Larry Duggan
"Five Weeks Later My Scars are Barely Visible"
Larry Duggan has always enjoyed good health. He takes care of himself by eating healthy foods and exercising. When the 61-year-old interior designer noticed something was wrong, he didn’t waste any time seeing his physician.
“I definitely knew I had a rupture, what people call a hernia,” Duggan said.
His primary doctor was quick to send him to Alexander Parr, M.D., a surgeon at Broward Health Imperial Point.
Parr determined that Duggan’s condition was more complex. He actually had three hernias. The official diagnosis, according to Parr, was umbilical hernia and bilateral inguinal hernia. Both Parr and Duggan agreed to proceed with robotic surgery for Duggan’s hernia repair because it was the least invasive approach.
“Larry was a good candidate,” Parr said, “due to robotics’ ability to repair three different hernias through three small incisions.”
Parr shared that using robotics would make suturing easier and enable him to place mesh with suture rather than tacks to hold the incision in place. According to Parr, this could reduce the possibility of temporary and sometimes permanent post-operative pain, as well as avoid recurrence.
“The procedure was pretty easy,” Duggan said. “After four days the pain was barely there. Two weeks later, I was out and about with friends.”
Like many people that have had surgery, Duggan is intrigued by what took place while he was under anesthesia. He’s now officially a fan of minimally invasive robotic surgery.
“One of my friends had one hernia and he had eight incisions around it,” Duggan said. “Another friend had surgery for just one hernia and has a deep visible scar. My scars are barely visible.”