Mesh removal...how r u now?

For those of you who have had to have the mesh removed because of erosion, how are you doing now?
I am facing a third surgery to stitch together the vaginal skin over the exposed mesh. At this point, i do not think simply stitching the skin over the mesh is going to be sucessful. I have mentioned having the mesh removed, but my uro/gyn seems to think that removing the mesh will put me back at the incontinence problem I had to begin with.
Is this true for those of you who have had the mesh removed?
Rose

Rose--

As a veteran of 3 removal surgeries and several 'in-office' removal procedures, I have to say that I'd never let a doctor just stitch over the top of mesh leaving it in me--EVER. Over and over again I've read about how once mesh starts to erode, it just seems to continue. That was the case for me. If you look up mesh erosion here, you can see that most women have had their mesh removed EVEN IF it later caused incontinence.

At my 3rd and last removal surgery, my UroGYN who was very experienced, not only removed the mesh, but also performed an older-fashioned anterior colporrhaphy in the area where the mesh was being removed to help prevent the return of any incontinence. It has worked for me.

If your mesh erosion is from a TVT or TOT, you may want to ask about your Dr. using autologous tissue or a biological tissue that has less risk of erosion in a future surgery if you have a return of incontinence. Some women do not have any return of incontinence even with the mesh removal. Some do. You don't know if you will or not. It does happen with some, though and you need to be prepared for that possibility.

For me, the chance of that happening was an okay risk since the mesh erosion was far worse than the possible incontinence issue. Each individual has to weigh the risks for herself.

I do wish you the very best and hope you find the best solution for you.

S and good vibes.......

Rose, I also had the mesh remove, well parts of it several times. I had a surgery where they cut, removed a piece, and pulled my own vaginal wall over the exposed area and stitched. Within a week or two it was back through. Very frustrating. I am sure it is different for everyone though. What does not work for some,may for others.
Good luck.
sharon

Rose,
I had only one mesh excision before the decision was made for complete mesh removal. I was having an inflammatory reaction to the mesh so it was decided that more mesh excisions would only prolong the agony. I was told that prolapsing again was a definite possibility. Sad to say everything did prolapse not too long after the complete mesh removal.
I have gotten another opinion from a Uro/Gyn and Colorectal specialist who say the next step is abdominal sacrocolpopexy for repair. In the meantime because I am overweight my Gyn suggested gastric bypass suspecting the resulting weight loss may help to reduce the size of the prolapses. It's been a long process but I had gastric bypass surgery on Jan 29th. I'll let everyone know if it makes a difference or not.
I'm sorry you've been through so much with this darned mesh erosion. In my experience once it starts to erode and continue to erode after mesh excision you run out of healthy vaginal tissue and the only logical thing to do is remove it completely. You might want to ask the Dr about how these continued mesh excision procedures will affect the nerves that are so abundant in the vagina. The more tampering they do in there the more likely you'll have nerve disruption and resulting pain.
Michelle

The thought of having my erroded area stitched together is logical but by the comments from other ladies on this board it may not work. I would ask your Doc. what is the possibility of the spot opening back up. My very patient Uro.Gyno. has been treating my erosion for almost a year, and it is very close at being healed. My tissue has grown back together over the open area. It was initally the size of a half dollar. It is not the "quick fix" but I feel for me, the best way to treat this problem. I, like Michelle, have to have a sacrocolopexy for the prolapse that followed the failed mesh, but that will not happen until the erosion is completely healed.