Brian P. Jacob, David C. Chen, Bruce Ramshaw, Shirin Towfigh (eds.) - The SAGES Manual of Groin Pain-Springer International Publishing (2016)

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D.C. Chen and B.P. Jacob
the help of a new psychiatrist was finally able to go on antidepressants. I
tried three, and finally the third (Lexapro) made an enormous gradual difference.
Not only did it help me emotionally, it masked the pain. I knew
the pain was still there, but I was able to resume something of a normal
life, to exercise, and to travel. I talked to Dr. C constantly about another
surgery, this time to remove the mesh altogether. He said he would ask me
to wait again and try everything else short of surgery.
In addition, after the surgery, my right leg and ankle became swollen,
and my ankle has never gone back to its original size. I consulted with
another vascular surgeon, who thought the lymphatic drainage might have
been damaged during reoperation. We never got to the bottom of this.
By then I had been through every type of pain medication possible.
But the Lexapro mostly took care of it all. Since then, over two years
from the original surgery and a year and a half from the fix, I have had
relief. Recently, the pain returned, but I am trying to presume that it is a
temporary issue or that I possibly have to up the Lexapro dose. Alas, my
hair has fallen out, which is possibly connected with the Lexapro, which
has also had the side effect of a little weight gain and a few other side
effects, but has so far been worth the trade-off.
Conclusions
In summation I would counsel every doctor performing hernia
surgery to really look closely at the statistics upon which this surgery is
based. There are very few femoral surgeries to begin with, so the statistics
are from a tiny sample. Do not recommend surgery if the patient has
no pain. Think about mesh and what it is doing to people’s insides and
think about going back to plain tissue repair. Think about laparoscopic
surgery and see if more people are candidates.
I wish everyone with hernias could have it fixed right the first time.
It has totally changed my life, much for the worse, and I will never forgive
Dr. A for what she has done to me. Never. She was not qualified to
do this surgery. She was not up to date with medical literature and the
pros and cons of various meshes. She was too out of date to be doing this
surgery and perhaps others. Doctors need to be reevaluated to make sure
they keep up with current thinking. Retraining should be mandatory.
And doctors should know themselves: if they have any doubts about
performing a surgery or about their qualifications, they should pass the
patient off to another doctor. It’s not worth the money to ruin a life.