mamadunlop
Forum Replies Created
-
Just thought I would post an update….. I am still waiting for the surgery. I have a date of June 25th…. the hospital has just been slammed and there has not been any opening sooner. I have been waiting since march and just pushing through the pain and limited movement.
-
Thanks! Just watched his talk from Tuesday and it made me feel even better about having him as my surgeon, not that I was doubting that… he is amazing and I am so lucky to have found him after my initial 3 surgeries by a different surgeon failed.
Haven’t heard from him yet so now we wait over the weekend and hope for a call on Monday. The waiting for appts, for phone calls, for surgery… that is the hardest part. I am worried about the fact that there are bowels in one of the hernia, but it must not be that urgent if I haven’t heard yet.
-
Thanks for the suggestions! We have talked about connective tissue disorders but I don’t have any other symptoms and it wouldn’t change our treatment.
I got a CT immediately and it shows a mess. I have not one but 3 new hernias, the old pig mesh is mallee up in one spot and my abdominal muscles have detached again (I had abdominal wall reconstruction 5 years ago for the same reason) plus for the first time there are loops of small and large bowl in one of the hernias. I knew I had random other pain but I am so used to having some pain I didn’t notice. It does explain why I look 6 months pregnant the last two months even though I have only gained 10 pounds. Waiting for a phone call from Martindale today to discuss the plan. In the meantime trying to not get too upset.
-
Have you seen the documentary on Netflix called “The Bleeding Edge” If I had only known 7 years ago, what I know now. I am always wanting to find a way to get a story out to the news or the papers… it is so unkown and untalked about. You never see a news story about the dark side of hernia repairs….
-
Back on here to give an update…. I had weight loss (Gastric sleeve) almost a year ago and lost 70 pounds. In August I had the large mesh repair… Overall my recovery was so much easier with the weight loss and I was really happy with how it all went…. but now I am 2 months post op and started having hernia pain again, new lump, all the usual symptoms. I am so discouraged. This repair did not even last 2 months… This was my 7th hernia surgery, and was suppossed to be my last, but now…. I am at a loss. I have an appt to see the surgeon but really just dont even know what to do. Seems that any place they operate on me leaves even more of a weekness. I am literally all mesh….so maybe I need to just accept that I will be in pain for life. Sad thought at 45. -(
-
Dr Martindale has not retired, I just had surgery with him in August and am seeing him again in November… but not sure if he is taking new patients? He has done 4 surgeries on me and is great! Unfortunately I am just swiss cheese it seems..
-
yep, just commented on my other post, but that is precisely what we are going to do. Gastric sleeve to get the weight down, and then will do a big repair of the new hernias next year….. until then I will deal with the pain….I am ok with this as I will do anything to get the chance of reoccurance down!
-
FINALLY saw Dr. Martindale today. We had a LONG discussion along with 5 med students. 🙂 Glad I can help them learn what a chronic hernia patient experiences! He wants to go in and place a LARGE mesh basically wrapping it around my sides and down through my pubic area, anchoring it to my pubic bone. We got on the topic of what will give us the BEST longterm outcome and of course it is lower weight…. A little background, before all this happened I was working out, running, active and have since gained 50 pounds and cant exercise. Loosing weight has been super tough… along with that I am not HUGE, but not well. My BMI is 38. So, we decided that a gastric sleeve procedure would give us the best outcome. It will allow me to lose weight and then be in the best shape I can be for the big surgery that is needed. It means putting it off and living with the pain until we can do the mesh placement surgery but I am willing to do that and go through all of this if it means that the long term outlook will be better…with my current porcine mesh he believes they should be able to do the gastric sleeve laproscopically. Curious if anyone else has done weight loss surgery to better their hernia outcomes?
-
Tomorrow is my follow up with Dr. MARTINDALE…I will post our plan then. Anxious to see what he says!
-
Mom of 4….thank you soooooo much!! It does help and I agree… I want more I found out the shy before I have surgery again…. your story sounds identicall to Mine! I still trust my surgeon and will bring up the testing you are doing and see what he says…. and yes, the weight loss thing…ugh! I am down 10 pounds but do need to lose about 50 more…. so hard when you have chronic pain and depression from chronic pain, but it is time to suck it up!!!
-
No, I now have a biological patch…. basically from hip to hip and groin to belly button…. one big pig skin. It was a very difficult repair, and my left side is always what has given me trouble, though I have had them on my right as well. The new one is in the same spot on my left that has given me a lot of trouble, it is pretty far over to the side, so it is hard to repair. I guess I am just frustrated more than anything….. I am overweight, and know that I need to lose weight (5’3″ 220 pounds) but not being able to exercise really puts a damper on that…and honestly, when you are in and out of recovery or in pain, it is very hard mentally to get on top of that. I soooo want to. But I also know that is not a magic fix either. I am sure genetically there must be a reason. This all started with a hysterectomy 8 years ago that gave me my first incisional hernia. I feel like I am made of swiss cheese 🙂
-
advice on abdominal wall reconstruction
Thank you Mom of 4 for sharing! I have too much scar tissue and this is too big of a surgery to be done laproscopically. So he is going all in, and my incision will be vertical, several inches long…. because of the way my muscles have separated. He is placing biological mesh over my entire belly area, and is actually going in and placing it BEHIND my muscles, instead of the usual over the top of the hernia…so it will be a bit more invasive. He is looking to strengthen the entire area since I seem so prone to hernias. I am not looking forward to the recovery. 🙁 I have never had drains, assuming that it is more common with abdominal reconstruction more so than an open hernia repair or mesh removal.
Now I am just biding my time, waiting very IMPATIENTLY to get on with it 🙂 December is not going to come soon enough. 🙂
You said you are a year out, how would you describe your pain now and how does it limit you in terms of e exercise, doing things with the kids/ family etc. Wondering if I will ever get out hiking with my family, or clean my house again. (not that I mind that I cant clean…LOL)
A
-
advice on abdominal wall reconstruction
Thank you for always responding to our posts. This can be a lonely road 🙂 I trust Dr. Martindale and am just anxious to get this over with and move on. In the meantime I am slowly losing weight and trying to walk more, but even walking gives me pain… hard to find exercises that don’t cause pain. It is amazing how much we use our tummy muscles and dont realize! 🙂
A
-
No mesh Hernia surgeons in Portland Oregon?
Dr Martindale is amazing! He did my mesh removal and repaired my hernias with no mesh. I am slated for another surgery coming up in december and we will be using biological mesh this time around. I can honestly say that unlike my last surgeon, I have no worries that dr. Martindale can do what he says. He is the best in his field in my opinion! He listens to you, he cares. He is a great De.