Shannon G Shannon's Patient Story

“Dr. Elkwood agreed to do the hernia repair, and I have been problem free following a final surgery in February 2008,” says the mother of three children ages 8, 7 and 5 who was finally able to return to her full-time job at Fort Monmouth.

The highly specialized hernia surgery offered at The Institute for Treatment of Simple & Complex Hernia provides hope to patients like Shannon Gaetano, whose repeated failed hernia repairs had left her with essentially no surgical options.

The 39-year-old Eatontown resident said she developed an abdominal hernia after the birth of her third child by Cesarean section in September of 2005.

“I went through three years of hell — in and out of hospitals,” she says. “My hernia was getting worse and worse, and I visited multiple surgeons, all of whom refused to operate. Then my ob/gyn referred me to Dr. Elkwood.”

Noting that she also suffers from hidradenitis suppurativa — a chronic skin inflammation considered a severe form of acne that occurs deep in the skin — she said the condition further raised her surgical risk, as potential complications of the condition is multiple infections on the body.

“Dr. Elkwood agreed to do the hernia repair, and I have been problem free following a final surgery in February 2008,” says the mother of three children ages 8, 7 and 5 who was finally able to return to her full-time job at Fort Monmouth.