[nesd]

Hi,
Your problem sounds similar to mine. I had bilateral direct inguinal hernia with pro grip mesh and my left side was flat and right side was swollen after surgery. It looked like he never fixed mine either. I saw the surgeon the following week and said its swollen from fluid. It stayed swollen for 2 months before it went down a fraction. I noticed too that when I urinated or coughed it bounces. I suspected failure right away but kept staying positive that its fixed. 3 months later I go for check up and found out both sides failed from ct scan. The right side is a bigger hernia than the left.

Now I’ve seen 4 doctors and 2 want to do open method with more mesh and 2 want to go in robotic and add more mesh. The one said mesh removal and redo the mesh or open method.

[nesd]

Hi, Thanks for the replies… When I first went to the original surgeon for my colonoscopy I showed him my two bulges that were right above my penis. I did notice last Spring that they seemed to be getting bigger in time. I had no sharp pains, only aching or you could tell there is annoyance going on down there.
He said “oh yeah its defiantly a hernia” it come from when your born where the inguinal tube doesn’t close. You should have it fixed in 6 months before an intestine could pop threw. He made me very concerned to have it fixed. He seemed like a trusting surgeon. He said I’ll do it laparoscopic with progrip self affixing mesh versus the open method without mesh has a high rate of failure.

So I scheduled the date. After surgery I also discovered my right side mouth was badly bruised from the incubation tube. It was not put down my throat in a careful manner. It bled for two days if I opened my mouth to big.

After surgery my right side was swollen for over a month plus. I had doubts right away if it was done right from the start. I went in for my 3 month exam and told him the right side still has a swollen look to it. He did the cough test on the left and felt a small bounce and a bigger bounce on the right side. So when I cough or blow my nose or urinate it swells out or bounces back and fourth like air in there.

He then said you need a ct scan to find out what’s going on. He calls me 2 days later and said you still have both hernias. Not sure what happened. The mesh must have moved. He said maybe you want to see my associate surgeon. It won’t hurt my feelings. I figured he don’t know what to do or he wants to keep this incident in his office.

The surgeons I’ve seen read the surgical reports and ct scan and ct scan report.

I did have the Edina, Mn surgeon tell me “he must of did something wrong that morning it’s uncommon for both sides to fail like that. He knew my surgeon from his surgical rotation at his hospital.

I did have two of the doctors I’ve seen question me why I went in for surgery. It made me wonder if it was even a hernia. The Sioux Falls Dr. Peery said it could of been pulmonary, what ever that meant.

I’m not in severe pain. It aches everyday, or gets sore. It hurts on the left side more when I’m driving for an hour or more. I’m really worried about having long term chronic pain or mesh problems being I have mesh in me that is not useful or doing any good. And the aches and pains continue everyday.
How long does it take to heal from this kind of hernia operation? Do most people leave the mesh in, in my situation? Or do most people in my situation have more mesh put in?

I’m not fond of having more mesh in me again. I was told more mesh more mess! It’s matter of finding a doctor that will help me besides wanting to put more mesh in me. I feel I’m going to have a hard time in my tri-state area finding a doctor who will do the open no mesh method. I feel I might be traveling long distance to find help. I was thinking maybe the mesh removal would help in preventing longer term or future pain. But it sounds like I need to accept this hernia failure and live with this mesh in me. Mesh removal must be a risky procedure as I hear you could end up with more problems and chronic pain. Just trying to find the best fix for my problem and less future pain.

[nesd]

Hi,

Thanks for the information. I don’t know where to start to look for a doctor for the non mesh repair. Every doctor I’ve seen so far wants to put in more mesh and call it good. Sounds like I might be flying to find a helping doctor.

Is exploratory surgery something that can be done safely to see if the mesh is removable or not?

[nesd]

Hi,

Thanks for the information. I don’t know where to start to look for a doctor for the non mesh repair. Every doctor I’ve seen so far wants to put in more mesh and call it good. Sounds like I might be flying to find a helping doctor.

Is exploratory surgery something that can be done safely to see if the mesh is removable or not?

[nesd]

Hi, drkang.

Thanks for responding… I asked the 3 doctors I’ve seen and all said I’d need mesh replacement or more mesh. Not sure where to look for help to have my situation revaluated if the mesh is even removable or can be repaired with out mesh. I asked the 3 doctors to do an ultra sound to see where the mesh is at and all 3 said the ct scan is fine and no ultra sound is needed. How does one find out where the mesh is at? I read here that ultra sound sees the mesh. They told me they cannot see the mesh in a ct scan. I’m confused why I can’t even get an ultra sound test.

[nesd]

Thanks for your responses… I’m hoping and praying that I can make it through the Spring without bad pains because of my current job. I’m hoping to get things, opinions and help by July sometime to get this hernia fixed right.

Is there a hernia specialist in Minnesota, South Dakota or North Dakota that anyone had good help, results from, could recommend or from another state? That could help me with my situation. I’ve looking at visiting with Dr. Shirin Towfigh because my brother lives in California and told me he is about 1 hour drive from Beverly Hills. Plus I could stay at his house.

What would most people do if you were in my shoes? Add more mesh or find someone to do mesh removal and reset it. I’m in my 50’s. I hear mesh removal is very risky with possible nerve damage. How hard is it to remove mesh and redo it?

I ache everyday from this surgery failure and sometimes it hurts. Not sure if my body is accepting the mesh yet. I have no redness or signs of infection right now.