[Meshpain]

In all honesty, the pain was much less than the original surgery. I was extremely nervous going in to have the mesh removed; worried that the pain would be as bad as the original surgery or worse but that was not the case. Some examples:

• It was almost two months after the mesh was installed before I could go a day without an opioid. When the mesh was removed, I was off them within a week.
• When the mesh was installed, it was 3 weeks before I could even walk a few blocks. When the mesh was removed, I was walking a mile within 5 days.
• I had tremendous shoulder pain from the gas after the initial surgery, of which I had none after the mesh removal surgery (I attribute this to surgical style differences).

Plus in general the pain from the second surgery was different/better because it was one that I could heal from. This was not the case with the original surgery because my body was not accepting the mesh and therefore couldn’t heal.

It’s a big decision with unknown outcomes, but I have no regrets having been through the procedure with Dr. Belyansky.
Let me know if I can be of any further help.

[Meshpain]

[USER=”2051″]ajm222[/USER] Yeah, it’s a big decision to make. At times I felt like I was on some sick game show where as the contestant I had the choice to sticking with my current pain, or I could choose what’s behind door #2 (another surgery) which might or might not be better. Sounds like your mesh isn’t causing you quite the level of pain that I had, but the surgeons I spoke with all agreed that if the pain hasn’t subsided after a year then the mesh is definitely a problem. In my case it continued to get more painful and debilitating as time went on, and there was no way I was going to live like that.

Dr. Belyansky did an amazing job and got 99% of the mesh out, as well as some sutures that had balled up and were causing me pain. My original hernias were small enough that the scar tissue from having the mesh installed and then taken out meant I wouldn’t likely need any additional repairs, and that appears to be the case. Of course I requested no mesh be put back in, and Dr. Belyansky honored my request which meant he needed to put in a few sutures near the umbilical hernia instead. To which the only downside is a slightly longer recovery time (6 months) for any very stressful activity. 3 months out I can go to the gym, run, and lift weights no problem, but I won’t be flipping cars or trying out for strongman competitions for another few months. 😉

As for recovery, it has certainly been full of ups and downs, but within days of having the mesh removed there was a clear improvement. I had lots pain from the surgery, but all the pain from the mesh was noticeably absent immediately. I was able to walk a mile about 4 days after surgery and I was off of prescription pain pills about 1 week after surgery (having been on them daily for almost a year, this was a huge victory!). One thing that was an added stress is that we live on the west coast, which meant flying out to see Dr. Belyansky. We stayed in Annapolis for two weeks total to allow for a 10-day post-surgery follow up appointment, and as I said I was doing a lot better in that time, but flying back home set me back a little bit. There was no way around this and it was doable, but it certainly wasn’t a comfortable experience flying that soon after abdominal surgery. I don’t know where you are in the country, but something to consider.

Of course as with any surgery, there are always associated risks. About 5 weeks after surgery I went to the ER with severe chest pains with the main concerns being heart attack or a pulmonary embolism having had a recent surgery. I was cleared of anything life threatening but was still having the chest pains for weeks thereafter. In the end it appears I had developed a hiatal hernia, likely from having had multiple laparoscopic surgeries (oh the irony!). Fortunately it appears to have repaired itself after a couple of months of discomfort, and now I am just mindful of my body mechanics more.

As for therapy, Dr. Belyanksy did not recommend any particular therapy for post-surgery, however based on my experience I believe it is an important part of recovery a couple of months after surgery, so be sure to find a good physical therapist or talk with your primary care doctor about it. I was surprised at how much flexibility I had lost, so be prepared that there’s just going to be things to work out and that need to get re-aligned.

So did having the mesh removed make a difference in my case? Absolutely. Did it hurt like hell? Absolutely. But it was a pain that I could heal from and work through, unlike the hernia mesh which only got worse whether I was active or stayed on the couch. It sounds like in your case the mesh is more of a discomfort or annoyance, and I can definitely understand your hesitancy to have someone else cut into you, but for me mesh removal was the obvious answer. It comes down to what is the mesh preventing you from doing in life? For me it was a lot. There’s no guaranty with any surgery, but you’d be in good hands with Dr. Belyansky.

I hope this was helpful and let me know if you want any other details.

[Meshpain]

Hey Everyone,
It has been just over 3 months since I had my mesh removed by Dr. Belyansky and the results really are amazing. There was plenty of pain from the surgery, but the relief from the mesh being removed was immediate upon waking up. He was able to get almost all of the mesh out with no complications and I feel like I have a new lease on life. Right away I no longer needed the cane to get around. Four days post surgery I was able to walk a mile for the first time in many months. Within a month I was able to lie flat again and stop sleeping in a recliner. Now I’m back at the gym regularly and doing physical therapy to work out the last remaining kinks from surgery and my sedentary “mesh lifestyle.” Sure I still have an occasional pain or some mild burning sensations, but they only last a little while and I am completely off the painkillers after being on percocet every day for almost a year. I am so very happy.

Thanks to everyone here in the forums that shared their stories and insights, and offered their support. Without this site, I know my journey would have been much longer and fraught with even greater frustrations.

Guess I’m gonna have to change my screen name now. 🙂

[Meshpain]

Thanks, everyone.

[USER=”2784″]Casey F[/USER], I hope he is able to help you as well and good luck with everything!

[USER=”2042″]Jnomesh[/USER] Your story has been essential in helping me keep on fighting to see Dr. Belyansky. I was already confident in his abilities and experience, and then for the cherry on the whipped cream, Martindale referred to Belyansky as “a wizard with the robot assist surgery.” I’ll take a wizard for my upcoming surgery. 🙂

[Meshpain]

Hey there,
I know this thread is a little old but wasn’t sure where else to post an update. Just wanted share the good news that with much persistence I was able to have a phone call with Dr. Belyansky, after which I was contacted by his office staff to schedule my mesh removal!! Turns out it was a hospital policy that was preventing self-pay for out of state patients, and Dr. Belyansky’s office will be using my case as a pilot/trial for figuring out how to allow others to be able to self-pay as well! I also managed to have a follow up call with Dr. Martindale at OHSU and he agreed that my best chances for successful outcomes would be with a surgeon skilled in robotic-assist laparoscopic surgery. (Hopefully this will be adequate for my insurance company, but that is another matter…)

So I am scheduled for mesh removal surgery in a few weeks! I’m nervous as hell and I know there’s going to be more pain that comes with the procedure, but it will all be worth it if it means less pain in the long run and getting back to the many things I’ve been unable to do. I will start a post surgery thread afterwards to give some details to the community on how that goes.

Many thanks to everyone who chimed in; your support and opinions have been invaluable in this time!

[Meshpain]

Hey Y’all , Thanks for your responses.

[USER=”2029″]Good intentions[/USER] Thanks for the recommendation. I had seen Dr Billing’s name on this site a few times, but nowhere else mentioning mesh removal. I will look into him further as a possibility here on the west coast.

[USER=”2854″]localCivilian[/USER] You are correct, Belyanksy is not in-network for my insurance plan, but he is an approved provider for my health insurance company, just in a different network that I can’t get because of where I live in Oregon. (We have honestly thought of moving across the state to switch networks, but I’m guessing the insurance company will simply continue to give us the run-around.) Insurance keeps denying my surgery insisting there is someone in-network who can perform it (because of the CPT code issue) and that I haven’t had a proper evaluation regardless that almost a dozen surgeons, specialists, and other docs who are in-network have given their opinion that the mesh needs to be removed. In fact it was at the insurance company’s insistence that I see Dr. Martindale who is NOT in-network either but is in state. Which infers to me the insurance company is admitting there is no-one in-network who can perform the surgery. [Insert beating head against board here.]

[USER=”2042″]Jnomesh[/USER] Thank you for the idea about sending him a personal letter; you’re the second person to do so recently, so I am encouraged to write that letter. And thanks for sharing your experience with Belyansky. One other detail that further complicates the decision is that Dr. Belyansky was very impressed that my original surgeon was able to place the umbilical mesh where she did without using robotic-assist, and his exact quote was “I’ll have to flay you open to remove that piece.” I’ve been unable to get any clarity on what he meant by that specifically, and unfortunately his office doesn’t seem to want to let me communicate with him until I get insurance approval (which is rather disheartening I gotta admit), but my point is that I may need to have open surgery to remove the umbilical mesh even if I go to Belyanksy, which kinda defeats the purpose of flying across the country. Again, this is an unknown, but you are absolutely right: I only get one chance at this and I want to make sure I have the best odds of success.

So at this point I am looking at Dr. Belyansky, Dr. Martindale, or potentially someone else on the west coast. Dr. Peterson seemed really aggressive in his approach, which I was uncomfortable with. While I really liked Dr. Brown, if I have to go with open surgery then it makes sense to stay in my home state. Again it boils down to risks and rewards with Open vs. Laparoscopic. What you all say about the access and potential repairs makes a lot of sense, and I am trying to schedule follow up Q&As with both Belyansky and Martindale to discuss. When it comes to laparoscopic surgery, it sure seems that robotic has the best chance of success as opposed to standard lapro. And if further evidence comes in that lapro is clearly the better solution over open but Belyanky’s office won’t accept me, then I guess I’ll be looking to schedule a consult with Dr. Towfigh.

Hoping one of the forum surgeons might add their two cents here as well on open vs. lapro.

​​​​​​​Thanks, everybody!