[roger555]

This probably gives the best answer. Dr Kang gave me the choice to use either absorbable or non-absorbable sutures. He said that absorbable sutures have a recurrance of 2-3% whereas non-absorbable prolene sutures have a recurrance of .5%. He has done 20,000 hernia surgeries so I think that would be by far the biggest study there is.

It’s not an easy decision and I went with the prolene sutures which have been used over 100 million times on coronary bypass surgeries. Most of us ingest plastic every day from drinking bottled water and it doesn’ seem to cause serious problems. I think a small amount of toxins are detoxified or excreted by the body or stored in fat tissue and it’s only a problem when there is a toxic overload.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by  roger555.

[roger555]

One year update. I am at the point now where I have not had any symptoms at all for the last few months. A few months ago I had on a very few occasions some very minor pain that would last for a few days if I lifted something heavy. This would happen only during certain movements like going up the stairs but the pain would stop if I no longer continued with the same activity that caused the mild pain.

I can definitely say that my operation couldn’t have gone any better.

My right side where I had the surgery is now better than my left side where I get some mild discomfort if I sleep on my left side. I can feel the same discomfort when I put strain on my abdominals but not on the right side where I had the surgery. I avoid sleeping on the right side where I had the surgery. Most of the time I sleep on my back so as not to put any strain on my abdominals.

I think sleeping on my side strains my abodminals on the same side and I am afraid over time that could weaken the abdominal muscles and cause a hernia. That is my thinking which I think has merits. So I tried to avoid putting any strain on my abdominals as much as possible.

[roger555]

I took the limousine bus from the airport to the hotel. Best and cheapest option. I stayed at the toyoko inn in gangnam. It’s a new inexpensive hotel with a very good breakfast. I got a 15% discount for staying for seven days and longer. You need to book your room in advance as it is fully booked in the near term because of their good prices. You can book directly from their web site toyoko-inn.com. you can get a double room for a lot less than most hotels.

I changed my money to korean money at the airport so that I could pay the limousine bus fare and I also rented a portable wifi at the airport terminal which is secure unlike the free wifi. You need a credit card to rent it.

I also had the hotel and hospital names and addresses printed in korean to show the taxi drivers who usually don’t know english.

• This reply was modified 4 months, 1 week ago by  roger555.

[roger555]

This is the link to my review of my surgery.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://herniatalk.com/forums/topic/my-dr-kang-hernia-surgery/&ved=2ahUKEwi64q_J4dSCAxVXB4gKHXKnAQQQFnoECAkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2-9NShI0fXofAuYO2hkWL-

I don’t know of other online reviews of Dr Kang outside of this site.

google.com

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[roger555]

I wanted to add the my hernia went from fat only to almost tennis ball size in ten months. I guess this would be unusual.

[roger555]

I had a fat only inguinal hernia that progressed to almost a tennis ball size hernia. It was taken care of with surgery by Dr Kang. I’m ten months from the surgery. No pain or symptoms at all. The scar is almost invisible.

[roger555]

By zings I am minor sharp pains that last about a second or two.

[roger555]

David M, Dr Kang does direct as well. I believe that is what Mike had done by Dr Kang, direct.

Watchful, it looks like you had a similar size defect as Jacob. He is able to run, jump, barbell squat, deadlift, etc., without the pain interfering and he says it’s minor pain and he is happy with the result. Can you do those activities at all? You have been saying that because of your defect size you should have gotten a mesh repair. How does your pain level compare with Jacob’s?

I got my Kang repair done six months ago. It was a large hernia and the scrotum sac was almost the size of a tennis ball and part of that was a hydrocele which went away after the hernia repair. The hydrocele came up on the ultrasound that I had done a year before my surgery when I just had some fat content only in the inguinal canal.

As far as answering the survey I could answer 1 no pain at all which is usually the case. I could also answer 2 pain present but can be easily ignored or maybe 3 because I am afraid to lift heavy weights although I have lifted things that are quite heavy without any pain. But overall I am happy with the surgery. Before the surgery I used to get pain after standing up a few minutes. Now I can stand and walk for an hour without any pain. I have’t done them for longer than that but I think I would still get no pain if I did. I get some very minor zings that last one second on rare occasions when standing up or going up the stairs or lifting something but I get zings in other parts of my body which come with being over 65 so I am not complaining.

[roger555]

One very positive thing about Pinto’s recurrence is that it was repaired (I don’t know how many years ago) without any further recurrence and pain so far. You get a recurrence anywhere else and you will probably get meshed up whether you like it or not. So one good way to look at it is you get two chances to get a tissue repair by Dr Kang without any chronic pain or severed nerves and cremaster. For the initial cost of the first surgery plus travel and hotel expenses. What other hernia surgeon/hospital can match that?

[roger555]

Stephen told me Dr. Kang did ten surgeries the day I had mine and that he has done as many as twelve in one day. It sounded to me that he averages less than twelve surgeries a day. Stephen said the can do two surgeries an hour.

[roger555]

released draft guidance telling doctors that prospective patients should be warned they might be left with double vision, dry eyes, difficulty driving at night, and persistent eye pain.
AND A LIGHTER WALLET.

[roger555]

What is your opinion of prolene sutures which are made of polypropylene? Quote:”PROLENE Sutures elicit a minimal inflammatory reaction in tissue, which is followed by gradual encapsulation of the suture by fibrous connective tissue. PROLENE Sutures are not absorbed, nor are they subject to degradation or weakening by the action of tissue enzymes.
As a monofilament, PROLENE Sutures resist involvement in infection and have been successfully employed in contaminated and infected wounds to eliminate or minimize later sinus formation and suture extrusion.
Furthermore, the lack of adherence to the tissues has facilitated the use of PROLENE Suture as a pull-out suture.

“PROLENE Sutures have been trusted by cardiovascular surgeons for over 40 years

Used in over 100 million people worldwide and in 8 out of 10 CABG procedures”
https://www.thesurgicalroom.ca/5-0-prolene-polypropylene-blue-18-fs-2/jj-8661g

I know they are only sutures but they still are prolene. That is what is used to graft a vein on a coronary artery in bypass surgery. You absolutely want a permanent suture holding the grafted vein in place.
Dana Carvey got bypass surgery 25 years ago and David Letterman got his bypass surgery 23 years ago. They are both still doing well?

[roger555]

As far as I know there is no data that shows that recurrence risk increases with time with a kang repair. Maybe with Desarda, Bassini and Marcy and obviously not with Shouldice since that is the repair Watchful got?

If there is a recurrence with a kang repair the fix is as simple as the original repair at no cost for the surgery. You just pay for airfare and hotel unless you can use free miles.

[roger555]

I was diagnosed with three hernias with cough test and ultrasound about 19 years ago. I had no bulges, just sharp pains in three areas. Was sent to see a surgeon who did cough tests and said he didn’t need to see the ultrasound. He said he would fix them with three meshes. That was the first time I had heard of a mesh and decided not to get it done. Didn’t like the idea of having three meshes installed.

It then occurred to me that I had been sleeping on my side in an almost an abdominal stretch position for about a year before the pains started. This was streching my abdominals and when I went back to sleeping in a fetal position the pains went away. I got my hernia little over a year ago while doing some side stretches. Over the past few years I saw tv ads about mesh lawsuits and I knew somebody who worked at thecsame company I worked who had some very serious problems with her hernia mesh and had to get it removed. She died a few months later.

So for me, not getting mesh was a no brainer. Dr Kang was by far the best option for me based on his very positive results, location and cost. But I can see how people go with mesh since it works for most and is recommended by doctors.

[roger555]

William, I am in the Philippines. Moved here from the U.S. with my family a few years ago. It was only a four hour flight for me. I can say I can’t feel anything from the surgery now other than the tingling upon rubbing the skin which is really nothing and it has diminished a lot. If I had to do it again I will definetely choose Dr Kang. Couldn’t have asked for a better outcome.

[roger555]

One month update.

Everything going as well as can be expected. No pain. I had some occasional burning when moving which stopped completely
about a week ago. I also had some testicle pain at times when moving but it went completely away about a week ago.
But I had some constant testicle pain a year ago which went away after a couple of weeks. So it may or may not have been related to the surgery. About ten days ago I felt some tingling about an inch and a half below the incision but only when I rub my fingers on it. The tingling is only skin deep and has diminished considerably.

My goal is now not to get another hernia. I have had some sore abdominals at times for the last few years from side to side or just on one side or in the middle. I attribute it to sleeping on my side. I have gotten a lot of relief be sleeping on my back during the last week.

[roger555]

Yes, that’s what dr Kang said. Indirect.

[roger555]

It is now five days plus seven hours after my surgery. The pain has diminished with each passing day. I can now walk faster and get out of bed with almost no pain. The burning sensation I had when getting out of bed is now gone. Coughing lightly just to clear my throat hurt really bad until two days ago. Today I can cough much harder with little pain in the incision area.

I never felt any tension in the incision area except for when I was pushing the skin above the incision during the first two days to see if there was any sensation. I only felt some very light tension or tightness which went away on the third day. Now I feel like I never got a surgery unless I am moving or cough hard. I am now confident that I will not have any issues due to the surgery in the future based on how things have gone so far.

Dr Kang sounded very confident during my consultation and told me that I had made a good choice. Like everyone else who needs hernia surgery I had a tough choice to make. After reading Dr Kang’s writings on his web site and on this forum I was quickly convinced to go with him. And he didn’t disappoint.

I was anxious about flying to Seoul and with all the things that I had to do. But it all worked out. I still need a negative covid test to get back home.

[roger555]

I just looked it up. The problem is there is less oxygen abive 8,000 feet. That is why oxygen masks drop if the cabin bevomes depressurized. I don’ t see how a depressurized cabin can cause hernia strangulation.

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi45qvAuaj8AhVWQ2AKHb6zAk8YABAAGgJ0bQ&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAESbOD298G5D6QRyA2meGiu3jrBonAdUdPWXokDpjy-IQOrMBNjaC16RIO3hm2chESnL3IV9tesBLlzUO92BGc-UFzQY-0VyOqDhtOGkC4a0b1xpKgE3c0RXy_6hUNp5V-4UZNy_6BVZ-Av9FQOyw&sig=AOD64_1JiHsPfRd5VRSoqqMo5DGgJfQEug&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwig1KTAuaj8AhWwr1YBHfNbArUQ0Qx6BAgIEAE

The higher we go, the less oxygen there is available to breathe. This happens because air density decreases with altitude.

Thus, air molecules spread out more, decreasing their density and – with that – there is less oxygen available for each breath of air. All this makes it increasingly harder to breathe for us. At 18,000 feet, the amount of oxygen halves compared to what we normally have at sea level. As a matter of fact, going much higher than 8,000 feet without the help of modern technology can cause altitude sickness, also known as hypoxia. Hypoxia can lead to dizziness, headache, difficulty thinking, unconsciousness and eventually death.

Thankfully, modern jet airliners are engineering miracles. Apart from getting us across the world safely in a matter of hours, they also act as a flying pressure chamber, controlling the air entering and exiting the pressurized cabin. The aircraft’s cabin pressurization system helps create – alongside other technologies such as the air management systems – the necessary pressure that you and I would need to breathe comfortably during a flight that typically takes place at a cruising altitude of around 36,000 feet.

[roger555]

Did Dr Kang use absorbable or non-absorbable sutures? As far as I know he uses non-absorbable in some cases.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 4 months ago by  roger555.