All he wants is help.
For years, Bryan Wayne Kopala has been suffering. But the pain isn’t only being caused by the mesh that was used to treat a severe hernia in 1997.
“I had a dream... and I lost it all,” Kopala said, wiping tears from his eyes.
Scattered before him are dozens of documents, outlining a journey that started after an inguinal hernia repair in 1997. Since then, Kopala has been misdiagnosed, denied funding from AISH, the province, and federal disability programs, and living in pain.
Once a man that was active and community-oriented, Kopala now spends up to 20 hours per day in bed, and is required to use a cane to walk.
“I’m a broken soul.”
Kopala was born and raised in Bonnyville when “the roads were still gravel and eating dirt was like eating food.”
His parents and grandparents lived in the area, and owned businesses in the community.
“I went to Duclos School until Grade 9. I got pulled out of class lots because the principal thought I was more active running the school than in class,” reflected Kopala. “I had individual teachers teach me one-on-one because I was excelling quicker than the average student.”
Kopala later attended NAIT for business administration, but dropped out halfway through.
That was when he created a stay in school program, where he would travel the province giving presentations to kids about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and opioids.
It was shut down by the federal government in 1999, but Kopala always had the intention of continuing his dream and starting it back up again.
Over the years, Kopala managed football players like Willie Pless from the Edmonton Eskimos.
They were at a gym in Slave Lake in 1996/97 when “my guts fell out of my ball sac area.”
Kopala was rushed to the hospital where a doctor did an emergency repair.
“They put a tennis ball there actually,” he laughed.
From there, Kopala was taken to the Grey Nuns Hospital where he said they opened him up and sewed him back together again.
After notifying Grey Nuns he was still in a lot of pain, they made a recommendation.
Bryan Kopala looks over what was once his busy life.
“They told me they were going to have to bring me in again and put mesh in me. When I asked why, they told me it would make me feel like Superman, that I would be able to play sports again,” Kopala said. “At the time, I had to sign a waiver, and I asked them why. They said that way they wouldn’t be liable for something. I haven’t been able to find that waiver.”
According to Karen Diaper, communications manager for Covenant Health, the managing body for Grey Nuns Hospital, “all patients, following discussion with their surgeon, would sign a consent form prior to their surgery, not a waiver.”
She also said in an email to the Nouvelle that the decision to use mesh for a hernia repair is “determined by the surgeon, not the hospital,” and that risks for any surgery are discussed prior to a consent form being signed.
Up until 2017, Kopala lived a normal life. He started two businesses, remained active, and dreamed of moving to the Caribbean.
His first endeavour was opening King Kans in Bonnyville. He worked hard and watched it grow, and eventually created a second company.
All of that came crashing down in November 2017.
“The doctors thought that maybe I had cancer. They took blood work on Dec. 21, 2017,” Kopala described.
The blood work confirmed Kopala was cancer-free, but that left unanswered questions.
He wanted to know why he was in constant pain.
Little did he know, that stabbing pain he was feeling was the mesh that had been implanted years before.
Kopala had to shut down his King Kans business, and gave his newly created company away.
He described having to let go of his dream.
“I’m at the doctor’s office once or twice a week (now) because I have infections around my abdomen area,” he said. “The breakdown is all of the time. I try to beat the infection, take probiotics, and get myself back to normal, but in the meantime, finding out that I worked so hard for everything I have ever done, created all of these things... I’m in my life right now where I’m fighting to get help because of this.”
It has taken over a year for a doctor to confirm that it’s the mesh causing the pain and his condition constitutes him as disabled.
While pain medication is an option, Kopala wants more than just a bandaid fix.
“I would really rather live than not know if I’m going to wake up dead, with an overdose, in a coma, or totally blackout with no one around to help me.”
Over the years, Kopala has applied for disability funding through AISH, the province, and the federal government, but has constantly been denied.
“I didn’t wake up in the morning wanting to fight this s**t,” he stressed. “This isn’t me, but I can’t do anything more. They’ve taken everything away from me and they still haven’t helped me.”
A report from AISH claims Kopala isn’t eligible for funding through their program because he doesn’t fall under their definition of disabled.
When the Nouvelle contacted AISH for a comment, they provided a copy of their policy, which outlines the eligibility for the program.
In order to qualify for funding, your disability “must be permanent and substantially limit the person’s ability to earn a living.”
“It’s quite amazing how I have been able to find a way to afford to keep going,” Kopala said.
The federal government denied him the disability tax credit, stating in their letter his impairment in walking and managing bladder and/or bowel functions isn’t severe, and they will only consider an impairment acute if it markedly restricts a basic activity of daily living at least 90 per cent of the time even with the use of appropriate therapy, medication, and devices.
Kopala applied for the province’s Alberta Health Benefit program, but much like the rest of his applications, was denied.
However, it wasn’t the fact that he was ineligible for the funding that surprised Kopala, it was their claims that he wasn’t a Canadian citizen.
He said if it weren’t for the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), he wouldn’t have any help financially.
“They took the time. They called me, they asked questions, called my doctors, and did so much follow up,” he explained. “If they hadn’t stepped in and said, ‘Bryan, you paid into it, we can help you,’ I’d be dead.”
When the provincial government refused to help, Kopala wasn’t sure where to go, so he turned to Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr.
“When it comes to Albertans that are vulnerable, we need to be cautious. We need to make sure the system is fair, appropriate, and gives everyone the opportunity to get the help that they need,” Cyr stated. “If we hear the health system is failing them, instead of just throwing them into a limbo where they just can’t seem to move beyond, there needs to be a mechanism.”
Cyr said they’re doing what they can to help, but there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
“In this case, we potentially have a constituent that has had some health issues and hasn’t got access to the appropriate records,” expressed Cyr. “In this case, I would suggest the Ministry of Health has failed this particular constituent.”
Like many living in pain as a result of a mesh implant, Kopala has considered suing the company that made the material, but when he went to locate the paperwork in his archived file at the hospital, it was gone.
“I went there, I went to my files, paid for them in the archives... the mesh information was out of my file,” he said. “Now, lawyers say they can’t help me because we can’t identify who manufactured the product... They can’t help me without the evidence, but the evidence is in me.”
Diaper said Covenant Health’s policy is to keep patient records for 11 years from their date of discharge.
Lawyer Jill McCartney, partner assistant for Siskends LLP in Ontario, is working with hundreds of Canadians suffering from hernia mesh implant complications.
Some are part of ongoing litigations, while others are just looking for answers.
“Generally speaking, people can have issues relating to mesh migration, various issues relating to pain, which is a big category. It can have a lot of different causes depending on movement, with some of the materials for mesh you can have hardening and stiffening of the product that can cause pain, so there’s a lot of pain symptomatology,” she detailed, adding infection is another common concern.
McCartney said while some have their mesh implant identification number in their hospital records, like Kopala, that’s not always the case.
“What we find is people will contact us about hernia mesh, but usually it takes us a little bit of effort to jump through hoops to see if we can help people get the specific product identified, because that’s important for this litigation,” McCartney detailed.
Their first step in identifying the product is checking the client’s records, if the information isn’t there, they reach out to the surgeon who made the implant.
Unfortunately for Kopala, his surgeon has since passed away.
McCartney said there is a window of opportunity when it comes to filing a class-action lawsuit in relation to products and health complications, and some of that has to do with how long a hospital will retain your records.
“There are time limits on how long you have access to your medical records, bringing action, whether it’s against a product manufacturer, a physician, or a hospital. If that’s a concern and that’s coming to the forefront for you when you’re having these health problems, it’s important to do your best to take some steps,” she added.
McCartney said more and more people are coming forward and sharing their stories when it comes to hernia mesh complications, for one reason or another.
“I think it’s a combination of things. We see more products being used and we sometimes see changes being made to products, and sometimes those changes can be for the better and sometimes they may not be,” expressed McCartney.
In relation to Kopala’s case, she said he could have the material removed and preserved.
“There can be steps taken to try to preserve the mesh, so that’s another option if he is having a revision or removal surgery… it’s another place where we can sometimes look for clues.”
In a letter from his doctor provided to the Nouvelle by Kopala, the physician claims that “given the location of the mesh device, the removal of the mesh device is not suggested by the specialist due to complications of the surgery. These complications include loss of testicles, disfigurement, loss of feeling in the legs, and possible death.”
“My family, they don’t know how to handle it. I don’t blame them, there’s a displacement that happens,” Kopala noted. “I don’t blame people for not wanting to be around me because I’m sore all of the time. I get it.”
Last Thursday, Kopala visited a specialist who within minutes confirmed it was more than just the mesh causing Kopala’s pain.
“There’s a hernia within the mesh,” Kopala explained.
For Kopala, this news was a weight off of his shoulders.
“After a year, you almost think you’re crazy inside because you keep telling doctors this is what’s wrong,” he exclaimed. “This is very refreshing, it’s mentally refreshing. It’s a bad feeling when no one wants to listen to you. I get it now. I get why a lot of people just give up on life. This is such an emotional thing for me.”
Regardless of the most recent diagnosis, Kopala said it’s still inoperable.
“They can’t do anything. It’s just acknowledging the truth.”
Now, he will continue the fight for his health and his dream.
“I’m not going to give up,” he stressed. “I won’t quit fighting.”
He added, “I don’t know where I’m going to go from here. People keep telling me to reapply for things, to do this again, redo that. Mentally, it’s exhausting.”
