[worldpeace]

@chuck and others, I thought I’ll post an update since it’s been 2 months since the surgery.
– The incision has healed and I see a thin line where the skin was cut but the skin is sealed. There’s a bit of hardness around the incision and it’s slightly raised, hoping that will go down with time.
– No pain while doing daily activities
– Had a twinge of pain when I had a bout of deep coughing (due to dust) but that went away after the coughing subsided
– Haven’t been lifting heavy stuff so not sure if that can cause pain.
– Been able to jog around the park without any discomfort.

[worldpeace]

@chuck: thanks for posting…why did you choose desarda technique…and if you wanted desarda…why didnt you go to Tomas who was nearby and focuses exclusviely on that techinque?
I chose Dr Yunis first, the technique later. I was convinced Dr Yunis had enough experience with both techniques and so postponed the technique decision later …

@watchful: Do you have any more details on why you (and Dr. Yunis) decided to go with Desarda vs Shouldice, and general anesthesia vs sedation/local?
On GA vs LA with sedation, here are the factors that came up:
1. From the viewpoint of the surgeon/anesthesiologist, what’s the patient’s risk profile for GA?
2. The doctor suggested GA in my case
3. For a small percentage of patients, the LA nerve block may cause a temporary numbness of the leg due to it affecting the motor nerves and hence cause difficulty in walking on the surgery day.
4. For LA, the overall surgery time may take longer by another 20 minutes or so since the doctor has to do the ultrasound guided nerve block in addition.
5. Given the relatively short surgery time, there was less likelihood of post anesthesia side effects such as nausea and difficulty passing urine. I was given to understand the anesthesiologist had a good control on those side effects.
6. The GA was done with a LMA instead of full endotracheal intubation.
7. Patient’s fear of going through GA – the fear of losing full consciousness.
Considering all the above, I chose the GA. Both options were available.

Desarda vs Shouldice: It wasn’t a straight decision to go with Desarda but finally chose this because I felt the technique was less complicated than Shouldice even though the history and data are more favorable for Shouldice. There is tissue manipulation in both cases.

Thanks.