Hernia Patch "Really Destroyed Me"

Umatilla, ORNearly 5 years after his bowel was perforated by a hernia patch, Rob S. is still suffering. He has endured years of life threatening health problems, repeated surgeries and constant pain. Rob says that he does not know for certain if a Kugel Mesh Patch was used in his surgery, but his story is consistent with other patients who suffered broken Kugel Mesh Patches.

"The hernia mesh sliced my bowel about five years ago," Rob says. "The integrity of the mesh was compromised. It had torn and slashed my bowel. The doctor said it was mesh's fault. I ended up going to the hospital—I was in discomfort and my skin was turning black. It looked like a boil. The Centers for Disease Control doctor and a specialist determined my bowel had ruptured due to the hernia mesh. By the time they got me to Portland, I was about 24 hours away from dying.

"The doctor said he was going to relieve some pressure and dragged his scalpel through my abdomen. Over 3500 CCs of pus, blood and feces came out so they rushed me into surgery because I was worse than they thought. The sack holding my intestines was destroyed and I lost several feet of intestine and bowel. Doctors had to leave me open to drain."

Rob was released from the hospital approximately 3 weeks later, but his problems did not stop there.

"I ended up getting what they call a fistula. That is an opening in the large or small intestine. Well, I had a fistula in my large intestine and one in my small intestine. They stopped my body from absorbing nutrients. The doctors wanted to repair the fistulae, so they had to go in and take out all the mesh because it was all infected. I don't know what they used to hold me together after that, but I think it was another mesh.

"I developed another nasty looking sore on my skin, which I had tested. I got a call that I had tested positive for MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). They said I had MRSA times 1—four years later I have MRSA times 4. I still have stuff leaking from my body and I still have open wounds on my stomach that reoccur.

"I'm disfigured. The doctors had to leave me open and they used AlloDerm to hold my internal organs in. You can actually watch me digest under my skin. Everything protrudes from my body. I have a massive hernia that goes from under my sternum to under my bellybutton. It is almost 15 inches wide and 16 inches long.

"Before this, I was able to work part time and have some normalcy to my life. But the doctors said there's nothing more they can do for me surgically. I spent 13 days in a medical coma because my intestines and stomach were in plastic bags so they could be irrigated every hour. My daughter and wife weren't warned about how I would look when they saw me—I was on life support, my guts were in plastic bags and my body was spread wide open. This really affected my daughter.

"At one point, I had less than a 10 percent chance of living. I used to be an athletic guy. I played football, basketball and baseball. Now, I can't lift over 5 lbs. I can't twist, bend or pull. I'm only 40 years old and doctors told me I'm done. We're living off of my social security now.

"It's really destroyed me."