Hi all. Anyone with experience of this? I am due to have botox injections on Monday into the stomach muscles to elongate them. This is supposed to bring the muscles that are separated closer to enable the stitches and mesh hold. I have been told by the NHS doctor that I can choose to live with this and wear girdles as the gap is quite huge and the loop of bowel sticking out is at very low risk of strangulation.
I don't want to do this as some of the side effects of the surgery are scary. My husband though thinks I should get it done and the private surgeon we are seeing says he can do it though it is complex.
He said he will use a dissolvable mesh as I am concerned about having a foreign body in me.
Any comments from anyone who has had these two issues fixed or know someone that has is really welcome.
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JoraEm
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I haven't had this but I have got some bits inside my feet, I have a joint implant in one toe which is made of silicon, and some screws. Once it was healed I forgot it was there.
But something I find helpful when presented with a decision like this is to do a pro and con table. For each option to a table of pros and cons, a list if you like, to see which looks over all to be the best thing to do. You can also weight them, so for instance the risk of strangulation if you do nothing is low, so you could write that in orange, but then some of the risks of surgery might be low too, so in orange too, but there might be some really high risks for you, so you could do that in red. Then the pros, the good stuff, like for the surgery it would be to close the gap and remove the risk of strangulation, that would be in green.
Then you can compare them, and see how risky each is. It might be that one option is mostly orange, but the other might be mostly green but two really big red ones. In that case you might opt for the mostly orange one.
You don't have to rigidly follow this, but sometimes laying out options in this way can help us think thought our decisions better.
Sorry you had to come on here, your operation is a pretty common one these days, This is a separation of the rectus abdominis muscles, where the connective tissue between them stretches, the Hernia itself, is a condition where a part of an organ or tissue pushes through a weakened area in the abdominal wall, a simple procedure where they strengthen the muscles with the mesh, I had bilateral hernia many years ago, that's both sides, looked great but uncomfortable, went into hospital early in the morning and had these both done and although slightly painful (you can ask for pain control) and you feel uncomfortable for a couple of weeks but it will ease more every day, don't attempt to lift anything either for a couple of weeks, hope this help and good luck,
Thanks for this Mark. Glad to know yours went well. I feel better hearing a success story.My insurance had some questions so the injections were postponed for now until we sort it out
Hi Jora, I have experience with Botox but not a dissolvable mesh. My experience relates Botox to calm back muscles that go into spasm. I’ve had Botox 3 times. It is a fairly regular procedure but must be targeted at the right muscle group to have the most benefit. Do check that the total volume injected is sufficient as this can vary. It takes up to 3 weeks to have the full effect in relaxing the muscles. It sounds like this will be effective for your case as a pre-op procedure. Good luck with the operation.
General anaesthesia is not required for botox injections, just a local. The injections can be a little nippy at times but it's over quickly. You'll be fine.
Thanks Abdn. I will ask about local. He might have suggested General as he says it will be 10 injections, 5 on each side. He said the volume is a lot. I don't recall the exact volume
Al good. Last point to mention is there are different types of Botox and maximum accepted total volume depending on type. In my case it is was 200ml. I’m sure he is providing the most appropriate Botox for your condition and one that is relatively fast acting.
I wish you all the best and hope the operation is a success.
I’ve had a huge diastasis recti for many years. It’s caused me a great amount of pain and weakness in my back as I have very little core strength. Although a surgeon has indicated that he would carry out a repair, he highly recommends that I don’t have the surgery due to the possible complications… but it’s my choice. Someone has suggested that it is a simple procedure but I don’t believe it is.
I wish you all the best whatever your decision is.
Thanks Justin. My surgeon says it is a complex procedure and I will be in hospital for at least 5 days. He also said that if I was older with heart concerns then he will say not to. I am 50 later this year with High Blood Pressure and on Levothyroxine for thyroid concerns. Also have intermittent Afib and slightly raised cholesterol. Just had gall bladder surgery last July as there was a polyp which was thankfully benign. So fairly healthy😁
At the moment the injections were postponed as my insurance had questions. That buys me some time to revalute further.
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