Is it normal for a surgeon to not do ultrasound/CT SCAN?
To preface, I got umbilical hernia surgery last year, April 26th. not even a week later I felt a lump, just above the repair site. I was told it was a seroma and would "resolve itself". went back for a follow up in July, lump was still there, doctor said no worries. Although I was very worried, I tried to let it go. fast forward to today, a year later I finally went to see the surgeon as the lump is STILL there and becoming more painful, and lo and behold, its another hernia.
This part is EXTREMELY frustrating because I expressed my worries to the surgeon a year ago and he insisted it was fine, didnt even offer to drain it under the assumption that it was a seroma. Now today hes telling me that its not the same lump I originally showed him, that there was initially a seroma that "resolved itself" and replaced by a new hernia, no matter how much I try to explain to him it is THE SAME LUMP. He pulled out all the stops about "ive been doing this for decades and I repair 450 hernias a month" etc. Just totally undermining my intuitive knowledge of my own body, and the fact that Ive checked this same lump every single morning upon waking up since the day it appeared. Its been the same density and in the exact same spot, only gotten bigger and caused more discomfort and now pain. There was never a place in time where the lump was not there, when the seroma could have to resolved and then formed the hernia is now there. THE LUMP WAS ALWAYS THERE. I dont know if im making sense so PLEASE forgive me, this whole situation is so devastating and I just left the surgeon office after a horrible break down and I feel like im being gaslit and lied to. There's so much more I could say about this guy and how this whole ordeal has been since the first appointment I made with him, but ill spare anyone who's made it this far.
Anyway I guess my main question is, because he is basically refusing to do any kind of CT scan or Ultrasound, is this a common practice? I was very upset with him and said many words about how he was never clear to me about the size of the hernia, or the mesh, and why were there no scans done to show exactly what was going on in my stomach? Why did we not do an ultrasound to make sure the lump was just a seroma to begin with? He claims that ultrasounds are "notoriously inaccurate" and he can feel whats going on just by touching it. But it seems that theres a huge issue going on directly at his surgery site, and he isnt making any effort to directly investigate it, and just wants me to go ahead with a 2nd surgery. I dont know what to do. Im so lost right now. I dealt with the initial hernia for 4 years and thought the surgery would make my life so much better, but literally since a week out of surgery ive been dealing with this constant lump that I know in my soul has been a reoccurring hernia all along. Its like I never got a break and went through all of this for nothing. I dont even know if I should go back to him for the next surgery but I just want to get it over with and am desperate.
Also I want to add, you can check back on my past posts on this subreddit, and see the exact post I made after I noticed the lump and was worried about it being a reoccurring hernia. This has been an issue since right after the surgery and I was completely ignored.