When the Repair Hurt: Hernia Mesh Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe life after a hernia repair with mesh went wrong, or seemed to. The repairs were in the groin, around the navel after pregnancy, beside a stoma and along an old appendix scar. The writers include a retired dairy farmer in County Cork whose mesh moved, a black cab driver in London, a semi-professional footballer, a market trader in Nairobi carrying sacks of onions, a paramedic on her third surgery, a hospital pharmacist and a woman for whom swallowing became the problem. Places run from Columbus to Christchurch and Lagos to Oslo. They describe a draining wound dismissed for two years, eighteen months of antibiotics, a midnight bowel blockage, a recall letter left on the counter for three days, an insurance fight, and the cost of a second operation for a shopkeeper in Mexico City. Treatments include nerve blocks, pain clinics, physiotherapy, mesh removal and new repairs. A wife and a daughter write from the carer's chair, and a pregnant woman describes her scar stretching. Some chose to keep their mesh and wait. Outcomes are mixed: several recovered well, some learned to manage lasting pain, and one teacher improved after removal only to face a new problem he is still working through.

Who it's for

For anyone facing a hernia repair and wanting to know which questions to ask, for people living with pain or complications afterwards, and for the partners and families who sit through the appointments.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 237 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.