[JPaterso]

What ?s should surgeons be asking their patients?

Hi Dr. Greenburg,

I think it is fantastic that you are taking the time, and have the interest to ask these questions!

For me, what I appreciate the most in a doctor or surgeon, is for them to allow me the time to tell my story – when my pain began, what lead up to it, the history of the affected area, how I am feeling now, what I believe may have caused the pain, etc. I am a patient of Dr. Towfigh’s and what I really appreciated about her is she took the time to really listen to what I had to say, without interruption and she believed me. I had seen five other surgeons previous to seeing Dr. Towfigh, and four out of those five were distracted, dismissive of what I had to say, rushed and did not have the time or seem to care about hearing my story. This was very frustrating and scary to me, as a patient. Of course I understand that doctors, especially good doctors are very busy and have only a certain amount of time to spend with a patient, however, in order to make an accurate diagnosis, I believe it is important for the doctor to really listen to the patient. It was also really disturbing and upsetting when some doctors did not seem to take my pain seriously, or even to really believe me, saying things like ‘I would need to learn to manage my pain’ or that ‘perhaps I needed an injection’. I knew there was something wrong inside of me, despite there being no bulge or outward appearance of a hernia. That was the reason I was visiting those surgeons!

I am so thankful for doctors such as Dr. Towfigh, and you that really do care about their patients, take the time to listen and use their expertise, combined with the information gained from the patient to investigate, accurately diagnose and fix the problem. I hope that this is helpful to you.

[JPaterso]

Hernia surgery prior to pregnancy?

Hi Isabela,
I am certainly no expert, however I can tell you about my experience. I was born with a left inguinal hernia and had it repaired, with a small mesh, at one month of age. I went on later in life to have two children, in my early 20’s with no problems getting pregnant or carrying either pregnancy to term. It was as if I never even had a hernia there. In fact, if my mother had not informed me about the hernia or repair, I would never have known, as there is no scar there or anything.

Unfortunately, I did develop an umbilical hernia about 18 years after my last pregnancy. I’m not sure if that was related to the pregnancies, but more than likely it was. I have always been petite and I am 5’3″ so my guess is the pregnancy probably strained my abdominal wall. I also have other friends that have had various types of hernias repaired prior to pregnancy with no ill effects in getting pregnant or carrying the pregnancy to term. I hope that helps.

[JPaterso]

Umbilical Hernia and Diastasis Recti

Would a repair with PVP mesh be considered a ‘bridge’ type of repair or would that close the hernia?

Thank you kindly.