I would like to start by saying, at the end of the day we are each responsible for our own health and well being. I myself am a little overweight and being a self-employed business person in the equipment field, subject to a lot of heavy lifting doing whatever needs to be done to keep machinery running. As a result of this, I got a strangulated hernia, and when your front or back end shuts off, you are in trouble quite quickly.

The first and second time this happened I ended up in emergency in Prince George. After they had done the surgery, I was told no heavy lifting for six weeks. Each time I thought I had adhered to these instructions but now realize recovery time for your stomach to properly heal is considerably longer than six weeks.

The second time the rupture occurred was approximately a year after surgery and I ended up in emergency again, had another surgery and this repair lasted approximately a year and a half and guess what? I then had another bulge in my stomach.

In the meantime, I had devised what I call my girdle and cut one of my wife's cutting boards with a 4.25 inch hole cutter and with wrapping this elastic wrap that had velcro on it to be able to stretch it as tight as one needed and would then slip what I called my puck over the bulge and that allowed me to function for approximately two years.

When I followed up with the surgeon he saw my invention and he said "that looks like a nice idea, you should be able to keep that for the rest of your life". After another two years, wearing my device, it appeared that there was no repair on the horizon.

I then asked my GP if there was a chance another surgeon could try this repair. He told me to leave it with him.

Within a couple of weeks, I received a phone call from friendly staff at G. R. Baker Hospital in Quesnel and made an appointment to see surgeon, Dr. Katalinic.

Upon arrival for the appointment, staff was so friendly and you didn't feel like just another number. I was given clear instructions on the procedure and soon after had the surgery. From the first call to the surgery was only a six-week span. Since that time I cannot say enough about how well the operation went and how much better I feel with everything working perfectly. Since having my staples out and allowing a week or two to let the outer healing take place, I am now wearing my girdle again for extra support without using the puck.

I just wanted to let the public know to ask your GP to advocate for you. Going to the next town might be an option if you're not getting the result you would like here.

Stan Wheeldon

Prince George