Surviving Laparoscopic Bilateral Hernia Surgery

This essay was originally 25 single-spaced pages.

For over two years I suffered curious constipation (even though I drank lots of water and got at least 30 grams of fiber a day) and a strange and sometimes painful swelling above and to the right of my pubic bone. I also had infrequent right side pain and infrequent right testicle discomfort. Sure, I went to doctors and complained and sought assistance, but the side pain was tossed off as indigestion and the testicle pain only brought a painful 10 minute hands on examination consisting of squeezing and turning my testes. Finally, the discomfort above my pubic bone was termed "nothing unusual" even though I told my physician that, every time I had a bowel movement, I could feel what felt like a string being plucked in that area as everything was evacuating....