I guess I'm really screwed. My incisional hernia operation has failed.

[CTyankee]

Due to some abdominal surgeries in the spring of 2007 I have developed an incisional hernia, which became evident after I shoveled snow last December. I arranged for having hernia repair surgery in FEbruary.

However, this surgery failed. I had the best surgeon in New Haven, andhe warned me that thissurgery had a 30% failure rate. Since I had good health insurance, I went for the surgery and it did, indeed, fail.

I have this large "thing" on the right side of my abdomen. My surgeon says I will "get used to it."

Anybody else have this awful outcome? It is uncomforbable, but not unbearable. When I see people who have terminal illnesses I cannot complain.

Just want to know if anyone else has to wear a binder to keep from looking like a freak...

[KewlKat]

1. I had an incisional hernia many years ago

They told me going in that they may have to put in mesh for it to hold together, but it ended up not being necessary. My father had a very bad hernia, not incisional, but they did use lots of mesh in his as the muscle was weak from his having let it go without repair, I think they said. Anyway, he was fine, I've been fine. Sorry you're having so much trouble. Did your surgeon mention mesh?

[CTyankee]

6. Yes, my surgeon used mesh. He is a great doctor. No problem there.

I guess I am beyond repair. It has only gotten worse, actually. Since the mesh did not hold, I am exeperiencing further enlargement of the hernia. It is more than just now having clothes fit me, it is also cramping when I stand sometimes, just in daily life.

My hernia is large because the abdominal surginical scar was large. So the weakness was there to begin with and nobody told me that if I shoveled snow this could happen.

I think my doc did what he could. He was sorry for what happened. I cannot blame him. I just wish I had known what problems lay ahead when I firt contemplated surgery...

[Warpy]

7. Has he mentioned an abdominal binder?

You can wear it under your clothing and it can provide a little more comfort by providing support your muscles no longer can.

Ask him about it, whether it might be an option for you.

[CTyankee]

8. Oh yes, I have two of them. They can be mighty tight! However,

they sure do keep you from overeating at a meal!

As instructed, I wore my binder religiously right after my surgery, day and night, for 3 weeks when the doc said I could take it off at night.

[Warpy]

11. They certainly suck in hot weather

but it comes down to a choice between comfortable standing and other activity and keeping cool.

I'm sorry you're stuck with that choice.

[CTyankee]

12. I have central air conditioning at home and I'm retired so I can retreat indoors

if it gets too hot.

I still get a little crampy when wearing them and a waistband that is not really loose. But then I'm still only 2 months out of my surgery so many it just takes time to feel completely OK...

[Why Syzygy]

13. I'm so sorry

someone didn't tell you not to shovel snow! Providing that kind of information would seem to fall into "routine procedure".

Maybe you should look into the specialist someone else mentions in the thread. Perhaps it is not so much of a "surgery" failure as a healing failure. Even with 30% failure rate, that gives 70% success.

[CTyankee]

14. I didn't shovel snow after the repair surgery. I did it almost 2 years after the initial

surgery that was the reason for the incision in the first place. I did ask the surgeon why I wasn't told not to shovel snow after THAT surgery and he said hernias often occur even without something like shoveling snow.

But at the time of the snow shoveling I also had a very bad case of bronchitis and coughed pretty violently all one weekend before I could get to the doctor for codeine syrup to suppress the cough. That didn't help!

[Faygo Kid]

2. So sorry. Hang in there. My administrative assistant just diagnosed with brain tumor.

She was taken unexpectedly to the hospital when her face froze up. Saw a neurologist today for treatment - surgery or radiation. Don't know yet if it's malignant.

Then again, in 1997 I lost one of my best friends of all time going back to when we were kids to a brain tumor that was malignant. He was 42, tremendously successful and left a wonderful wife and two kids.

Sorry, don't mean to minimize your pain. That's awful stuff, but I hope you keep perspective, and spend many years yet with family and friends. That that doesn't kill you is supposed to make you stronger. Not sure about that cliche, but you will likely post here for many years yet, and that's a good thing.

You won't look like a freak. You will look like the same person loved by friends and family all these years.

And the best thing is, you get to continue to love them back.

[CTyankee]

9. Yes, I always think about people with really serious health issues.

I have a good friend whose life and that of her two daughters was turned upside down when her husband was hit by a car and languished with severe brain damage in a nursing home for 2 1/2 years before dying of an infection. He had been a brilliant lawyer, a very attractive and nice man whom everyone adored.

She is the first thing I think of when I start feeling sorry for myself...

[rox63]

3. My Mom just had a very large abdominal hernia repaired last year

She had it for many years, until it started causing chronic bowel obstructions. She had a surgeon who specializes in that sort of repair. He's at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, MA, which isn't that far from CT. Perhaps you should contact his office for an evaluation. His name is Dr. David Earle, and he was wonderful with my Mom's case. She was not an easy case, since she's 70, diabetic and legally blind. But her repair is holding up great.

[Uben]

4. My uncle had one for the last twenty years of his life

He learned to deal with it pretty good. It'll be a hassle, but you can definitely lead a good lifestyle. Lots of worse things than this. Good luck, and maybe you can find some surgeon thats working on these kind of problems.

[CTyankee]

10. I literally had the best surgeon in New Haven, which is saying a lot since

we have Yale Medical School here and it attracts the best and the brightest to our area. So I don't know if there is any recourse beyond him. He did warn me that 30% of these incisional hernia repairs actually fail.

[pnwmom]

5. My mother also worried that her large bulge (which could not be repaired)

looked awful. But the truth is, it's not really the kind of thing other people notice nearly as much as the person with the bulge. My mother would raise her shirt and say "isn't this awful" -- but it didn't look awful from my angle -- and I don't think anyone would notice under most clothing.

She got used to it, eventually. I haven't heard her complain about it in the last few years.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

15. this may sound stupid

but along with maybe calling experts mentioned on this thread,
have you asked your insurance company?

Surprisingly, a long time ago when I used to have health insurance, I got some good advice from the claims rep who had seen lots of cases of a problem I was experiencing. She pointed me to some good advice.

Anyway, please don't give up, use the google.

And alot of us have less than perfect bodies, not many look like magazine models.

Sorry you are going through this.

[Dorian Gray]

16. I'm so sorry CTyankee...

that totally sucks.