Gutpatch Sees the Surgeon
When writing this post the first time, I tried to be humorous and witty and light-hearted. After reading the draft and realizing it was anything but those things, I left it on the shelf a few days. While getting mad at a file cabinet and trying to undo my stitches and thinking back about this time (yea - random actions and thoughts coalescing at a weird moment) , I realized there was just nothing humorous going on at this point. I was scared and in the unknown.
Yea, I had consulted with a couple doctor friends long-distance, my local nurse friend and others who had the operation. But, at this point, I'm thinking have I jumped too fast? Should I get a 2nd opinion? What am I doing? Here is what was going on at this point. Sound familiar to anyone?
There is a protocol most of us have to follow in order to keep the insurance company happy. First you have to go to your general practitioner (GP) and then they refer you to a surgeon.
The office where my GP (who is a nurse practitioner) works could not get me in for about a week and a half. I did a little studying up on inguinal hernias since I was fairly certain that would be the diagnosis. After a drop your drawers exam, he confirmed that indeed that was what I had. He had assisted one of the local surgeons (Dr H) many times and he said that guy was a very confident surgeon. He also mentioned there was a new, younger woman who recently moved to town that was highly skilled.
One of my river rafting friends has been a nurse for 30+ years and recommend Dr H without me even asking. Another friend had used Dr H the year before. And, I found out Dr H had been doing something like 50 -70 hernia operations a year for several years. So, I made an appointment with Dr H. A couple weeks later on a Thursday I see Dr H who confirms the hernia diagnosis with a physical exam, says x-rays and/or ultrasound are not needed, and asks when I want to do this. I'm thinking these things always take forever to get scheduled and say the sooner the better. He asks. "How about Monday at noon?". OK, I stammer out, and off he goes to the next patient. I get a booklet of dos and don'ts for before the surgery, and a pre-op test request I need to have done at the hospital: EKG and blood work for various things, and some kind of questionnaire to fill out and submit when checking in to outpatient. They send me over to the hospital which is next door and I spend 15 minutes getting the blood drawn and the EKG done.
One of my main concerns was anesthesia because I had a step-mom and step-dad and father-in-law all develop dementia or Alzheimer after undergoing a general anesthesia (GA). I wanted a local and not GA if possible. He said bring this up with the anesthesiologist when admitted for the surgery. He said with the local they numb out the area being operated on and put you into lala land. With GA you are put out completely. I forget to ask what type of surgery he is going to do - laproscopic or standard though he did confirm the insertion of a mesh material.
The mesh is used like a tire patch, left in place, and your tissue grows in and around this stuff providing a hopefully permanent fix to a hernia on that side. Hence, my post-op nickname now of Gutpatch.
I also found out post-operation there is another option using a "da Vinci" tool which is a robot-assist device. One friend had a very good outcome with this going back to work in a couple days and almost fully recovered in a couple weeks. If, God forbid, my right side ever needs repair I am going to seek out someone who uses this technology.
I get a call on Friday from the hospital regarding a couple things. First, my blood work and EKG look good. Then they interview me over the phone about medical conditions, current prescriptions, what vitamins do I take, etc. Then I get instructions about not eating or drinking after midnight the day of the operation. Also, someone from the financial side calls to say if I pay the day of the operation I can get a discount. In a daze I agree and then realize when talking to my wife later, I am not really sure what I've agreed to.
Then of all things I'm talking with a good biking buddy telling him about what is going on and he says, "I would never let Dr H cut me! He messed up some kid by getting him infected and went back in and that didn't work and then they had to take him to another hospital 60 miles south, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and by the way, I shouldn't tell you this now, so forget what I just told you. Besides, it is all third hand."
Well, Holy Jesus, Yikes, Oh My God and now I am physically sick to my stomach scared. And, thinking back to the conversation with my GP was he saying something in code not wanting to overtly say anything negative about Dr H who does 50 - 70 of these operations per year? "He is a confident surgeon". He didn't say he was a good or excellent surgeon. He sort of sounded upbeat when talking about the new, young woman surgeon and then sounded serious talking about Dr H as "confident". Oh man, did I miss something here I should have asked more about? Should I delay and get a 2nd opinion?
I decide to call the hospital and ask for infection rate data. They ask me to leave my name and number and say someone will call back. Indeed, the Infection Coordinator calls back in under an hour and I quiz her. They have had no infections in the last year. There were 90 hernia operations done last year and Dr H did 80% of them. I ask what were the infection rates of previous years and get a run-around answer like either she doesn't have the data or does not want to share it.
After sharing all this with my wife later in the day, she asks what are you going to do. I've already decided that all this doubt is like the negative self-talk that tries to stop me when kayaking or rowing my cataraft through a Class 3+/4- rapid. And, it feels like the pit in my stomach at the top of a 40+ degree snowy slope before I ski down. The correct course feels like I should do what I do in those circumstances. Put the fears aside, relax into the situation, and freaking go for it! One thing I have learned is that if fear freezes you up, then the worst will probably happen. If you stay loose and reasonably confident yet still careful and not over-confident, things usually and always up-until-now work out alright. So, I'm going forward with the operation next Monday and just a weekend to fret my way through.
Click HERE to read the next exciting post about hernia repair!
Please comment below and I will answer all questions. This blog will only become useful if people comment and add their experience and ask the questions which other people share but are afraid to ask. Plus, everyone's experience is different. How did you find out you needed surgery? Were you scared? How did you deal with it? Was it relief to know? Or, was the info a complete surprise?
Gutpatch Hernia Repair Series
It is a difficult process to work through when you are not used to medical issues in life. While you are blessed to be so healthy, we are never prepared to get this type of thing going forward. So many questions, concerns along with wanting to run quickly the other way in hopes it will "fix itself".
ReplyDeleteAnd, you can always find a ton of information that contradicts what you are going to do. For instance, there is all kinds of conflicting data, controversy, and discussion about whether to use mesh for inguinal hernias. In the end I trusted the process I had gone through, my friends recommendations and experiences, and a general sense to "get'er done". Five weeks later I think everything is OK. No pain though where the patch is located it feels hard in that spot. The surgeon said that was normal and was just part of the healing process.
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