Hernia Surgery, anyone?

[gopherit]

Well, in just a few scant hours I'm going in for hernia surgery. The doc was amazingly vague at what to expect, recuperatively -- said I might be off teh pain pills and movin around on Day1, or it may take 6 weeks. I told him I hope that the wide margin was not a reflection on his prowess and precision as a surgeon.... he just laughed.

It's an umbilical hernia -- I would think that would be easier, since it's right "on top" (not hidden down beneath other layers of muscle.) So any of you who have had this type surgery, I would love to know what your recovery was like. How soon were you on your feet, driving a car, back at work? I have a very high pain threshold and am a pretty quick, healthy healer, so I'm hoping for all good things! I know I can't keep livin' with this Eternal Turkey Timer...I'll be glad when it's all over!

Any input appreciated... I'll read it when surgery's over (and it's too late to chicken out!)

 

[KimRaye]

Well, 7yo DD just had inguinal hernia surgery about a month ago, both sides. It was a very hard 1-2 days, but she bounced back soo fast after that, even I am amazed - still. She had surgery on Thursday, back to school on Monday. Yep, fast. She went bowling before getting the all clear, and the night of getting the all-clear, she was rough-housing with a 3yo, 17yo & 30yo. Enough to panic this old Mommy.

I'd say there's nothing to be afraid of, but I'm not speaking of personal experience. DD says she didn't get scared until those final few moments before she was put out.

Have you ever had surgery before? This could be something that you've never had to recover from before. I hope & pray you'll be fine, and that you'll recover as soon as you're hoping for.

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

Here is a link to a very useful little support group for people getting hernia repairs. http://members.boardhost.com/hernia1/index.html?1096724187 Be prepared, day 2 is the hardest. I was warned of this by the people on the support board but didn't believe them after I had my surgery. I felt great after my umbilical repair and was all ready to go home three hours later. Then day 2 came and it sucked. Keep in mind, with an umbilical repair, they are cutting through muscles that you will use to sit up, breath, cough, sneeze, and laugh. I've had four abnominal surgeries in my lifetime and I have to be honest, the umbilical hernia repair was the most painful. BUT, I have fibromyalgia and I think that was part of my post-surgical pain. I also felt a lot of discomfort from lying in bed several hours. I'm the type that has to get up and move around a lot or I'll start getting spasms. On the bright side, recovery was very quick. The pain goes away fast and I felt 100% myself after only two weeks (although most people are instructed to limit activities for six weeks). Plan on strong drugs on day two and know that the pain passes!

The best of luck to you! It really isn't too bad!

 

[phillybeth]

My DH had umbilical hernia repair about 2 years ago, emergency surgery though as his incarcerated. He was in the hospital for 1 day after surgery, he had staples rather than sutures. IIRC he was out of work about 3-4 weeks (but he had a lot of sick time banked) and was off prescription pain meds after a week. Driving once the staples came out 7 days after surgery.

 

[jfulcer]

1-2 days for my double hernia operation, wasn't too terrible. I took half dosage of pain pills about a week just to 'take the edge off'. I assume you had yours today- here's hoping everything turned out ok.

 

[DVC Daisy]

Hope you are feeling better soon.

 

[gopherit]

Thanks, everyone. Dakota Lynn, you pretty much had it pegged! My neighbor down the street called me on "Day 1" and told me, "Hon, I hate to tell you this, but Day 2 is the worst!" She was right... on the upside, however, now it's Day 3! And I TOTALLY agree about the pain in the backside thing -- lying on my back 24/7 was KILLING me yesterday! I have had surgery before (c-section in '95). This felt a lot like that, just higher up. I made things harder than they had to be with this hernia recovery because I also had surgery done under my arm to remove a mass (another little dividend from my 3 pregnancies -- thankfully just excess tissue and not anything suspicious or cancerous - I can bethankful for that -- but it's still a sizable incision and soreness under the ol' arm). It was my left arm, and I'm left handed, so it has been like re-living my c-section with a "broken wing"! Ugh... I have watied for 3 yrs to get this done, and I know I'll be a happier camper in the end, but man -- surgery stinks. They gave me loritabs, which I wish they hadn't -- I don't think it agrees with me. (I think it's acetominophen with codeine?) I can handle demerol better than this stuff. If I move around at all, I get queasy as heck (and while no one relishes the though of vomiting, imagine it when you have stitches in yer gut. I did that after my c-section and IT AIN'T PRETTY!) I had all sorts of post-op issues after my c-section (incision rupture, aye yi yi) so the fact this so closely mirrors that experience makes me edgy... I'll just be glad when it's over! My poor DH is trying to manage the household sans me -- with 3 kids, school schedules, meals, he is exhausted, the poor man, but normally, it's ME taking care of HIM (I have a great immune system... his is the pits.) So he gets to live in my shoes for a while... My follow-up appt is not until the 24th, and the surgeon says stay away from work til then. That will be tough for me if I start feeling better. I was raised that if you're off work (or out ofschool, whatever), you STAY HOME. If I am feeling decent, I will feel guilty leaving the house, yet feel absolutely cooped-up bored and insane to just stay put! I'm putting the cart before the horse, of course... first I have to feel well, and the 24th is over a week away...

Meanwhile -- The kids have been SO hysterically funny with their insight on the whole thing. They are so very tender and loving to me -- it isjust too darn sweet. One son, though, lamented it wan't fair -- he wished HE could "lie around all day and watch TV!" I told him nothing really interested me on the TV anyway -- 24 hour TV wasn't all that great. His answer: "Oh... yeah, that would stink. HEY -- (with a big smile) Do ya want me to set up the Gamecube for you?!?" (Yeah, right -- let me just play 24 hours of SuperMario instead, I'll be on the mend in no time!) One son wanted to see my stitches. So I showed him, and after an initial grimace, he remarked, "HEY! He gave you an "innie", Mom! You can, like, wear a BIKINI this summer!" (I have ALWAYS had an umbilical hernia, hence, an "outie", and after 3 pgs, it was more like a "turkey timer" gone wrong, but by gosh if my kid wasn't right -- the doc DID give me an innie! But a bikini? Is he SERIOUS? Ah the innocence of youth...) My dd has the best introspect on it, though... she told everyone in her preschool that her mom had "hurt-n-ya" surgery. Yup, that about sums it up!

Thanks again for the posts and well-wishes!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

I am so glad that you are on the road to recovery. I will share with you my story, glad its after you had your surgery. I was just suppose to have a quick simple surgery to fix mine also, That is what surgeon #1 did, I have a high pain tolerance too so it was just sore to me. In the meantime, I kept getting sicker, had so much pain etc. Found out the wound was developing a hematoma under the skin post surgery, so he said, I kept getting sicker by the day, my dh finally begged the dr. to see me in the er, he did and said I had a massive staph infection. He didnt even take me back to the or, just cut me open in the er, gee, what a dr. Another one of his patients asked me to join her in a lawsuit against him. Long story short, I had less than 24 hours to live had that not gotten taken care of by the dr. who practically cured me and killed me at the same time. I am sure glad God heard everyone praying for me then. But then because of that my whole abdominal wall got weak and the whole surgery ripped my wall apart, all this from a little outie belly button? Yes!! So I found the chief of surgery at the hosp. and now I have a nice giant piece of gortex plastic in my stomach just keeping me alive in one piece. Don't try to lift anything, vacuum, bend etc. You risk ripping all the inside stuff apart. Blessings and prayers for a speedy recovery.

 

[gopherit]

luvmarypoppins -- your hernia surgery sounds like my csection story! I kept insisting something was wrong afterwards, too -- doc insisted it was a case of "raging hormones". (Oh PAHLEAZE!) Finally DH took me to him (for the 2nd time) and I wouldn't leave until they did some tests, cultures, etc. Turns out I had a raging infection (in my case, it was strep, according to the culture). A few days after that, my whole incision ruptured at 2am. LOVELY. Doc's words: "Oh this is a GOOD thing, because if it hadn't ruptured, it would have meant more infection, an abcess in fact, and definitely more surgery..." Good, huh? Good for whom, I wondered? That incision never would heal right -- his solution: stick a strip of iodoform gauze down the unsealed "hole". Imagine, if you will, me lying on my bathroom floor, trying to do THAT twice a day after abdominal surgery...DH had to help me. I felt like an airwick air freshener. THe incision never did heal right; I was left with adhesions all over, which I discovered when I went to deliver my 2nd child (with a DIFFERENT OB/GYN, that's for sure!) OWWWW. When I became pg with #3 and went for my 1st visit, who should greet me but C-Section doc. He introduces himself as a new doc in the practice -- I said oh trust me, we've met. He seems incredulous and says really? (leafing frantically through my files ... for some reason he didn't go far enough, I guess!) I said tell ya what, you look at this lovely incision and tell me if you recognize the handiwork.... Needless to say, I made it really clear when I delivered #3 that HE was OFF the "playlist"!

Thanks goodness you survived your ordeal. I hope you never ever have to endure such a close call like THAT again! I think that's what freaked me out about how I felt on Day 2 -- I thought, Oh no, is this a repeat of my c-section stories?!? Hopefully this will have a much better ending...

THanks again for writing and best of health to you!

 

[Hillbeans]

Hi Everyone,

I posted a thread about Hernia's last week because my husband "thinks" he's got/getting one (not sure what the proper terminology is).

He's been in pain now for a good 2-3 weeks (seemed to kick in the worst after some roughhousing with our son) and he finally agreed to go to our family doctor this coming friday.

Can someone give me an idea of your symptoms?? He's had a "pulled" feeling in his lower right side of his abdomen from his mid belly all the way down to his groin. He seems to think now something may be starting to protrude, however he's not sure. I'm sure the Drs will be able to tell him more what's going on when he goes on Friday, but if all of you had the same symptoms I would at least think we're on the same page. I know for a fact it's not his appendix, he had that out when he was in high school.

Thanks in advance and hope you're on your feet again soon Gopherit!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

Hey! I was wondering how you did. I'm glad you made it through the dreaded second day and are on your road to recovery! You will find that you get better much faster than you did with your c-section (I had one of those, too). Just remember to take it easy for a while. You can re-herniate yourself if you're not very careful. You had the mesh implant, right? If that is the case, then you know that your hernia will continue to repair itself by forming scar tissue around the mesh that will ultimately make it very strong. But it you overdo yourself, you can prevent that process. When you feel tempted to get up and do stuff you shouldn't do, just ask yourself how you feel about going through this surgery again!

I had my hernia repair in October...then three months later (nine weeks ago yesterday) I had a hysterectomy! I have to tell you, I'd rather have three hysterectomies than one hernia repair. I didn't want to terrify you, but I really thought the hernia repair was much harder than a c-section or hysterectomy! My incision was huge (bigger than my c-section scar) because it turned out I had three hernias. It hurt to breath after that surgery! But honestly, the worst part of the whole thing was the pain of lying around. With my hysterectomy I was up and about very, very well the next day, so I was able to prevent that bed pain! I'm curious, how big is your incision? Mine is about 6-7 inches, half of it is below my belly button and the other half is above. That brings me to another thing. If your incision cut through or around your belly button, you need to pay very good attention to that area as it is a difficult place to heal. You may have some extra leaking there and have to clean it well with peroxide for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, yes, the time spent in bed causes a lot of discomfort. You deserve some back massages, and I bet your husband would be happy to do that for you! Even your kids can help out there. My daughter was so sweet after my surgeries that she was always ready to help out. I think kids feel special when they get to be the caregivers! It really brings out the sweetness in them, doesn't it? Warm showers can help the back and body aches and there is a product called biofreeze (kinda like bengay but without the smell) that can really help sore muscles!

Hey, if you have any questions at all, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm five months post-op and have earned the right to say I know what you are going though!

Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery!

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

Can someone give me an idea of your symptoms?? He's had a "pulled" feeling in his lower right side of his abdomen from his mid belly all the way down to his groin. He seems to think now something may be starting to protrude, however he's not sure. I'm sure the Drs will be able to tell him more what's going on when he goes on Friday, but if all of you had the same symptoms I would at least think we're on the same page. I know for a fact it's not his appendix, he had that out when he was in high school.

Hillbeans, I not going to be much help to you because I didn't have very many symptoms and my hernia was in a very different location. There are different symptoms for various hernias. I had a really nasty asthma attack/bronchitis several years ago and that is when I caused my hernia. It hurt really bad but I thought it was pain from coughing too hard. I didn't realize that I had hurt myself! Anyway, the only symptom I had over the year was severe IBS. That totally went away after my surgery. Also, I had a bulge that got larger since I lost weight. That is what tipped me off that something was wrong. I'm sorry I can't be more help! Follow that link I gave in my first post and ask your question there. You don't even have to register. They will really be able to help you! Good luck to your husband! And please, don't be afraid from my tales of painful surgery! Umbilical repairs are notorious for being the most painful!!!

 

[melk]

gopherit,
glad to hear your recovery is going well, keep it up. Just a funny story about when my DH went in for an umbilical hernia. Everything went fine and his recovery was pretty smooth and fast. But he was entitled to six weeks off from work so we decided to "sneak" down to WDW for a quick visit at the end of his recovery period. To make a long story short, his "medical absence" resulted in a trip to Disney and me, 9 months later, having our 3rd little bundle of joy!!

(moral of the story: be careful )

I'm off now to read your dining reviews!

 

[christineann]

I don't know much about hernias, but my son got one while working at an auto parts store. He told me when we were at college orientation that he had some pretty bad pain, so I asked him if he could feel a lump, and he saw a surgeon when we got home. He had the surgery and left for his freshman year of college 3 weeks later with no problem. I was the one who was frantic.

 

[gopherit]

Hi Everyone,

Can someone give me an idea of your symptoms?? He's had a "pulled" feeling in his lower right side of his abdomen from his mid belly all the way down to his groin. He seems to think now something may be starting to protrude, however he's not sure. I'm sure the Drs will be able to tell him more what's going on when he goes on Friday, but if all of you had the same symptoms I would at least think we're on the same page. I know for a fact it's not his appendix, he had that out when he was in high school.

Thanks in advance and hope you're on your feet again soon Gopherit!! Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

THough I've had mine technically since birth, my hernia was basically silent until 2 yrs ago. First time I noticed it, I was sitting at the computer, nd began feeling a gnawing pain in my belly (recall that mine is umbilical, so the pain is centered right over the stomach, more or less!) But I soon noticed this wasn't like a stomach ache or heartburn -- it was different. I went to stand and I felt like a marionette with one string too short -- I knew then something was wrong! And there was that pain -- that wierd pain at my center. I felt with my hand and thought, whoa -- THAT isn't right! There was a very noticeable "lump" where there had NOTbeen a lump before. I pressed on it -- and to my great horror it "squeezed" back through the portal. At that time, the hole was maybe thesize of a nickel. I learned that if my weight was low and I was active, I actually had MORE of these instances, because there was no protective "fat pad" over the hole! My solution: gain 10 lbs. And oddly that worked -- for about a year. But the hole got too big, and before much longer, I couldn't do anything (which for me just ISN'T going to work -- I am a very active type person). That stupid thing would pop out if I so much as coughed or sat or sneezed. Hence, the surgery.

Hope your DH gets his pain pinpointed and docs can find a way to help. The websites others have posted on this thread are quite helpful -- if he does have a hernia, tell him to check it out!

As for me -- I am just on plain ol' Tylenol now for pain (mainly for backache from lying down so much, and headaches! Is this like an aftermath of anethsia or something? I'm not a headache type person but MAN....these are doozies.) I really don't like the looks of my incision now (lovely bruising now apparent!) but if every day is a step closer to being "me" and active again, I'll take it.

THanks to all you posters -- your words of wisdom and encouragement are appreciated!

 

[Hillbeans]

Thanks GOPHERIT...

My husband just left the Doctor...apparently what he has is an incisional hernia - the hernia is coming through the scar where he had his appendix out about 15 years ago. I guess that surgery left the weakness in his abdominal wall and the hernia decided to start to come out through it.

He was referred to a surgeon and will probably have the surgery in the course of the next few weeks - the sooner the better.

Now I have to do more research on this.

Gohperit - hope you're feeling better as each day passes. Thanks for your advice.

 

[nativetxn]

I'm glad that you are feeling better, Gopherit. I know you must be glad to have put this surgery behind you now.