Good intentions
Forum Replies Created
-
It might help to know the details of the first surgery. It sounds like it was laparoscopic and you have developed an incisional/ventral hernia. Those can be, apparently, difficult to treat effectively. The recurrence rates are high. If it was done just ten years ago you might have a mesh implant, which can affect your surgery options. You’ll want to find a skilled surgeon to avoid repeat surgeries in the future. Diastasis and an incisional hernia puts you in a risky position.
How did you choose Columbia, Turkey and Brazil as potential destinations? That is an odd mix.
-
I just noticed that there was a recent publication in Hernia baout hiatal hernias.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10029-023-02756-5
Published: 24 February 2023
The effect of surgical repair of hiatal hernia (HH) on pulmonary function: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Y. Wang, Y. Lv, Y. Liu & C. Xie
Hernia (2023)“Introduction
…
The related symptoms include digestive symptoms, such as regurgitation, dysphagia, dyspepsia, or reflux, and extra respiratory symptoms, such as dyspnea, cough, hoarseness, or anemia [3]. For all symptomatic hiatal hernias, surgical repair is necessary. Therefore, perceiving symptoms and ascertaining what role the hernias play in those symptoms is of crucial importance. However, the majority of clinical manifestations appear to be nonspecific, making it hard to determine the true extent of hiatal hernia impact.” -
It’s not clear what repair method the Centre prefers for inguinal hernias. It is worth researching their method and understanding the pros and cons. Many surgeons that used to do open repair have converted to laparoscopy and even robotic repair. There is a huge push to get the new technology in to the field.
The Centre’s web page is very dated. The last publication referred to is from 2009. The Inguinal Hernia page has a reference from 1972, not clear why.
-
Often in inguinal hernias, especially small ones, there is no intestine protruding. It is fat or omentum. The small intestine is not involved at all.
I would not assume anything. I have become cynical and skeptical so have a jaundiced view. Learn as much as you can and beware the “we’ll try” approach. Many surgeons have the view that if problems persist the patient is free to come back and they’ll make another attempt. In the hernia repair field today, new industries have grown from the problems that typical hernia repair causes. Pain clinics (which you seem to be familiar with) and mesh removal are two big ones. Each new industry has investments behind it and needs a steady flow of customers. It takes the pressure off of the surgeon to get it right the first time. If there are problems they will just pass you down the line to the next specialist.
There are definitely surgeons who are experts in multiple disciplines though, and will take a more holistic approach. You just have to find them.
-
Perineal hernias are a thing.
I just posted in someone else’s Topic about seeking out a different type of specialist for non-inguinal hernias. Inguinal hernias are high volume run-of-the-mill hernias. If you read up on inguinal hernia repair you won’t find anything about looking for perineal hernias while repairing an inguinal hernia.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23473-perineal-hernia
-
Just curious and I hope you don’t mind the discussion – but have you already been referred to a hernia specialist? When I was diagnosed with a hernia by my primary care physician he immediately offered to refer me to a surgeon. I took the referral and began researching. If I had followed the normal path and went directly to the referred surgeon, I probably would have had the surgery within a week or two. It would have been open surgery, probably Lichtenstein or a plug and patch.
-
To answer your direct question, I think that the odds are against you in thinking that small groin hernias would cause your symptoms. Nothing wrong with hoping but you are in a dangerous position now. There are many paths forward that could lead to more problems. Most of the surgeons that you talk to will be happy to schedule you for a mesh implantation as soon as they can fit you in.
Good luck and be careful. Don’t gamble.
-
The hiatal hernia seems to fit the symptoms better doesn’t it? You might be hoping for too much. Has no doctor suggested surgery for the hiatal hernia? You might be on the “repeat customer” program for pharmaceuticals.
Be careful moving forward. If you see a hernia specialist about a groin hernia it’s easy to imagine that they will schedule you for surgery, repair the inguinal hernias and leave the hiatal hernia alone. You will be back to where you have been over the past eleven years. Maybe worse off if you get certain types of repair.
You might consider seeing a weight loss surgeon. They often have expertise in hernia repair and a broader knowledge of gastrointestinal issues. The surgeon who removed the mesh from me is a weight loss surgery specialist, who also repairs hernias.
-
It definitely was not me asking to join. Feel confident in that if you decide to let them in.
Good luck with anything good that you’re trying to do.
-
It’s not clear at all what the purpose of the private group is, there is nothing on the Facebook page except a name, Natural Health All Stars, and a logo.
“Bullet proofing yourself”, above, seems to be the sole goal. Why would that be more important than posting on a freely available public forum, for everyone’s benefit?
-
Here is a place to purchase it with more details.
https://shop.lww.com/Operative-Techniques-in-Foregut-Surgery/p/9781975176617
-
Here is a good video describing future goals for mesh products. It shows the weaknesses in current products.
-
8 x 8 cm is about 3 x 3 inches. It might be that what you’re feeling is the edge of the bottom of the mesh, as far as the stabbing needles effect. Maybe not stabbing but the edges pulling away or being stressed. The mesh ends up stiffer than the surrounding tissue as the fibers become encapsulated by tissue, so the edges of the mesh become what would be called stress riser areas, in engineering terms. The soft tissue around it stretches but the mesh/tissue composite does not.
Anyway, ten weeks is not really strong enough for the tissue around the mesh to reach full strength. Study up on tissue healing and you might get some ideas about how to work your way back to your old routines. Surgeons are not really experts on things like the biology of tissue healing. They put the mesh in as it’s recommended then it’s up to the patient and others to handle the rest.
Here is a pretty good article about tissue healing. Its focus is more toward the surface, the skin, but the principles of collagen formation are the same I think.
-
Repairing an asymptomatic hernia is a topic of debate in the hernia repair world. Because of what you are experiencing.
Ride it out and see where you end up. Your body will adapt, it’s really just a question of how and how much.
-
You’re not really saying anything Pinto. Avoiding the questions I asked, and projecting them back at me.
I was planning to get a tissue repair, at either Shouldice or Dr. Brown’s place, but I believed a good friend of mine who was a surgeon, who believed what he was being told about mesh repairs by the Chair of Surgery at his clinic. Eventually I had the mesh removed, and my friend quit the clinic, a place he had been proud to be a part of, and erased any mention of it from his employment history. Not a word, just a big gap in time. He seems to be doing well at his new place of employment. But I have not talked to him since.
You and I are on the forum for very different reasons Pinto. You seem to be here for your own amusement.
-
It is not my imagination. “Supporters” were shown for past meetings. Maybe they will appear in the Final Program. The meeting is still one month away.
-
Nothing useful will come of belaboring the point, trying to “win” the argument. It’s a matter of opinion, and apparently, the use of language in a philosophical discussion, which is always the case in a discussion of philosophy. A person either believes that corporations can influence health care professionals for their own profit over the safety of the patients, or they don’t. And they can have different opinions on whether or not that is evil.
Pinto, feel free to start a new Topic defending the influence of the corporations in the field of hernia repair. Why did you decide not to use their mesh products? Why did you choose a tissue repair over a mesh repair? If you believe the marketing campaigns, mesh is “safe” and lowers your probability of recurrence dramatically. You chose a side and now you’re arguing against your own decision. Are you saying that the corporations are ignorant about their own products, and the surgeons that use them also. Can ignorance lead to evil results?
Explain your decision to ignore the mesh hernia repair device marketing, and your opinion will have much more weight. You can’t play both sides.
-
You raise some good points pinto.
But when you consider the living hell that many people with chronic pain have experienced from mesh implants, and translate that living hell to a young child, an adolescent or teenager or even young adults, I don’t think that Satanic inferences are far off. Remember that Satan is often thought of as the cause for people to do bad things. The person is not inherently bad. They are being manipulated or tempted in to doing bad things.
Aside from the philosophical discussion, the comparison between Dr. Ponsky’s video and the Master’s presenter’s video is pretty stark. But, even Dr. Ponsky stops short of describing what the effects of early mesh implantation might be. People are really afraid to criticize mesh at these corporation-sponsored conferences.
-
I had a thought to see how Dai Greene was doing and came across his Wikipedia page. Despite the horrible toll that a mesh implant had on his career and all of the publicity about it at the time, his Wikipedia page is clean of any mention of mesh or hernia. Very strange. Maybe there is a non-disparagement agreement in place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dai_Greene
Here is the Guardian story which I don’t see linked above.
-
Your whole situation seems very normal. The Progrip mesh has an absorbable component so there will be more change over time. Many people feel like they can feel the mesh inside after surgery.
I hate to say it but there is nothing that is commonly done for issues like yours. Most imaging methods cannot “see” the mesh or the people looking at the images don’t know what they’re looking at so there is no way to tell if the mesh has folded or moved.
Your surgeon has already told you to wait at least six weeks and you’re only four weeks out. You don’t have pain, just numbness and some internal irritation. It is almost certain that at your next meeting the surgeon will tell you to wait longer and see how things resolve. The standard protocol today if patients complain of pain is to refer them to pain management. There is no surgical procedure for re-adjusting the mesh if you feel like it is folded or has moved.
Ultimately it will be up to you to decide whether or not to persist in trying to make things better. Pain can be managed with pharmaceuticals but numbness just requires time and waiting for the body to respond.
But, it is still very early. At four weeks you should be okay with walking and light exercise. I found that sometimes more activity was better than rest to make things feel better. If you are just resting and taking medication you might think about getting out and about more and seeing what happens. Keeping a log of activities and their effects can help also, as you try to get back to normal.