After learning he had an incisional hernia, Louis Perona sought the opinions of many surgeons about the best way to fix it. But it wasn’t until he went to see Dr. Scott Roth, a hernia surgeon at the University of Maryland Hernia Center, that he finally felt confident enough to make a decision. In December of 2007, Perona had a laparoscopic hernia repair done by Dr. Scott Roth at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Perona says he had an “excellent experience” at the Medical Center and would not have found Dr. Roth without the help of the UM Hernia Center Web site. Read his story below.
In February of 2006 I had surgery on my pancreas, which resulted in a 6-inch incision across my upper abdomen. A year later I developed an incisional hernia, where the muscle within the incision had broken open. This caused a bulge in my stomach, about the size of a golf ball. I went to my doctor, who said I had a hernia, so I had to figure out how to fix it. I did research online and found out that it would keep getting worse over time.
The first thing I did was ask my doctor for a recommendation for a laparoscopic surgeon in Annapolis. After that, I got a second opinion from the surgeon who did my pancreas surgery, and he proposed an open surgery approach [open surgery refers to traditional surgery, which involves a larger incision, and generally a slower recovery and return to normal activities than minimally invasive/laparoscopic surgery]. I asked him about laparoscopic approach but he preferred open. I didn’t care for that.
I was just bewildered with all the different recommendations. I pored over statistics on Internet and decided that the laparoscopic (minimally invasive) repair was the way to do it, and I needed an experienced surgeon who could do a durable hernia repair.
Because of my desire to pursue a surgery that would permit me to return to my former life style, I consulted with several surgeons. I consulted with three surgeons who proposed conventional open surgery, all of whom proposed a different type of open repair. I also consulted with three laparoscopic surgeons.
Of all the surgeons I consulted with, Dr. Scott Roth [director of the UM Hernia Center and an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine] was by far the most experienced, most knowledgeable, and instilled the most confidence in me. He was the right person for this surgery.
But I would have never found Dr. Roth without the University of Maryland Hernia Center Web site.
UMMC Webcast “Sold Me” on the UM Hernia Center
The University of Maryland Hernia Center Web site was very helpful. What I got out of the Web site was that the University of Maryland specialized in hernias and did them laparoscopically.
The Hernia Center content was all helpful, including:
• Dr.
Roth's Q&A
• Dr. Roth’s
Bio
• Dr. Roth's
Ask the Expert feature
• the success
stories.
But the UMMC Hernia Surgical Webcast is what sold me on it. That was really useful because after watching that, I knew exactly what was going to be done and felt good about it.
Visit with Dr. Roth
After reviewing the Web site, I decided I wanted to see Dr. Roth, so I made an appointment with him. He said he’d fix my hernia laparoscopically.
I asked Dr. Roth how many hernia surgeries he had done and he said he had done over 500 (ventral) hernia repairs, so that was a big deal. I had also done research on the number of permanent sutures (stitches) they use to secure the mesh, and Dr. Roth uses eight. He proposed a more durable hernia repair than the first laparoscopic surgeon I spoke with and had more experience, knowledge, and confidence. I felt confident in his ability to do the repair. I liked that he was honest in explaining the technique and what to expect.
Dr. Roth also explained why the laparoscopic approach would be better in my case —because if there were multiple hernias they could all be repaired at once. With the open approach they could only repair one at a time. It turned out that in my case, I had developed multiple hernias so they had more than one to fix.
I wanted to be able to get back to my active lifestyle and Dr. Roth said he could help me do that. I’m retired but active — I do power yoga and lift weights three times a week, do aerobics, and I go to the gym every day.
Surgery and Aftermath
On December 14, 2007, Dr. Roth performed my hernia surgery. By that time I had numerous hernias that he fixed all at the same time — one large, one medium and a bunch of small ones. The whole incision was coming apart. So it was a good thing I had it done laparoscopically. It was the best decision I made and Dr. Roth did a great job of it.
I was in and out of the hospital the same day. The surgery was at noon and I went home at about 6 p.m. I was uncomfortable after surgery, but I could always find a comfortable position to lie in. The lack of pain and the outcome was remarkable, really amazing.
Now I’m back to the gym, taking yoga classes, doing aerobics and lifting weights.
I’m pleased that Dr. Roth did the surgery. I think he is great — he’s a highly skilled surgeon who is confident, experienced, and has access to state-of-the-art facilities.
Excellent Care Received at UMMC
I had an excellent experience from the beginning of my hospital stay to the end.
They were prompt for my pre-op appointment and gave me a number to call if I had questions. The anesthesiologist did a great job. She listened to all of my concerns about general anesthesia and answered my questions. I was concerned about waking up during surgery and she explained the latest technology that was used at UMMC. In particular, I asked that she be aggressive in treating me for nausea, which had been an issue for me with my three previous surgeries at another hospital that involved general anesthesia. She paid particular attention to this and I came through the recovery with little if any nausea, thanks to her.
The nurse I had in recovery also did an exceptional job. She was very concerned about discomfort I was having and was good about giving me enough medication to help with the discomfort, but not too much. She walked with me up and down the hall. I was supposed to stay overnight but I wanted to go home. Dr. Roth came to see me a couple of hours later and let me go home.
I would recommend Dr. Roth, the hospital and the hernia repair approach he used. I think the laparoscopic approach is the way to fix this and having him fix it is what I’d recommend. My sister-in-law has a hernia and she is now going to see Dr. Roth. I’ve already recommended him to other relatives too.
For more information about the University of Maryland Hernia Center or to make an appointment, please call 410-328-6187.
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