OT: Hernia Surgery

[11thEagleFan]

Any of you ever had to deal with this? Apparently I have an umbilical hernia. A few months ago, I noticed that dad life had really caught up with me. I’m a naturally bigger guy, but I’ve never been fat. Genetics blessed me with height and a wider upper body. But life happened, and Little Debbie became my mistress. Where my more or less flat stomach used to be, there was now a protruding gut that was impossible to hide. So I started hitting the gym hard again when I could, and was feeling and looking great until I noticed the bulge above my navel that took my doc all of 4 seconds to diagnose. I’m just curious to know about recovery and what, if any, physical limitations anyone had afterward.

 

[jwhdog]

Ok, I'm 60 been heavy set all my life and still do construction work but not as hard now. In 2013 I had the same kind of hernia for a year and let it go for seems like a year and the pain got so, I'd have to stop what I'm doing to go lay on my back till the hurting eased. It was big, stuck out like a baseball and I wore mostly lose shirts. So I had the surgery and they put the mesh in me and I stayed a few days in the hospital, came home, took a few weeks off and my doc just told me not to left much anymore and to take stool softeners. Then my luck, a year later, the mesh tore and I had to go through it all over but think goodness, its been over six years now and I fill fine... I still have one small bump there but its no problem. Just take it easy for about a month I'd and you'll be fine....

 

[thatsbaseball]

I had the same surgery about a year after I had robotic prostate surgery. It's a common occurrence after that type surgery. It wasn't a big deal. The doc described the procedure as kinda like "putting a boot in a tire". Went into surgery about 8:00 AM and was home by 2-3 PM. You'll probably be given some pain pills but after a day or two extra strength tylenol was all I needed. I missed a couple of days work but traveled to Chicago for a meeting about 10 days later. There was an extended recovery period but it mostly just called for common sense. WHATEVER YOU DO do not procrastinate, getting it done as quickly as possible makes the surgery and recovery better. It also cuts down on possibly having the thing protrude through you your abdominal muscles which is dangerous and hurts like a MF. Good luck...you'll do fine.

 

[blacklistedbully]

I've had one for well over a year. My doc advised me to keep an eye on it, push it back in if & when I can, and lose weight. If you lose weight, I'm told it may resolve itself. If it doesn't resolve on it's own, you'll want the surgery after you've got your weight back down. In any case, if it turns purple and/or if it starts hurting really bad, get your butt to the ER right away...you've probably got a blockage that could kill you if not addressed right away.

When I told him I'm a dude who's dealt with many injuries in nearly 20 years of rugby, so don't regard pain nearly as much as most people do, so wanted to be sure I didn't die because I ignored the pain, he told me not to worry, that the kind of pain he was talking about would be very obvious and excruciating. Plus, the hernia would look purple.

I'm not a doctor, so am just relating what I've been told.

 

[goodknight]

Had one too

A few years back. No big deal. Went in for outpatient surgery at 7:00 am and home by noon.

 

[jwhdog]

I really waited to long on my first surgery, my own fault... It had a purple tint around the not for awhile and when my sister took me to the hospital, it was a have too case. I could not hold anything down one day and couldn't stop spitting up dark water. My upper intestines was indeed blocked.. But thank god I pulled through it ...

 

[RockKickinSandPoundinSOB]

Any of you ever had to deal with this? Apparently I have an umbilical hernia. A few months ago, I noticed that dad life had really caught up with me. I’m a naturally bigger guy, but I’ve never been fat. Genetics blessed me with height and a wider upper body. But life happened, and Little Debbie became my mistress. Where my more or less flat stomach used to be, there was now a protruding gut that was impossible to hide. So I started hitting the gym hard again when I could, and was feeling and looking great until I noticed the bulge above my navel that took my doc all of 4 seconds to diagnose. I’m just curious to know about recovery and what, if any, physical limitations anyone had afterward.

You shouldn’t have any issues with an umbilical hernia repair afterwards. It’s a minor procedure. The surgeon might tell you not to lift anything above 10-15 pounds for a few weeks afterwards but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Just curious

So I started hitting the gym hard again when I could, and was feeling and looking great until I noticed the bulge above my navel that took my doc all of 4 seconds to diagnose.

Did you go to a CrossFit gym? You’re story is very similar to my coworker’s

 

[the dog is on the loose]

Dang y’all have me concerned now. I’m 54 years young and in great shape but I too have one of those “belly button” hernias but it doesn’t hurt at all unless I push on it a little bit. I also have two in my lower abdomen on the left and right side that a doctor diagnosed but didn’t say anything about surgery for them. They don’t bother me at all but I’m aware they are there. Sigh

 

[SwampDawg]

I had the double hernia repair. Now I have some kind of repair-tear on one side. I instinctively press with my hand when I feel a cough coming on. No pain, no aparent ill-effects. When I was in the hospital recovery bed they put ice packs on both sides to keep the swelling down. The top came off of one of them and doused my crotch with ice water. Of course I couldn't do anything about it. I felt like an upside down turtle.