Complications: Eight months in. Still having pain & issues.

[Flip_5]

I still get pain around the area where my resevoir is. It can be triggered by working out or exercising a lot. E.g., if I work out for multiple days consecutively suddenly I can feel tenderness & pain around the resevoir. It can be painful to the point of preventing me from working out further and it can also continue after that. E.g., right now it has been three weeks since I've stopped working out and yet I can feel pain in the resevoir area when laughing a lot and when moving sometimes.

I contacted my surgeon and he got back to me. The first step was to get an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed nothing unusual.

I have scarring around a hernia mesh. The hernia mesh was inserted to prevent the resevoir from herniating. I'm slim (~170cm & ~63kg) according to the surgeon so this was necessary.

Unfortunately the surgeon seemed to address a different problem to the one I originally presented him with. (I understand - patient's problems usually fit into certain recurring categories & I was misplaced & additionally, the correspondance has been soley via email). I originally complained about pain and a complete disruption to my lifestyle, but the surgeon's response was about a 'bump' which was never mentioned. He said that (paraphrasing) 'the bump is caused by scarring around the hernia mesh inserted at the time of surgery to prevent the resevoir from herniating. If the obvious bump is an issue, it can be surgically excised.'

However, I wrote nothing about a bump. I wrote originally about pain & a disruption to my lifestyle.

I am hoping that the healing process can continue even eight months later since this is a pretty bad result. Not being able to work out at gym and still experiencing pain from the surgery in an ongoing way. It illustrates potential complications of the surgery. Please take this into account if you're young. While it is a surgery that is common enough. Many complications are possible.

Has anyone experienced something similar?

Looking for some encouragement.

Thanks.

[drayan123]

This scares me so much cause I’d rather go gym and not have sex

[frwmw1]

So, the ultrasound showed no inflammation response around the hernia mesh?

Maybe try another ultrasound tech at another ultrasound office in a few months time?

It doesn't sound like a nerve issue because that would be chronic, not intermittent.

One positive thing is hernia mesh is a fairly common procedure, so complications are better understood.

From what I understand, the scaring is meant to strengthen the mesh, but perhaps the surgeon wrote that note about the bump because they want to monitor if the body is overdoing the scaring response.

I do wonder if physiotherapy could help.

[frwmw1]

Was the mesh placed above or underneath the reservoir?

[principles]

I'll throw in my experience with discomfort regarding the reservoir location while working out hard. I still have it to this day but I figured a way around. I accept it as a limitation of mine right now and for me personally, it doesn't compromise my lifestyle at all, but it could be different depending on your preferred activities.

It's likely to vary according to the individuals build and many other factors which I won't even attempt to determine. I simply don't know.

Here's how it works for me:
I feel a sharp pain or perhaps a better way to put it would be increased discomfort around the reservoir area after I did any jumping related activities for more than 30m, and that is my current threshold from where the discomfort increases quickly to a sharp pain.

Examples:
-Running. I can do 5k and if I push to 7-8km, I get reservoir discomfort > pain.
-Walking. Long walks > 15km, I'd also get pain but it would take close to 3 hrs of walking for it to start.
-Burpees. I could do up to 30 minutes without a single issue.
-Weight Lifting. I don't do any squatting but deadlifts are also fine. It doesn't create any discomfort

My solution:
Two years post-op, I simply reduced the duration of my heavy workouts to less than 30m and that has completetly prevented any pain/discomfort from ocurring.
This took me a while to figure out. Initially, that threshold was actually around 10 to 15 minutes. It took me a good year to be able to do a 30m heavy workout (like a 5k) without discomfort, so I completely relate to your question, but your situation is slightly peculiar so you might not experience the same "discomfort tolerance build" effect that I went through. For all the more general cases of this particular situation, I'd guess to say it does get better even at 8 months post op, it's likely to continue improving the more you push to discomfort then slow down.

Hopefully atleast some of that is relatable and helpful to you.

[Flip_5]

Take note guys. Undocumented complications like this are possible. For me, ongoing pain around the resevoir when working out is a serious hit to lifestyle.

I followed up with surgeon's office since they sent me a strange message about having a bump excised (which had nothing to do with my original query). I emailed multiple people in the clinic going back over a week now. No response.

It's holidays soon.

But my patience is wearing thin. I think I'll need to follow this up with a different surgeon soon.

[Alan67]

Sorry to hear that. I hope your circumstances improve and I hope you can stay positive. I had my implant in April of 2022 and unfortunately I've had chronic discomfort since then. The procedure was a mistake for me but for most people it ends up well. I hope that time heals you more

[aussiePeyronies]

Flip,

I am also in contact with Dr Chris Love, his main secretary recently left, she was very unorganized and rude, would never get back to you etc.

Currently, I am dealing with Heidi, if you try and get a hold of her, she is very helpful.

Keep us updated.

[Flip_5]

Just an update over a month later:

The surgeon eventually got back to me and I've been in touch with him since. I assume the issues in responding had more to do with holidays. I think he has been fair and judging of his work since the day of the surgery, it's fair to assume there was something that got lost here, e.g., receptionist's not forwarding information, holiday overload, etc.

Anyway:

Options offered were: anti-inflammatories, steroid injection, surgical removal of the hernia mesh.

At the moment I'm not taking up any of those...

Last year I just completely stopped exercising all together for almost two months. That seems to have helped drastically. I've got back into exercise slowly over the last two months and the pain has returned, although not as intensely as before (which forced me to stop completely) and it's also much more intermittent, rather than consistent (unless doing some intense abdominal work). I'm pacing the exercise now and being a little bit slower. I'm hoping that over time, maybe months from now, I will see some improvements as I really just don't want another surgery. Especially anything to do with snipping up abdominal muscles.

The issue was likely caused by the hernia mesh which is causing some kind of irritation or inflation. It may not heal.

The main positive for now is the issue was not urgent or rapidly worsening, but rather pain/discomfort associated with the mesh.

Again, for anyone reading this, implants are great, and sometimes they're you're only choice, but I do think there are some issues associated with them that may not be not covered in the literature. If you don't fit the profile of the average guy (60+ or whatever it is) that gets an implant, be aware of this.

[Alan67]

Yea I also want to stress that this doesn't go well for everybody. I had my implant 10 months ago and unfortunately I've had chronic discomfort since then. Sexual activity makes it worse. I didn't have the discomfort and pain before the surgery. Implants can be great but everybody considering them should be aware that it might not go well, even though a really bad outcome is rare. There are risks with all surgeries of course. If you do get one it is extremely important that you find a surgeon who is very experienced in the procedure.