Martin Kurzer 2016-08-13 Person 5 5 0

I am en extremely nervous patient. After much debate I decided to have my umbilical hernia repaired. I did some research and decided to go privately to a hernia specialist and chose to speak to Mr Martin Kurzer. I initially spoke to him on the telephone and immediately liked his caring, realistic and professional attitude. Despite living in the North of England I decided to have the operation with Mr Kurzer. To save me the inconvenience of going to London twice, Mr Kurzer arranged to see me in the morning with a view to operating on me in the afternoon if I was happy with his approach. I found him extremely informative, honest and reassuring and he immediately gained my trust ( which, being very nervous of any procedure, is not easy!). I had my operation under local anaesthetic at about 2.30pm that afternoon. The staff at the hospital were all lovely including the Anaesthetist who had an equally reassuring, kind and professional approach. Throughout the operation I chatted to the Anaesthetist and I felt no pain. Under local you can feel some tugging and pushing but that's all. Mr Kurzer was fantastic, occasionally informing me of how it was going and ensuring that I was in no discomfort. The level of sedation that you may have is discussed fully with you before the operation. I returned to my room and had a sandwich and biscuits. Mr Kurzer came to see me and I left the hospital at about 6pm. I was prescribed painkillers to take with me. I stayed overnight in London and took some Paracetamol. I had no pain, just some discomfort. I returned back to Lancashire by car the following day. My recovery to date has been as follows: Day 1 - walked happily out of the hospital and returned to my hotel and had dinner in my room. did not need my prescribed painkillers, just Paracetamol. Day 2 - Walked about about half a mile around St Johns Wood before returning home. Tummy was swollen with some discomfort but no pain. Day 3 - Walked 1.5 miles . Day 4 - Walked 1.5 miles to my local village, had a coffee and walked home ( 3 miles in total). The swelling around my tummy was now visibly reduced. Day 7 - Removed dressing as instructed. Swelling virtually disappeared. Scar above my tummy button with a ridge ( which is totally normal for a while). Walked 5miles. Resumed driving. Day 30 ( current day) - scar healing nicely and ridge shrinking slowly. Pretty much back to normal, cycling and walking regularly. I intend to return to my Pilates class within the next 2 weeks. At no stage have I experienced pain or indeed felt ill. I have had some discomfort and you do have to be careful in the early days not to do too much. I adhered strictly to Mr Kurzer's advice. I can 100% recommend Mr Martin Kurzer as a surgeon. He removed a lot of my anxiety by being so patient, reassuring and contactable. He texted me on the morning after my operation to check I was ok and again 7 days later when I removed the dressing. He stressed that I could contact him directly at any point if I had any concerns. In addition he has a wealth of experience in hernia operations and I am delighted that I chose him to perform my repair. The hospital staff were also fantastic. Everyone I met including junior nurses and theatre staff were kind, friendly and reassuring. I would definitely recommend this hospital.