localCivilian
Forum Replies Created
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Wow. What a rollercoaster you’ve been on.
At this point and after this many recurrences, I would for sure go out of my way to find a true hernia specialist. Dr. Towfigh would be the best option for you. You can even schedule an online consultation with her if you can’t make it out to LA. At least just to get a solution as to what’s going on with you and recurrences. She’s also an expert when it comes to hernias in women so that’s also a big bonus. She may be able to use some of her evidence and findings to help you out with your case.
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[USER=”2608″]dog[/USER] One person’s experience is not another’s experience. No matter how skilled a surgeon is, it’s always good to get a lot of information from different sources, wethers it’s good or bad.
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[USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] As far as incisional hernias, is there really another option than mesh though? I rarely hear or read of incisional hernia repaired by sutures. Most incisional hernias are of decent to great size (unless a trocar site hernia) and I assume they grow rapidly. I can only imagine how fast a recurrence would happen if done only by sutures, especially with a good amount of risk factors (smokers, obese, etc…)
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Seems like it could for sure be the mesh then if you weren’t having these problems before implantation, especially the systemic symptoms. If I were you I would go with removal.
Any surgery could be high-risk but removal can be done as you can see it has been done to many other members on the forum. In experienced hands it sure is feasible and doable. Removing mesh if it was for an incisional hernia isn’t AS hard as compared to the stories you hear when it comes removing mesh from an inguinal hernia as there are so many structures nearby.
Only downside is that removal of mesh done by experienced and expert hands will most likely involve traveling and possibly paying out of pocket, but there are a good amount of talented surgeons that you can go to no matter what part of the U.S. you are in.
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I’m sorry for what you’re going through and I hope you can eventually find a solution. Did you happen to have any prior surgery before the mesh was implanted that involved opening the entire abdomen up? From my understanding, and anyone correct me if I’m wrong, little if any adhesions form after mesh is placed in retro rectus fashion, at least from what I have read. Adhesions usually form a lot when mesh is placed inside the abdominal cavity, in contact with the bowel. Even with the abdominoplasty, it still doesn’t involve cutting straight through the peritoneum, so I wouldn’t expect to form such dense adhesions. Again, correct me if I’m wrong.
[USER=”1660″]idoncov[/USER] As far as the systemic symptoms you could for sure be having a reaction to mesh if those were present before mesh implantation. Your symptoms are super similar to idoncov and his experience with the mesh. He’s talked about it on the forum before.
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Perfectly normal. Had it done for an umbilical hernia. Everyone heals different. Doctor told me I would be back to 100% by a week and a half but really took me over a month to feel back to 90%. Even at that time, you’re still gonna feel a little tugging and pulling in the area depending on where your hernia was. Give it some time and be patient because internal healing could be a good while. The bloating from the gas is what stuck with me for a few weeks and it sucked. Take it easy and I wish you a good recovery!
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[USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] Also to add that’s interesting, Dr. Novitisky had mesh problems himself. He had a bowel obstruction. But it was because of the metal spiral tacks that were used for fixation. He tweeted one time about it and has a study on it as well. It seems like he mainly focuses on ventral hernias.
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[USER=”2882″]Colrie87[/USER] I’m glad you’re going with your heart and that you found a good surgeon. I wish you the very best on your recovery!
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From what I’ve read and heard from people who have inguinal hernias, if you develop one on one side, you’re most likely to get one on the other. Not in most cases I’’’m sure. I could be wrong. But it could be another hernia on the other side. One good thing about laparoscopic repaired inguinal hernias is that they’’re able to see the other side to check if there’s another defect.
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Is your hernia large?
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[USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] What do you mean by absorbable tacks becoming encapsulated? Curious because absorbable tacks were used for fixation of my repair.
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[USER=”2042″]Jnomesh[/USER] I can see why it would change the way your abdomen feels. Recovering from that sure does suck. For sure isn’t no “walk in the park” as they say it is, at least for me.
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[USER=”2862″]kaspa[/USER] I agree with you on the interest of laparoscopic surgery for such minor surgeries. I had an umbilical hernia repaired laparoscopically. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would’ve searched for a surgeon who would’ve done open surgery. With mesh or not wouldn’t have mattered to me since I had an umbilical hernia, although I do wish I could’ve found someone who wouldn’t of have put the mesh inside my abdominal cavity and would have done TEP at least if it was going to be done laparoscopically.
Going back to your comment, since laparoscopic is praised as the “shorter recovery” method (as it is but for major surgeries), I really do think I would have recovered much faster with an open repair, especially since my hernia wasn’t big at all. A small incision above my naval probably wouldn’t of have done much harm to me as far as the recovery…
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Dr. Yuri Novitsky and Dr. Brian Jacob are two very well known hernia surgeons in NYC.
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[USER=”2608″]dog[/USER][USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] Very good point. I think Good Intentions once said on here recently that it’s not like a broken bone repair, it’s something that’s with you forever, which is true.
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[USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] I know what you mean. I’m just saying that I have not found that many studies that shows a significant difference between a mesh repair and a pure tissue repair as far as chronic pain. Although I will say that the complications are much more serious with a mesh repair, so I guess that is just a mesh problem in general like you say. But those serious complications that I have seen occur with mesh, it really is surgical technique and perhaps problems with the device. It seems like a lot of complications occur months and years down the road. If it doesn’t occur immediately after surgery, I wouldn’t think it’s the mesh. Correct me if I’m wrong. Most complication studies that I have read up on do happen because of mesh migration, shrinkage, folding and I have seen a lot of chronic lain problems especially with the fixation method that was used. Those metal spiral racks are like the devil it seems and should be banned, btw. But with complications like infection, I agree that you just can’t prevent those. Some complications, you just can’t prevent. I don’t think ALL of the problem is mesh, but the problem is surgical technique and if not then it seems to be a mesh manufacture problem. I will agree that it seems like mesh companies are just shoving these mesh products down the throats of almost all surgeons in the United States, when it shouldn’t be that way. I think if the FDA and mesh companies themselves took mesh a lot more serious, you would see better results. As far as surgical technique, if you think about at least 90% of people who develop a hernia, they usually just get referred to a general surgeon who does not perform most of these at all, rather than someone who does hundreds of hernias per year. Most of those general surgeons don’t even come close to putting in the time and thought into tailoring the right repair for their patients such as placement, fixation, six of mesh and even wether or not to use mesh in the first place. They just seem to do what they’ve been doing for the last few years and what they think is the fastest repair. I think that’s always important to take into consideration. I would just like to see mesh results when I like said, the FDA and mesh companies start taking complications serious. I do believe that improvement can be made if there is more research on how to improve mesh itself rather than just come up with good marketing ideas.
If more surgeons would practice a good pure tissue repair more often, I would love that, trust me.
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[USER=”935″]drtowfigh[/USER] Thank you for the information Dr. Towfigh. The sensations btw are slowly decreasing. So I guess most likely for sure it’s still just a bit swollen, I am slow healer unfortunately.
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Since I had umbilical hernia repair with mesh, done laparoscopically, it seems like I’ve done countless research on countless studies and experiences due to me freaking out. I finally came to the conclusion, and this is just based on all I’ve read and seen, there is no perfect hernia repair as Dr. Towfigh states sometimes on this thread. No hernia repair is the same for everyone. I don’t really believe in the mesh vs no-mesh repair argument anymore because it really all just depends on the patient and their needs. There is a time and place for mesh and there is a time and place for a pure tissue repair. It seems like most mesh related complications occur because of surgical technique. Materials, the size of the mesh, size of the pores, the placement of the mesh, etc… are all important factors to take into consideration when implanting mesh, therefore, it is very important to find a surgeon who has expertise experience in hernia repairs that way they can tailor a repair that is right for you based on your factors as a patient.
Same goes for the Souldice repair. I have seen many complaints of chronic pain associated with the Shouldice repair and other pure tissue repairs. In a few studies, the complication rate actually appears to the be same compared to mesh repairs. The reason for this I feel like, as I stated above, not every repair seems to tailor to every patient. Personally, I do believe that laparoscopic and robotic methods have a significant advantage over a traditional open repair. Obviously the mean reason is not having such a huge scar on your body. Also is the best option when it comes to less formation of adhesions in the abdominal cavity and a much much better recovery experience.
At the end of the day, it really is hard to find a perfect repair, wether it’s mesh or no-mesh. Every repair has its complications. The best thing we can do as patients is to find the best possible hernia surgeon who will tailor a repair to match the patient.
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[USER=”1660″]idoncov[/USER] Good point on the mesh size, never seemed to think of it that way. The mesh size that was implanted in me was a
5.12 x 5.12 circular mesh, so pretty large. I think surgeons put such a large piece though due to mesh shrinkage, although I’m not sure if mesh really does shrink that quickly or at all. I guess it depends on the materials used.I just hope it isn’t adhesions. From what I hear, adhesions is a whole different ball game that is never ending. The only way to cut off adhesions is by surgery, which is what gives you more and more adhesions in the first place.
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[USER=”1660″]idoncov[/USER] Also, how are you feeling after the removal? Any other problems?