RKS Health: The Great Hernia Adventure: Surgery is the Easy Part: No Worries as We’ve Seen it All Before!

Newbies to the Hernia Club are frequently barking up the wrong tree once they decide it is time for surgery and keenly focus on the surgery itself to the exclusion of the healing process.

I will not review differing surgical approaches here as they are amply discussed on the internet.

It is perfectly natural to have qualms, misgivings or fears about hernia surgery.

How long will it take? What anesthesia will be used? Will I be compelled to stay in the hospital or surgical centre overnight? What are all the protocols and procedures involved? Is there any modicum of decency offered being sprawled out in all your glory on the operating table. What is the great “comforting” physician line, “No worries. We’ve seen it all before!” As a patient should we retort, “Well you may have seen it all before but I haven’t seen you seeing it all this time when I am on the table. I am not part of all in this theatre. I am me.”

My experience with an open repair surgery for an inguinal hernia transpired without incident. Prepped by a nurse with an IV and wheeled in the secret corridors of Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto. An exclusive VIP tour!

Met anesthetist at the door of the operating theatre so kindly asking me if I would like to have a wee bit of a sedative to take the edge off. That went well and a brief meeting with the surgeon who promised me he would take good care of me and shave me down there right after the general anesthesia administered so I wouldn’t have to watch those who have seen it all before watching me.

A mask over my face and 90 minutes later in a surgical recovery ward waking up enormously grateful it “was all over”. Best part no headache and no nausea but a nasty sore throat. My spirit said, “Let’s do a victory dance!”. My body replied, “Easy there fellah!”

A couple of passes by the nurse asking what is your pain level out of ten. It was a measly 4! A couple of jabs of hydromorphone quickly reduced that to “Who cares”. I refused a third jab as I felt fit as a fiddle. A victory pee, ensuring waterworks in order. Boy that’s a nasty looking incision there but smaller than I anticipated.

A slow dress up with no help other than my son assisting me putting on my socks.

A trip home with a damn sore throat worsening. Those tubes down your throat.

Concerned familial quips of “You need to rest!” fell on deaf ears. The pain was constant but far from overwhelming. The best relief from the pain was movement so I walked around the house regularly like a hamster on a wheel.

Strangely ebullient I was. It’s done! Let a condemned man enjoy his last moments of delusion. The Great Hernia Adventure was only beginning.

RKS 2025 Canadian Film: “Do I Know You from Somewhere?” A Juxtaposition of Two Possible Realities

“Do I Know You from Somewhere” juggles two possible realities. It is what could have been where choice, fate and accident intersect and zig zag with the past, present and future. There is a healthy dose of ominous fantasy a la “Twilight Zone”.

Olive (Caroline Bell) meets Benny (Ian Otis Goff) at a relative’s wedding. Benny is a server and Olive is emerging from a break-up. Olive is outgoing and due to alcohol consumption at this festive occasion overpowering for the shy and reticent Benny but nonetheless they hit it off intellectually and physically.

Eventually they move in together. It is Benny’s birthday. But strange occurrences flood their quiet home including a fridge magnet number count down. The numbers keep decreasing without any human intervention. A wagon with a bow and then a plush stuffed rabbit appear again without any human intervention. The wagon gift card is addressed to Cece an unfamiliar name for both Olive and Benny. What is happening? Matters are becoming ominous.

Then a different scenario is thrust upon the viewer. At the wedding where Olive and Benny connected instead of meeting Benny she meets Ada (Mallory Amirault) a stage manager. Ada and Olive become lovers. Guess the name of their child!

Gradually all the strange appearances of the rabbit and the wagon begin to make sense. What is actual reality is left unexplained. There is no reality in the film, simply possibilities.

At times the film is more of a stage production than a film. The message may be life is but a theatrical presentation. The plot is an enjoyable journey lacking any clear destination.

Bell is compelling in her dual role.

Written and directed by Arianna Martinez. Digital/VOD release 27June2025.

RKS 2025 Canadian Film Rating 84/100.

RKS Literature: Frightened to Get in the Family Way! (Andrea Levy)

“All those warnings of things that could leave me in the family way. I’d been scared simple from the time my breasts first poked up in my jumper. Kissing at the garden gate, canoodling at the pictures. If he stuck his tongue in your mouth that was definitely a baby. If he touched your breast, well, that was twins. And what girl didn’t know you could fall pregnant sitting on a toilet seat. So sex every Saturday, Sunday and sometimes twice in the week for over a year should surely have left me with a child.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2003.

RKS Literature: Butcher’s Daughter Stuck on the Farm in Rural England

“I should have been going to dances, larking with men who had Clark Gable hair and whispered in my ear I was as pretty as an English rose. My legs should have been caressed in silk stockings, a pointed toe and a delicate heel on my shoe as I stepped from a car. I should have trailed lily-of-the-valley scent, my hair waved, my face powdered to porcelain perfection. I should have been a lady. But I was stuck in a stinking farm. Muck. Muck. And every day the same. Until one day Mother said, “Queenie go and fetch father from the butchering shed.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2003.

RKS Health: The Great Hernia Adventure: Surgical Options and Preparing for Your Big Date

Be aware there are several surgical options; open, laparoscopic and robotic. The method chosen may be totally your choice or it may be dictated by the type and complexity of the hernia. Take the time to familiarize yourself with the differing methods.

You may have the option to do nothing or wait. But circumstances may thwart your free will; be aware of the risk of a strangulated hernia. Research that.

There may be “natural options” you wish to research.

Let’s assume you have a surgery date. You can’t just walk in and say let’s get going! For your own safety and for prepping the surgical team who has the privilege of dissecting you it is almost certain you will have a presurgical appointment close to your surgical date. Your surgical provider will provide details pertaining to;

Items to bring with you on your surgical date.

What time and where you have to register for surgery.

How to prepare for your surgery which might include at home presurgical showers, what you can eat and drink prior to surgery, what to expect the day of your surgery, frequently asked questions about your surgery, medication instructions and post operative exercises and tips for a rapid recovery.

The Hernia Club has got hold of you as you are facing a date you’d rather not have. You’ll have a few things on your mind for sure and the stress and anxiety meter is moving upwards. Hint? Accept your reality and perhaps express to yourself gratitude you have taken a big step in your well being. A bit of self compassion is well deserved.

RKS Literature: World War II Luck in England (Andrea Levy)

“Luck is a funny thing. To some only a large win of money at the pools is luck. Or finding a valuable jewel at your feet on a London street. That surely is luck. But during the war luck take another turn. The bomb that just miss you is luck. Only your leg blown off and not your head is luck. All your family die but your mommy is spared-congratulations you are a fortunate man. So, let me tell you what luck is for a coloured man is just off a boat in England. It is finding Queenie Bligh. It is seeing she has a big house and is happy to take me and a few of the boys as lodgers. Greater than sipping rum punch from a golden bowl-that is luck England-style.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2003.

RKS Literature: Lynching Welcoming Party for Jamaican Soldiers in Virginian U.S. Army Base: A Warm American Welcome

“I soon realized we were lucky the American authorities did not let us off the camp in Virginia. We West Indians, thinking ourselves as good as any man, would have wandered unaware, greeting white people who would have swung us from the nearest tree for merely passing the time of day with them. And my brother Lester? How would they know he was a British coloured man with no uniform to distinguish him? By a badge perhaps worn on his coat? But in what shape? The word Paradise had long since stopped popping from my lips. We might have been returning to that British boiling business but I was not the only boy who was pleased to be leaving America behind.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2003.

RKS Literature: A Jamaican Contemplates Fighting a White Man’s War (Andrea Levy)

“Perhaps my cousin Elwood was right, ‘Man this is a white man’s war. Why you wanna lose your life for a white man? For Jamaica, yes. To have your own country, yes. That is worth a fight. To see black skin in the governor’s house doing more than just serving at the table and sweeping the floor. A black man at Tate and Lyle doing more than just cutting cane. That is worth a fight. I join you then, man. But you think winning this war going to change anything for me and you?”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2003.

RKS 2025 Greek Film: “Athens Midnight Radio”: A Modern Greek Cinematographic Masterpiece

Renos Haralambidis’ 5th feature film “Athens Midnight Radio” is a modern Greek cinematographic masterpiece…correction a cinematographic masterpiece.

Complex, innovative, compelling, hallucinogenic, suspenseful, poetic and most of all crushingly tragic.

Lush, warm, haunting and sensual cinematography.

Impeccable soundtrack.

Subconscious connection with Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” but unlike Scrooge there is no redemption, only deepening regret.

The Night Announcer is a graveyard shift radio announcer with Athens’ radio station LEFKO 87.7. He will be turning 50 years of age on air. He reminisces about a love lost amidst early morning shots of Athens including the Parthenon and Mount Lycabettus.

The Night Announcer plays on-air messages of his lost ballerina love on an answering machine from his youth on which are recorded her messages to him. Their relationship is unravelled gradually in-between his musings and music.  His lost ballerina also muses in a present-day context to The Night Announcer and the viewer about their relationship and despite a break-up, she had promised to call The Night Announcer on his 50th birthday which will be at some point on his show. Until she makes the call the conversations will be intermittently broadcasted.

The Night Announcer muses on his loss of youth and his failed marriage noting he attempted to locate his love over the years without success.

Is she the women we see running the Athens Midnight Marathon?

A deeply engrossing story wrapping you up tight like a baby in warm swaddling clothes. Then a deep tragedy will cut your legs off and I’ll get personal and say I shouted out in shock a reaction to the shattering conclusion. The jogging women is Iris.

Is it possible The Night Announcer’s relationship is nothing but a fantasy of a man regretting the perceived loss of his youth?

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cICmM_tlUQE .

Playing as a feature film in the upcoming Greek International Film Festival Tour of Canada playing in eight Canadian cities 25September-5October2025.

RKS 2025 Greek Film Rating 96/100.

RKS Health: The Great Hernia Adventure: Educate Yourself: Terror or Truth?

I have previously mentioned in a perfect world there would be a comprehensive guidebook available to newly minted members of the Hernia Club. It could be that such a guidebook exists but even then, it is most likely written by a single author with a singular viewpoint. Perhaps you’d like a varied source of information unless of course you’d be willing to simply accept everything the whitecoats tell you?

By way of a simple analogy when it is election time do you rely on information provided to you by a single candidate or should you listen to what opposing candidates, the media, historians and what your friends and enemies say i.e. “informed choice”.

How deep do you want to dig? Excuse the analogy but have you seen golfers over analyzing each shot? Or how about those drug warnings Big Pharma issues covering totally obscure possibilities terrifying everyone. Up to you how deeply you want to ferret out your reality.

What are some of the sources concerning hernias you might wish to consider?

Generalized medical websites: Get the skinny from general medical websites which are often prepared or reviewed by physicians such as John Hopkins Medicine, WebMD, Cleveland Clinic or Mayo Clinic.

Scholarly articles available on the internet: They may be overly technical if reviewed in detail but can be gleaned here and there particularly the heading “Conclusion” which summarizes the entire article. Some of these articles review an entire compendium of previously published articles and give a broader perspective of what physicians and the medical community think about a particular subject. One valuable resource would be articles published by The National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Public and private hospitals: Many large urban hospitals provide information concerning hernias and even greater details about what patients can expect undergoing hernia procedures offered. One stellar example of “hernia procedure marketing” is The Shouldice Hospital. Listening to patient testimonials on their website is almost like being there yourself!

Governmental public health sites: Example might be National Health Service or Myhealth Alberta.

Personalized experience websites: Quora and Reddit offer personalized experiential information or the “real skinny” if you wish. Of particular concern pertaining to hernia surgical procedures of many is how much hair might be shaved off, by whom and if you are conscious when it is done. Laughing, are you? Your mirth may be short lived when you have your hernia surgical date.

Hernia societies: Many countries have non-profit hernia societies offering educational and patient support. Check out British Hernia Society.

Friends who have graduated from the Hernia Club

Published books: As a starter check out Amazon.

Private hernia clinics

YouTube: Perhaps those actual procedures are just too much?