B.C. man praises C-K doc

Back in June, we told you about Dr. John Morrison, local general surgeon and internationally recognized hernia expert.

Andrew Gmeiner, who lives in B.C., wholeheartedly agrees that Morrison is a whiz when it comes to hernia repair.

Gmeiner, 42, has long suffered from chronic pain following a pair of hernia operations. He was off work, in constant agony, and under duress from an insurance company.

Now, he’s back on the job, getting back into shape and has returned to doing the things he loves.

That’s after being off work for three and a half years.

“I had two previous hernia operations,” he said, with the first operation in 2009 and the second in 2012, on the same spot. “After that, it just went downhill. Because of that (the operations), I went into chronic pain and couldn’t get any help out here at all.”

Gmeiner said his pain was extreme.

“My pain was nine to 10, sometimes even worse than 10. It hurt,” he said.

After finding dead end after dead end while searching for a solution in his home province, the Vancouver-area resident said a friend of his family put him in touch with the Shouldice Clinic in Toronto. Gmeiner said a consultant with the clinic recommended he contact Morrison.

“He talked to Dr. Morrison, who called me, and we started getting the ball rolling,” he said. “Next thing you know, I’m on a plane and out to Ontario.”

Gmeiner came to Chatham in late February and Morrison operated on him in early March. To say the operation was a success would be an understatement in Gmeiner’s eyes.

“Having a life back, that’s a big thing.”

Gmeiner said his quality of life has skyrocketed. He’s still working his muscles back into shape, but is happy to be back at work, and ready to enjoy one of his favourite hobbies.

“I’m going to go out and do some salmon fishing. The last time would have been four years ago,” he said. “I’ve been fishing since I was five years old.”

Morrison, who took over as head of the Canadian Hernia Society in mid-September, said people such as Gmeiner too often get stuck in health-care limbo.

“These poor people have been left by the wayside. Nobody knows for 100%, but it may be because of the mesh that’s put in,” he said. “Somewhere between 15%-30% of the people who have their hernia repaired with mesh can have chronic pain issues.”

Morrison said the chronic pain can also occur with people who don’t have the mesh put in, just not to the same extent.

He realizes the use of surgical mesh to help repair hernias has revolutionized the procedure.

“We’ve reduced the recurrence rate of hernias from about 15% to 1% or 2%. But we’ve traded that off with chronic pain issues,” he explained. “And thousands of people across the country have this (chronic pain) and have nowhere to run.”

Gmeiner looks back on his time in constant pain and is happy it is behind him.

“Not being able to get out there and enjoy that, it was tough,” he said of fishing. “How does your quality of life get better when you can’t enjoy it? Mentally, it was not fun.”

Gmeiner said his condition was bewildering to many people he encountered.

“How do you physically see chronic pain? I had people tell me before I had the surgery, ‘You don’t look it.’ I may not look it, but I feel it,” he said.

Morrison understands Gmeiner’s frustration.

“People think it (the pain) is all in their head. They end up going to psychiatrists,” he said. “But it’s true. These patients have genuine, disabling pain.”

Morrison is happy his efforts paid off for Gmeiner.

“He’s gone from disaster to being a productive citizen again and having his life back, all for three or four days in the hospital,” he said.

He just hopes the health-care system gets on board with the fact that people such as Gmeiner are having real pain that is ruining their lives.

“We have to treat these poor people. We have to listen to what they have to say. These people have genuine misery that must be taken care of.”

Gmeiner enjoyed his experience in Chatham, despite the biting cold and deep snow. Keep in mind he left a province experiencing an early spring to come here to face sub-zero temperatures.

“Did you guys ever have quite the winter. Everybody was laughing at me from B.C. I was sending them pictures of three feet of snow, while they had flowers blooming,” he said.

From Morrison on down, he felt like he’d come to the right place and the right people. Gmeiner said Morrison was just “awesome.

“He’s a great guy to talk to and deal with. When you go to see a doctor, there’s a reason for it. He was friendly, he explained stuff, he sat there and talked to you and explained everything,” he said.

Gmeiner is still in regular contact with Morrison’s office. And he’s very appreciative.

“The service in Chatham was awesome. Without (Morrison’s) help, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” he said.

Gmeiner also praised Morrison’s office staff, the personnel in the hotel where he stayed while in Chatham, the wait staff in restaurants they visited, and Chatham-Kent Health Alliance staff.

“Everybody there – from the nurses to other doctors – were great. You’ve got to give a thumbs up to them,” he said.

Getting to and from the hospital was also a positive experience. Gmeiner said our transit system is “100 times better than what our transit system is out here. That bus service was right on.”