he wanted it without mesh and his local hospital in a big UK city had no surgeons who knew how to do the op without mesh, so he travelled to Germany to have it done and the NHS says it will pay most of the cost of the operation.
I developed a serious "hidden" hernia early last year. Five months and 7 NHS doctors later, they still hadn't found it and suggested that my pain was imaginary, or that I had constipation (like I wouldn't know!).
I privately sought out the German hernia surgeon who repairs hernias without mesh (presuming we are talking about the same person), and was lucky to get an appointment with her in London. She found my hernia easily by dynamic ultrasound within 5 minutes of meeting, which the NHS could have done I'm sure, if only they had believed me in the first place.
Unfortunately, I was not well enough to fly to Germany for surgery, which the NHS would pay most of the cost for, and had to foot the entire bill to have it done by her in the UK (absurdly, the NHS will only offer financial aid if the operation is done abroad). I may be very much the poorer, but I was determined not to have mesh surgery if it could be avoided.
The majority of NHS hernia surgeries in the UK are performed on men and virtually all are done using mesh. Although the number of women receiving this surgery is small in comparison, they have a far higher rate of post-surgery complications, largely due to their differing anatomy and greater susceptibility to auto-immune issues.
The German doctor gave me her telephone number/email address and told me to contact her at any time if I have any concerns in the future regarding my recovery. I had to do so last month and, true to her word, she offered her advice freely at no additional charge.
Did my ME diagnosis influence how the NHS treated me? I cannot say, but I was discharged from our local hospital, still in acute pain from an undiagnosed hernia, clutching only a box of unnecessary laxatives . . .
