and it is available in time to help with your hernia mesh removal decision.
You can skip ahead and listen from 15:45 to 17:20 to hear what she said. Here is a link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rTGQ62gu-8
johnso
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Johnso.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Good intentions:
It looks like the article is there now. Here is a link:
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William
I don’t have Netflix so I can’t help you with the title of the documentary that Alphey is referring to.
I assume you have watched the BBC’s documentaries on surgical mesh but you may not have seen CTV’s W5 documentary “Mesh Misgivings”. It originally aired in 2017 and was updated in 2018 after the tragic death of Chrissy Brajcic. I believe Dr. Morrison who was interviewed in the documentary recently retired.
Here is a Youtube link to the video:
W5: How safe are surgical mesh implants? – Bing video
johnso
Sorry it does not look like the link I posted works. If you are interested in watching it you can always do a search.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Johnso.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
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William:
Here is a link I found wrt stainless steel sutures. Nickel is listed and I believe it is generally used in the manufacturing of stainless steel. I don’t know what percentage of nickel is in the sutures used at Shouldice.
https://suturebasics.com/surgical-stainless-steel-suture-wire-material-316lvm/
I believe most surgeons doing Shouldice repairs outside of the Shouldice Clinic use a synthetic suture such as prolene but I am not an expert.
johnso
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Johnso.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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William:
Dr. Towfigh did a Hernia Talk Live Session with Dr. Spencer Netto from the Shouldice Clinic last year. Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-5vJbGU2Co
If you are interested it is worth a listen to hear what they do with the cremasteric muscle, the nerves and why they still use stainless steel sutures.
On the internet I have found 2 different stories as to why Dr. Shouldice started using stainless steel sutures but the most common and probably the actual reason is its minimal inflammatory properties.
Colin:
I wonder if a highly sensitive metal detector would be able to detect stainless steel sutures and therefore satisfy your curiosity.
johnso
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Dr. Towfigh:
Thank you for letting me know. I realize more research needs to be done.
My preference is a non mesh based repair but I may not be a suitable candidate. For more than 30 years I have been dealing with chronic IBS and my hernia may be too large. Eventually I will follow your advice and get a second opinion so I can avoid any plugs or bilayer meshes.
As a person with an intestinal disorder I found last year’s Hernia Talk Live Session with Dr. Treyzon very interesting and informative.
johnso
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Katherine:
Out of curiosity when you first posted earlier this year I decided to do a search for surgeons in Texas that do hernia repairs and found Dr. Echo’s website. At the time if I recall correctly his website mentioned that he does the Shouldice repair just as Eu’s link indicates. It is interesting that he did not mention this repair to you. Maybe he believes your hernia is best suited for the Muschaweck repair but what do I know.
The following discussion if you have not already read it indicates that Dr. Brown has now retired. There is also information about Dr. Yunis that you may find interesting.
https://herniatalk.com/forums/topic/serious-need-of-finding-the-top-doc-for-mesh-removal/
I hope you are able to find a surgeon that you are both confident and comfortable with to repair your hernia.
johnso
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Dr. Towfigh:
Hopefully the work/research that you and others are doing on “implant illness” will result in a reliable screening process that can identify individuals who are at risk of developing this illness. I have a few autoimmune disorders, psoriasis and alopecia areata and few other conditions that makes me wonder if I am at a higher risk of developing an “implant illness” including what you have appropriately coined “Mesh Implant Illness (MII)”.
johnso
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Dr. Towfigh:
For me the question you received about neurodegenerative disorders hits close to home. I know two people whose lives were changed after hip replacement surgery. At the time both were in their 80’s and prior to surgery they had mild memory issues. I don’t like using the term dementia. After surgery they both had severe memory issues. When released from hospital one was sent to a long term care facility and the other with support from family and some homecare was able to return home. Both lost their independence.
I realize I am not medically qualified and my observations are anecdotal but I believe anyone who has pre-existing cognitive impairment especially if they are elderly is at increased risk of their condition worsening when undergoing major surgery. Whatever the cause anesthetic, changes in blood flow during surgery, post surgical inflammation or something else more research needs to be done to find methods to reduce the risk.
On a side note the person who was able to return home had a hernia repaired at the Shouldice Clinic several years earlier when in their 70’s. There weren’t any complications and the repair never failed.
johnso
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Thank you for another interesting and informative HerniaTalk LIVE. Enjoy your “break” when you take it.
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Mark:
When I was first referred to a surgeon to have my umbilical hernia looked at the surgeon stuck one of his fingers into the hernia I assume to determine the size of the defect. Based on this the surgeon told me he would repair the hernia with sutures under general anesthetic but because my hernia was asymptomatic I could take the watchful waiting approach. Not comfortable undergoing general anesthetic I decided to go with watchful waiting. At that time I was not aware of the potential complications associated with mesh and was not concerned about having a mesh repair. I actually expected a mesh repair would have been recommended.
Over time my umbilical hernia increased in size and eventually became problematic. I finally decided I needed to get it repaired. I was examined by a resident who did the finger probe and told me the hernia would be repaired open with mesh under general anesthetic. I believe the defect was just over 2cm in diameter but I’m not exactly sure. At that time I was aware of the potential complications associated with mesh and told the surgeon doing the repair I would prefer a suture repair if possible. I remember hearing the surgeon saying umbilical hernia repair with mesh just before the anesthetic was administered. After I woke up I was told the surgeon was able to repair the hernia without mesh due to the strength of my tissue.
It has been over 4 years and the repair has not failed and I hope it continues to hold up. I will say the incision was quite painful for a few weeks after the surgery. I had to be careful getting in and out of bed. I had some abdominal swelling for a few days and the healing ridge took a few months to resolve. I followed the instructions provided by the hospital including not lifting anything over 10 pounds for 5 weeks.
What ever you decide, I wish you all the best.
Johnso
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Good intentions:
Thank you for providing the link to this talk. I have watched some of the videos available on SAGES Youtube channel but I had not watched this one. When this was presented in April 2019 Dr. Bendavid was still alive. He died on September 30, 2019. He was in Hamburg for the 41st EHS congress and scheduled to give a talk on femoral hernias on September 13, 2019 but he became too ill to present it. He returned to Canada but never recovered and passed away in hospital.
Mesh Desk News and other websites indicated Dr. Bendavid was involved as an expert for upcoming hernia mesh product liability trials in the US. I can only speculate but this may be the reason why his name is on the opening slide for the talk.
With the increased and increasing awareness of the potential complications associated with surgical mesh why aren’t more surgeons taking the time to learn tissue repair techniques especially for inguinal hernias and adding it to their practice? This way they can comfortably offer a tissue repair to those who are suitable candidates and prefer to avoid mesh.
Hopefully others will continue Dr. Bendavid’s work and his dedication to tissue repairs. If not, Dr. Felix’s “guesstimate” on HerniaTalk LIve that “in another 10 years there’ll be very very few surgeons that know how to do a tissue repair” may become a reality.
johnso