Hernia Repair at Shouldice Hospital in Canada

[TheLaughingMan]

I have read alot of the threads here about hernia surgeries in Thailand over the past 10 or so years and finally decided to get it done but went to Shouldice hospital in Toronto Canada.  My hernia was quite big, but its all taken care of now and Im feeling great.  Just wanted to let people know my experience in case they are looking for alternatives to Thailand for the repair surgery.  Shouldice DOES NOT use mesh, which cuts down on possible complications, rejections, side effects etc.  As far as I know all thai surgeons here use a mesh.  I really didnt want to go that route and Im very happy I didnt.   I flew to Canada, stayed in a hotel the night before my surgery close to the hospital, then stayed at shouldice 4 days (check in day, next day surgery, then 3 days recovering in the hospital room) and then stayed at a friends place for a week before taking the big flight back to Thailand.  They recommend you DONT do a long flight in the first week after surgery so I followed the doctors advice.

 

Heres how it played out:

You check in, get your room shared by one other person. Next day your surgery is scheduled somewhere from morning to early afternoon, there are 6 time slots with 5 operating rooms going at once, so they do 30 surgeries a day.  This hospital only does hernias.  You shower before surgery and get shaved quickly by a nurse.  When its your time you go down to the waiting room watching tv and they cover you with a heated blanket until your called into the operating room.  I waited 40 minutes there.  Once inside they lie you down and give you a sedative intraveneously.  One second your talking to them the next you wake up in your room.  This is NOT general anasthetic, they give you local anasthetic and a sedative. The sedative knocks you out.  I was happy as hell to have slept through the whole thing.  Do NOT refuse the strong pain killer Toredal like I did the first day ????  that works wonders on the pain, the tylenol is NOT enough, especially the first 3 days, after that you will be fine.  I took toredal and 2 tylenol every 6 hours and that let me walk around and go to the dining area to eat etc.  The first day of surgery though you stay in bed and they bring you food but after that they tell you to walk around every hour or so.  Without the Toredal that was a nightmare.  The food is good, you eat alot if you dont make an effort not to, theres 3 meals a day and snack before bed lol.  You are woken up at 6am every day to take pain killers and get blood pressure checked etc.

 

It cost me $3500 Canadian, Im not sure if the price is higher for non Canadians, there were A LOT of people from other countries that came in just for the surgery.  I can apparently get some of that money back from the government and from my insurance provider but up front it cost me $3500 CAD.  Of course that doesnt take into account the cost of flights.  All in all it was a great experience considering I was getting surgery, I waited a long time and had trouble deciding what to do but Im glad I made the choice to go get it done at Shouldice in Canada.

 

I posted this because a lot of the information here is outdated, so heres a fresh perspective and account.

[Celsius]

Can you explain something to me.

 

This hospital is in Ontario Canada. As far as I know no private hospitals are allowed to operate in Ontario. Or was this a non resident fee charge in which case it should be the same for everyone.

 

Do you have OHIP card?

 

 

[TheLaughingMan]

2 hours ago, Celsius said:

Can you explain something to me.

 

This hospital is in Ontario Canada. As far as I know no private hospitals are allowed to operate in Ontario. Or was this a non resident fee charge in which case it should be the same for everyone.

 

Do you have OHIP card?

 

 

No OHIP card Im from BC.  I think if youre an Ontario resident its free or much much cheaper.

[mikebike]

3 hours ago, Celsius said:

Can you explain something to me.

 

This hospital is in Ontario Canada. As far as I know no private hospitals are allowed to operate in Ontario. Or was this a non resident fee charge in which case it should be the same for everyone.

 

Do you have OHIP card?

 

 

That is not true at all. Many hospitals in Ont have embedded "clinics" which can offer service direct to the public. Sounds like that is what this is. 

 

There was a recent in-depth segment on a clinic in London Ontario doing something similar on the CBC. 

[Celsius]

21 minutes ago, mikebike said:

That is not true at all. Many hospitals in Ont have embedded "clinics" which can offer service direct to the public. Sounds like that is what this is. 

 

There was a recent in-depth segment on a clinic in London Ontario doing something similar on the CBC. 

But this is not a clinic, this is a full hospital.

 

Anyway I did some research and it seems the hospital OP went to is one of the very few grandfathered private hospitals.

[mikebike]

On 12/27/2022 at 8:07 PM, Celsius said:

But this is not a clinic, this is a full hospital.

 

Anyway I did some research and it seems the hospital OP went to is one of the very few grandfathered private hospitals.

You do understand that stand alone clinics operate within hospitals in Ontario, right? 

[TheLaughingMan]

Just an update, after almost a month from surgery my condition is great.  It has been healing VERY fast.  I think because theres no mesh involved it heals quickly and no complications.  I started going to the gym again 2 weeks ago and have been increasing my workouts bit by bit and Im pretty much close to being able to do anyting again.  I dont do situps or crunches yet though, they dont really hurt much but figured id wait a week or 2 before incorporating them back into my workouts, but full on weight training and even muaythai at 50%.  Theres only slight pain left, most of the time I forget about my surgery until I move a certain way but even then its very mild now.  I was terrified of sneezing that first week but now I can sneeze, cough and poop no problem ????

[HaoleBoy]

I've had 2 umbilical hernia's (really the same one) done at Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai last year.  Both used mesh ...   I now have another hernia just off to the side of where the mesh is.

Any ideas why I would end up with 3 hernias all in same general location within 8 months?  Hernia operations are fairly basic from my reading.

 

I'm looking for ideas to research before going back in.  I do want an MRI this time to see if anything else can be seen.

[Sheryl]

8 hours ago, HaoleBoy said:

I've had 2 umbilical hernia's (really the same one) done at Ram Hospital in Chiang Mai last year.  Both used mesh ...   I now have another hernia just off to the side of where the mesh is.

Any ideas why I would end up with 3 hernias all in same general location within 8 months?  Hernia operations are fairly basic from my reading.

 

I'm looking for ideas to research before going back in.  I do want an MRI this time to see if anything else can be seen.

Are you overweight?

 

Diabetic? 

 

Did you (physically) exert yourelf in any way during the first 2 months post op?

 

https://www.brighamandwomens.org/surgery/general-and-gastrointestinal-surgery/hernia/recurrent-hernia

[brianthainess]

I had one done in the UK i was told they might use mesh, it will depend what they see when they open it up, they used mesh, luckily no side affects. 

[HaoleBoy]

11 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Are you overweight?

 

Diabetic? 

 

Did you (physically) exert yourelf in any way during the first 2 months post op?

 

https://www.brighamandwomens.org/surgery/general-and-gastrointestinal-surgery/hernia/recurrent-hernia

I'm 8 kgs overweight with no diabetes.  
I stopped working out and stopped riding my Harley so I don't feel like I over exerted myself at all.

I'm looking at your link ... thanks.