I Need a Second Opinion (medically speaking)

Went to see the Hernia surgeon today , I mentioned about my fear of me possibly going into cardiac arrest during the Hernia surgery. He told me the surgery would take about 2 1/2 hours, he is saying he would remove my gallbladder at the same time because my last visit to the E R showed signs of gallstones (whatever that means)  I thought remove a gallbladder because it showed signs?, Maybe I am not saying that correctly. I have a hard time repeating doctors language . I have constant pain in my lower stomach and feeling sick to my stomach but not in excruciating pain. Pain stays a  constant 5 on the pain scale. I hear this rumor that the longer you are under anesthesia (spell check) the more dangerous it is for a heart patient.

My daughter and I came up with an idea and mentioned it to the doctor to do a partical surgery whatever could be done in say 1 hour, to repair Hernias. My C Scan showed I have several small Hernias. make it more safe not going into cardiac arrest. The surgeon thought that would not be advisable, better to do it all at once. Said it would take twice as long to do the surgery in 2 parts or 3 or longer in separate surgeries. Im wondering if my idea is a better way to do this? Or if the doctor is making a better safer way to do this.?

Anybody have some insite on this surgery.? Another thing I thought was said from him is that a Hernia Surgery is an elective surgery. Elective???? Really? Elective?

I cant have this surgery until I get clearance from my cardiologist since I went to the E R with chest pains last week. I have a stent inside of a stent that I got 18 months ago, I think is starting to close causing some Angina again. Everytime I eat I get pain in my heart about a 5 level..

I am one scared woman right now.....Wendy

I have pretty intense cardiac issues as well Wendy, although they are different from yours.  I understand your fear - I've been told that if I have one more ventrical tachycardia episode I will not live.  (V-tach causes Sudden Cardiac Death in 95% of those that have one episode.  I've had two.  The odds of surviving episode two were less than 1%.  I will not survive another. I also have a severely prolapsed valve)

Heart problems are scary, but if we give our worry about if/when we'll have another one free reign we can't really live.  

Personally, if my cardiologist gives me the go ahead for a surgery or anything else I bite the bullet and do the thing.  I refuse to allow myself to be sidelined by worry.  They are the experts.  And yes, I've had surgeries (2) since I've had the cardiac rhythm problems so I've been anesthetized twice, both times for several hours.  

Maybe try looking at it from a new way.  Wouldn't it be great to ride your horse without hernias?  If the cardiologists gives you clearance, it sounds like that is in your future again at some point.  Hold onto that.  Focus on that and on how much better you feel. 

Remember, even if something does happen, you'll be in the absolute best possible place to be for those in coronary distress.

Peripherally, I think the reason they don't want to do your surgery in stages is because it's actually  more dangerous to put  you under multiple times than it is to keep you under and do everything at once.  Also, they may be removing your gall bladder to ensure  you at least won't have to go under again to have that taken care of if it gets worse.  Mine was removed when they did my WLS for exactly that reason.

Anywho.   Wish I knew what to say.  Just thinking out loud so please keep that in mind and take it for what it's worth.

Hope you find some peace about the whole thing soon.

I think a second opinion may be the best for you. It seems to me that your providers are trying to explain things, but may need to present the fact more clearly. As a health care provider, I know how easy it is for us to expect that everyone understands all nuances not mentioned during the discussion. In addition, the NP who told you that she fears you will not survive the surgery was inappropriate and way out of line. Your providers need to present all of the facts and information clearly, and give you an opportunity to ask questions, most especially the basic ones. I get the feeling that you listen to the docs, and come here for answers. It the MDs are not fully explaining things to you, you really need to ask for clarification.

Just FYI, multiple, short surgeries to address these issues that you have has the potential to put your body, including your heart, under more stress. Every time you go under general anesthesia you run the risk of undue stress to your heart. I'm not telling you how to proceed, but please be as informed as possible. These concerns need to be addressed between you and your surgeon. Also, by the way, elective surgery is a label attributed to all surgeries that are not eminently life threatening. 

I apologize if I sound a bit harsh, but I believe we need to understand our health care needs. Much luck to you.

Lisa

In addition to what the others have already said about the problems associated with multiple surgeries, each surgery creates more adhesions, and adhesions in the abdominal cavity can affect the intestines creating partial bowel obstructions and the need for ADDITIONAL surgery, sometimes emergency surgery.

If surgery is that dangerous for you from a heart standpoint, and you already have gallstones and pain, you may very well eventually need to have it removed, which would be ANOTHER surgery, so I would absolutely listen to the surgeon's recommendation to get it out while you are already under anesthesia having the hernias repaired. It just doesn't make sense to ignore a problem that you already know you have ano that frequently requires surgery, especially when we can easily live without a gallbladder and surgery to remove it might kill you!

Lora

ETA: yes, often repairing a hernia is an elective surgery, especially if it is small and there is nothing protruding through it. If you have some hernias that are small, perhaps those don't NEED to be fixed and you could consider only repairing the one(s) where there is a risk of intestinal strangulation.

Lora, excellent point about adhesions in the abdominal cavity. It was scar tissue that was directly responsible for my recent post op complication after my revision surgery. I had an adhesion tear to my spleen, causing bleeding and fluid accumulation in my thoracic cavity. We are not always in control over such things, but we can minimize the risks by reducing the invasive procedures such as surgery. I hope that the OP has an open and honest discussion with her surgeon to clarify information.

Lisa

 I, too, had a huge mess inside my abroken from adoes ions that caused the intestine to be stuck to the mesh from my previous hernia surgery, and it was causing intermittent bowel problems.  I had a terrible time getting the surgeon to even go in to try to find a problem (every time I had a CT it showed nothing, and because I had already had several surgeries, they didn't want to add MORE adhesions to the mix by doing surgery when they couldn't see the problem beforehand.

Wow, I really appreciate this information everyone.. Why didn't I think of this on my own  after what I had experienced in the past. Surgeons always went in through my groin area when I was having all my stents in. After stent number 6 I started to develop scar tissue there that was the shape of a football. It was debilitating, had me limping it was that large. Had to stop playing volleyball at that time. I was told to rub the area in a circular motion and it would help dissolve the scar tissue. I listened and did just that every day for 30 days 3 times a  day for 10 min each time. I do not have scar tissue or at least must have dissolved it enough I don't limp anymore. Cant thank you enough. Thank You for taking the time to remind me of scar tissue. I feel so much better. I am still scared but hope for the best. I really love this Hernia surgeon. I believe if he did my wls I would not of had any regrets of my wls. Amazing .. 

Btw I finally feel listened to. He listens. What a wonderful Surgeon I have found. Years late but very happy to have met him.

I am so glad this surgeon is taking the time to listen to you and answer your questions. EVERY doctor should do that, but sadly many of them don't.

Hey Wendy!  I am really hoping that you come to a conclusion where you feel safe and satisfied and that your surgery will be successful and that you will heal 100% fast.