Good intentions
Forum Replies Created
-
This is the thread which had G-K’s post deleted as SPAM. [USER=”935″]drtowfigh[/USER] [USER=”2781″]G-K[/USER]
-
Notice that she does not give her name on the blog. But it is linked indirectly. It would be interesting to know how her hernia repairs are doing. She said that she had two. That is the main problem with the industry today. It’s all internet stories, with few metrics, despite close to one million surgeries per year.
Here’s the quote. The blog post was May 2015. So it’s been at least three years. It sounds like a lap procedure. Notice the focus on the scar.
“So one last confession. I had two hernias repaired in November last year. I got a colleague to do it, with mesh, and a general anesthetic, as day surgery, in one of our local hospitals. I went back to work in less than 48 hours and I am very happy with my scar. I would recommend this approach (and frequently do) to anyone, including my patients”
-
My post just got flagged also. Certain words like m e s h seem to get flagged.
I saw your post and it was very reasonable. dog’s reponse to your post is still there. Very strange that it got flagged late like it did.
Dr. Towfigh is the moderator. You can click on her avatar or use the @ symbol. The @ symbol doesn’t always catch though.
[USER=”935″]drtowfigh[/USER]
-
Dr. Towfigh is the site moderator. I have found that certain phrases might be the cause, like “mesh …. removal” or “mesh … implantation”. She can often release them for publication. I try to remember to copy the text of my posts before I try to post them so that I can repaste and try again with a few words removed.
The site uses the “@” method for notification. Sometimes you have to wait for it to pick up the sign though. You can also send Dr. Towfigh a message by clicking on her avatar. [USER=”935″]drtowfigh[/USER]
I think that I saw your post. dog responded to it, his response to you is still there. Surprised that it got flagged later. It seemed reasonable, maybe somebody thought it was a sales pitch. Thanks for posting though, and good luck.
https://www.herniatalk.com/9141-no-mesh-hernia-repair-experiences-with-dr-william-brown-others
-
In the United States the FDA would be the organization expected to monitor the safety of the various manufacturers’ products. But they generally rely on self-policing by the device makers themselves. It has been well-reported that the FDA is very lax in actual monitoring of product safety, only acting when publicity gets too extreme. Consider opioids and trans-vaginal mesh. They rely on reports from end-users like us, the patients, or from the surgeons who actually implanted the devices to inform them of problems. They are a reactive organization, not an active enforcement agency.
Unfortunately, the impression that the FDA is watching and keeping everyone safe is also shared by many in the medical community.
Your best source of information, sadly, is the various social media sites across the internet. Running enthusiast sites, weightlifting, mesh specific sites, hernia repair sites like this one. There is no “official” organization that has the mission of proactively seeking out that type of information.
As a result, all of the mesh products have the same low level of safety information. They’re all a gamble.
-
The study is scheduled for completion in December 2021. Ethicon is already using the data, in vague claims, post above, to sell their mesh. But nothing is said about their failures.
-
[USER=”2727″]kchabot[/USER]
Didn’t work above but looks like it did here.
-
quote kchabot:Thank you for all your help and guidance . My Dad’s challenges are now a “full body” experience. He also has a pacemaker (2013) and bilateral knee replacements (2015). I’m certain we are dealing with an autoimmune response to all his implants. I hope there is something we can do to alleviate his suffering. It is comforting to be validated. Best to you all.
Dr. Earle is newly active. I hope that you sent him a message and that he replied. You can use the “at” sign to contact him indirectly. It doesn’t always work though. Good luck.
[USER=”1292″]DrEarle[/USER]
-
I read the article that Dr. Earle linked and can’t get past the fact that even she, the author, “chooses” to believe the story that is told over and over, despite well-documented and available evidence to the contrary. It’s not the mesh, it’s the skill of the surgeon. The cognitive bias is incredible, but understandable. It must be very hard to accept that you’ve been harming one out of six of your patients, by the inherent qualities of the material itself. Not the technique, or placement of the material. Accepting that the device makers have pulled a fast one.
Very frustrating to see well-educated people avoiding confronting a very important health issue.
“The “standard of care” now is to do hernia repairs with mesh, a plastic like substance which allows for less pain (if inserted properly), earlier return to work, and decreased recurrence rates. ”
Any problems with the Shouldice method are completely unrelated to the problems with mesh implantation. That’s where true progress in health care can be made. We should focus on mesh.
-
Thank you for commenting Dr. Earle. I think that the more salient point is not that he chose Shouldice, but that he did not choose one of the prevailing laparoscopic mesh repair methods from an American clinic.
Is he really choosing Shouldice or is he avoiding mesh? He is from Kentucky, why didn’t he go to the University of Kentucky’s clinic? Good political publicity, keeping it in state, advertising the capabilities of a state university.
https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/services/hernia-program
Or he could have gone back to Duke, his alma mater.
So, not only did he miss the opportunity to keep it in state, he even left the country. There are plenty of well-known American clinics that accept cash payment. The stated reason for going to Shouldice seems disingenuous.
-
Actually, I just found one. You can click on his name, or the little word bubble by his name,and send him a message. Post #7 from 2016. Sounds very promising. Good luck.
https://www.herniatalk.com/393-chronic-pain-after-inguinal-hernia-repair-boston
-
He seemed to be thinking right in 2007, see the image and the first link below. I have not seen a single post from him on this site though. There are posts where people respond to Chaunce1234 (I did once before Chaunce1234 corrected me) as if he is Dr. Earle, but no confirmed Dr. Earle posts.
No idea what his thinking is today. He consults for Bard though, apparently (see the springer.com link below), so might have some internal conflicts, not so free to act on his opinion. Might be a problem.
Good luck to your Dad. Is his problem centered around the hernia repair site or is it a general overall physical problem? I know of at least one person who had a “full body” reaction to his second mesh implant.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00464-016-5072-x
Attachments:
-
[USER=”2042″]Jnomesh[/USER]
[USER=”2754″]PowerSeed[/USER] -
quote PowerSeed:Also would appreciate comments on…
- Living with it as long as possible vs. actively seeking repair surgery?
- Necessity of mesh removal?
- Patching mesh on mesh?
- Anyone aware of issues with Ethicon’s SecureStrap absorbable tacking system–mine must have come loose?
- Intrigued by simplicity of the Desarda procedure vs. Shouldice but note Dr. Tomas, for one, only removes mesh that is placed from an OPEN surgical hernia repair technique—is this due to liability risk? Are there others who remove lap mesh and do Desarda?
Thanks again!
Bard’s 3D Max product is supposed to be designed to eliminate the need for fixation. Finding a different surgeon certainly seems reasonable.
I would find a surgeon who has experience in fixing mesh failures. The expertise used for laparoscopic mesh implantation is probably quite a bit different than an open repair of a mesh failure.
Jnomesh is deeply involved in the problems with 3D Max. You might check out the Facebook pages he has linked in previous posts. There are probably others who’ve had a failure and had it repaired and might have real experience with surgeons who have that expertise. Experience is supposedly the number one attribute to look for when choosing a surgeon. Find one who has experience in fixing mesh failures.
-
I don’t think that “Da Vinci surgeon” is actually a thing. The Da Vinci system is just a tool to get the work done. Seems like some good branding though. Da Vinci is a very famous name.
Some coincidental comments on Dr. Towfigh’s Twitter page.
https://twitter.com/SuEller4/status/1079182637217054720
So, same hernia expert surgeon, robot vs lap, does robotic have more complications than lap? I believe the saying is “A fool with a tool is still a fool”. A bad surgeon with a robot is still a bad surgeon?! Thankful for the good surgeons, especially you hernia surgeons!
— Susan Eller (@SuEller4) December 30, 2018
-
Be careful, and don’t rush. You are on the path for bilateral mesh …. implantation. They are probably planning exploratory surgery based on the imaging results, but ready to implant mesh if any sign of herniation is present. The “standard of care” is to implant as much mesh as can be fit in to the area. Low body fat small women seem to be a high risk category for chronic pain or discomfort after mesh implantation You could easily end up in a much worse situation that you are now with two large pieces of mesh implanted across all of your lower abdomen. It’s what they do now.
You might have better luck contacting Dr. Towfigh’s practice directly. The contact info is on the site somewhere, but also here on her Twitter page, below. Good luck.
-
quote Mariel:It wasn’t until I went to a private ultrasound place that they found what appears to be a ” right & also left bowel containing inguinal hernias”.
I am planning/hoping to get surgery by a hernia specialist here in Seattle, WA….. But currently am waiting in the hands of my terrible insurance for them to approve the out of network surgery.I do not trust them to perform my surgery, since they kept disregarding mine as nothing. Especially since I’m female and have 2, would prefer an experienced surgeon.
Be careful, and don’t rush. You are on the path for bilateral mesh implantation. They are probably planning exploratory surgery based on the imaging results, but ready to implant mesh if any sign of herniation is present. The “standard of care” is to implant as much mesh as can be fit in to the area. Low body fat small women seem to be a high risk category for chronic pain or discomfort after mesh implantation You could easily end up in a much worse situation that you are now with two large pieces of mesh implanted across all of your lower abdomen. It’s what they do now.
You might have better luck contacting Dr. Towfigh’s practice directly. The contact info is on the site somewhere, but also here on her Twitter page, below. Good luck.
-
quote katiebarns:It’s been a year already and I’m losing hope. I can’t walk and stand without pain anymore.
Hello Katie. I’ve found at times that I can get a persistent sore spot that does not resolve with rest. Instead, working the area by running, hiking, or biking relieves the pain. Vigorous activity that causes heavy breathing and blood flow. My theory about why it works is based on Dr. Bendavid’s proposal that the small pores of the mesh cause nerve damage in the tissue that occupy the pores. The small pores are dead zones, toxic to the nerves that have grown back in.
It’s counterintuitive but if nothing else works it might be worth a shot. I think that the heavy breathing causes more fluid flow in the lower abdomen than just stretching or working out or walking. I have gone several days with no change until I decide to just do something because it’s not getting better.
I am not a medical doctor so use your own judgment. This is just my own experience. Some time on an exercise bike might tell you something without causing too much pain.
Here is a link to Dr. Bendavid’s paper. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/IJCM_2014072117033945.pdf
-
quote katiebarns:It’s been a year already and I’m losing hope. I can’t walk and stand without pain anymore.
Hello Katie. I’ve found at times that I can get a persistent sore spot, even after 90% mesh removal, that does not resolve with rest. Instead, working the area by running, hiking, or biking relieves the pain. Vigorous activity that causes heavy breathing and blood flow. My theory about why it works is based on Dr. Bendavid’s proposal that the small pores of the mesh cause nerve damage in the tissue that occupy the pores. The small pores are dead zones, toxic to the nerves that have grown back in.
It’s counterintuitive but if nothing else works it might be worth a shot. I think that the heavy breathing causes more fluid flow in the lower abdomen than just stretching or working out or walking. I have gone several days with no change until I decide to just do something because it’s not getting better.
I am not a medical doctor so use your own judgment. This is just my own experience. Some time on an exercise bike might tell you something without causing too much pain.
Here is a link to Dr. Bendavid’s paper. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/IJCM_2014072117033945.pdf
-
quote katiebarns:It’s been a year already and I’m losing hope. I can’t walk and stand without pain anymore.
Hello Katie. I’ve found at times that I can get a persistent sore spot, even after 90% mesh removal, that does not resolve with rest. Instead, working the area by running, hiking, or biking relieves the pain. Vigorous activity that causes heavy breathing and blood flow. My theory about why it works is based on Dr. Bendavid’s proposal that the small pores of the mesh cause nerve damage in the tissue that occupy the pores. The small pores are dead zones, toxic to the nerves that have grown back in.
It’s counterintuitive but if nothing else works it might be worth a shot. I think that the heavy breathing causes more fluid flow in the lower abdomen than just stretching or working out or walking. I have gone several days with no change until I decide to just do something because it’s not getting better.
I am not a medical doctor so use your own judgment. This is just my own experience. Some time on an exercise bike might tell you something without causing too much extra pain.
Here is a link to Dr. Bendavid’s paper. http://file.scirp.org/pdf/IJCM_2014072117033945.pdf