speed re-cap #60

Part 1

The Bulge

At the end of last year, I noticed a small imbalance in the shape of my lower stomach/groin...

Just above my genitals - slightly inward from my right hip - there was a non-painful swelling? Almost like I’d put on a little weight - but only on the right side.

It went away, and I thought nothing of it.

In February, after a couple of days of work - which included ’wearing’ a heavy-wireless-speaker while ice-skating… the same thing happened. (it's a long story, but the speaker was hanging from my sound-harness, and the only way of safely and adequately achieving our shot, with the equipment to hand) 

This time around, the bulge looked a little more “severe” - and warranted a check-up at a walk-in clinic.

Again, it wasn’t painful; but with some travel approaching, and a potentially busy summer - it made sense to see what was going on

I had some suspicions (I do frequently swing heavy things around for a living), but it’s always best to get a trained professional to take a look.

It took the clinic doctor about two seconds to confirm - I had a hernia.

An inguinal-hernia to be more specific.

Basically there’s a weak spot in the muscle lining, and a small hole had appeared, through which, part of my insides were attempting to become outsides. 

The insides could easily be pushed back (reducing); but they would almost always be able to come back out through the same hole. It’d never heal on it’s own, and although not immediately dangerous, there’s the potential of complications if things are left too long.

A referral was made to the ‘Halifax hernia clinic’ and I was instructed to keep an eye on it, only seeking “immediate medical assistance” ...if there was ‘extreme pain’.

Like any modern patient, I hit up “doctor-google” to see what I could do, until contacted by the NS medical system for a repair.

There seemed to be a bunch of information, certainly nothing too alarming - and plenty of advice - turns out that this is a fairly common thing to happen; even to someone as ‘young’ as myself.

First thing was to order a couple of “support belts” as I had no idea how long it’d be before getting the hole fixed.

These are a waist belt with strapping to assist in placing a foam pad over the affected area.  You push your bulge in, apply the belt to hold it, and go about your life as if there’s nothing strange about needing to ‘plug a hole in your abdominal-wall’

Two belts ordered, and temporary strapping applied until they arrive.

The next day, I felt uncomfortable - not painful, but definitely not enjoying the sensation.  

So I headed down to the local pharmacy to see what they had in the way of supports - purchasing a belt to cover me until the online orders arrived.

Not too bad, it fit nicely and seemed to do the job. 

Mostly a psychological support - but at least you feel like you’re ‘doing’ something.

The Solution

The modern public-health-systems' solution is to laparoscopically insert a coated ‘mesh’ to “plug the hole” during a day-surgery. This then requires a substantial healing period before reaching a point where you can go back to lifting things. 

Quite a few of these meshes have been ‘recalled’ or taken off the market over the last decade, and there’s also a growing number of people complaining about long-term post-operative pain.

What might be ‘better’ for the health-system (quicker procedures, less capital outlay) doesn’t really seem to be better for the patient, as it takes a long time (~6 weeks) to get back to where they were pre-surgery; along with a high risk of long-term pain...

My mother-in-law (Ursula) had been researching various options for my father-in-law, as he has something similar going on.

Being quite a bit deeper into her research than either Lisa or myself, she found a clinic in Ontario that claimed an extremely high success rate - using an ‘older’, but well-proven surgical technique, with an overall quicker recovery-period, and less reports of long-term pain.

As with anything on the internet - you’ll easily find people either praising or demonising, and the ‘Shouldice clinic’ is no exception.

Accusations of ‘price gouging’ and ‘outdated practices’ were weighed against a multitude of success stories…

…I made my decision.

More tomorrow.