post-op hernia

Back in September I posted concerning a golf ball sized lump on the " exit " scar above my b-button. I am now almost 7 months out from my Da Vinci proceedure and the golf ball has grown to a soft ball

I talked to my to my surgical onc and he recommended I find a good general surgeon as the hospital where he performed the proceedure is strictly a cancer center (FCCC).

I recently had consults with 2 highly respected general surgeons. Each dx`d the lump as a ventral or incisional hernia,probably caused by the sutures being pulled up to tight but it`s possible I may have lifted something to heavy too soon??. I have to have it repaired soon although it`s not an emergency now.

The problem I`m having is one surgeon would do a laproscopic mesh repair and the other would only do an open proceedure. This surgeon is telling me he used to do the laproscopic proceedure but was seeing too many patch failures and now only does the open proceedure.

I realize this is a bit off topic,but I`m really confused and you guys have been so much help to me since I was first dx`d with PCa last April I thought you might have some opinions or suggestions on how I should proceed. Thanks for your help.

1 snake

Funny you should mention that, Snake..........just had that very procedure done last week on 2/8. Had the same result after Davinci surgery in 1/09........lump turned into the size of a peach, and what my wife lovingly referred to as "Little Uncle Fester"------didn't hurt or bother me to do anything, but it was getting larger. Surgeon felt I should take care of it before it became problematic. I had open, with a "mesh" implanted. My guy didn't discuss Laproscopic versus open, but did discuss mesh versus just stitching again. He said that 50-60 % of all stitching-only repairs fail..was in the hospital overnight. I've come around pretty quickly, but it's painful for the first 48-72 hours. Just make sure they pump you with Dilaudid or Morphine in the hospital. I came home with Vicodin, but I'm only using that at night to help sleep when turning in bed at this point. I was in good physical shape going into this, and i think that has sped up the rate of my recovery. Doc won't let me drive or ride in car for two weeks until I see him. No lifting anything over 15 lbs for a while.......you're right; there's probably no rush to have it done, so schedule it when it's convenient to do so, but do take care of it!

Arnie in DE

Thanks for the thoughts guys. It would appear from your comments that I should go with the open surgery doc. The only thing that bothers me about the open proceedure is the increased possibility of infection. Probably not a big concern.

snake

I had a hernia repaired in November, 4 months after having seeds implanted. It was in my groin through. I had laparoscopic surgery with a patch. I was out of work a week with no heavy lifting for 6 weeks. I liked the laproscopic method because it is less cutting, therefore less of a scar and a quicker healing. I'm happy with the result so far, but I don't know why I didn't research it as much as I did my prostate procedure. I did have an excellent surgeon recommended to me though. I would think the skill of the surgeon matters, just as it does with prostate surgery. It was more pain than I thought it was going to be and messed with my blatter for a day or so. I don't know why, but I thought it was going to be a non-event.