My name Is Dawn Dawson and I live in Holland Michigan. I had my first hernia surgery in 2002, right side hernia repair with prolene hernia mesh used, 3x6. A couple of weeks after the surgery I was still in excruciating pain and It concerned me so I continued to go back to my surgeon to get answers. Time and time again I got that there was nothing wrong. Finally he went in and did an exploratory surgery and said that he removed the mesh, which was all crumpled and mixed in with other intestines. He had to go towards my back to get the entrapped nerves and right after that surgery was over I went home and thought OMG!!! This is not normal. The incision site was so swollen that it was abnormal looking, and guess what, 6 years later, and 3 surgeries later the incision site is still very swollen, numb, I can't touch it, My whole right leg gets numb now, My sex life has went down hill, I have constant tingling around the incision site, down my leg and all the way around into my lower back, which is excruciating. I have been to doctor after doctor and no one seems to have answers for me, yet I am suffering and it gets worse every day. I have lost jobs because the pain is so bad I cannot work, Now I have been on pain meds and still it doesn't touch the pain. This is ridiculous and there has to be some answers. When the whole kugel mesh lawsuits came out I was very disappointed because I thought wow, finally I am going to be compensated for all the pain I have been enduring all these years. I was hurt that they were only willing to look at a certain mesh and not all meshes. I had another hernia surgery in 2005 with a different surgeon who said that I had so many entrapped nerves and old mesh in there that it really scared the crap out of me. I feel like My life is shortening because of all these mesh complications and no one is willing to help me. I had horrible rectum pain, infections that were also blown off, the back pain is beyond controllable and the depression has hit the roof. I don't even seem like the same person and it's all because of one simple hernia surgery that went wrong. My surgeon is now retired, and ironically my friend and I saw him at the In and out Mart loaded up on wine and beer, which makes me wonder. Could he have been drinking when he did my surgery? All I can say is any pain that you have after a hernia surgery is not normal, but doctors consistently tell us that it is ok. I'm scared for my health now and in the future, and I am afraid for my relationship. My partner is very very understanding but very sad for what I'm going through, but I can't put them through this for much longer. People need to listen to our stories and take them seriously because we are the ones that knows our body. I"m just sick of it. I'm sick of hurting, I'm sick of complaining, and I'm sick of doctors and surgeons getting away with the negligence.
