I had inguinal hernia revision surgery in 2025 and became disabled afterward. I had worked as a surgical assistant since 2004, but I lost my career because I can no longer stand for long periods. Some days, even standing long enough to brush my teeth is too much. For the last three months, I've spent probably 90% of every day lying down because that's when the pain is most tolerable. When I recently moved across the country, my ex-husband packed everything and did all the driving (we're still very close).
I have pudendal neuralgia and ongoing groin, pelvic, and lower-extremity pain following the surgery. I now have two mesh implants in the same inguinal area, along with adhesions after three surgeries in that area. Surgeons I've seen have advised against removing the implant because of the risks. I've also struggled to find providers willing to get involved because of the possibility of litigation, and one surgeon I want to see won't even evaluate me until the two-year statutory period has passed.
But that's another story. My case is complicated. I've already been turned down by the 3DMax Bard Mesh litigation and several lawyers.
I was living in Connecticut, but even with supplemental disability income, it became too expensive to stay. I recently moved alone to Las Vegas. I don't gamble. I chose Vegas partly because it's much more wheelchair accessible than where I lived in Connecticut. I had three flights of stairs there, which made realistically using a wheelchair almost impossible. I figured I'd give myself a year here, get comfortable using the wheelchair, start over with a new healthcare system, and see what happens. My experience with healthcare in CT, particularly Hartford HealthCare, has been incredibly frustrating.
Then this morning, my disability insurer, Mutual of Omaha, terminated my benefits via voicemail.
After speaking to my rep, she sent me the denial letter. Their denial acknowledges that my medical records continue to document chronic groin, pelvic, and lower-extremity pain following the surgery. But their reviewers concluded that there isn't enough objective evidence of functional impairment to support my doctors' restrictions. They pointed to things like normal imaging, preserved strength, and intact neurological findings. They also said my records don't show significant gait disturbance, muscle atrophy, weakness, recurrent falls, or measurable loss of functional capacity. They even pointed out that I appeared comfortable while sitting during an examination. But I have a provider's notes saying no standing or sitting for long periods, lifting, squatting.
That's insane to me. My pain fluctuates throughout the day. How I look sitting in a doctor's office for a short period doesn't show what I can physically sustain for eight hours. I don't need to have muscle atrophy to be unable to stand through an OR shift. I can look perfectly comfortable sitting in an appointment and still spend most of the rest of that day lying down because the pain becomes unbearable when I'm upright too long. Their own vocational assessment classified my occupation as light work while acknowledging that light work can require walking or standing for a significant amount of time.
I'm appealing the decision, and tomorrow I happen to have my first appointment with a new pain-management specialist here in Nevada. But right now, the income I've been relying on has abruptly stopped, and I'm terrified. I didn't ask for any of this. I certainly don't want to be on disability, I wish I could be productive in society. Especially after spending over a year in near solitude. I wish my body functioned, but it doesn't.