Hernia Surgery

[Purron]

Hey all,

Not posting much these days but still checking in from time to time. Got a question for you. My DH is going in for hernia surgery next week. It’s an inguinal hernia. Because of the size and placement, laparoscopy is not possible. Rather, he’ll be having the traditional open surgery.

We’re confident in our doctor and his recommendations after having researched this extensively. Just wondering if any of you have been through this and if you can let us know about how long it took to recover and any suggestions for post op care.

DH is 58 and otherwise fit and strong. He hates this and wants to get back to his usual level of high activity ASAP. Naturally, I want to be cautious and make sure he recovers completely with no complications.

 

[REWahoo]

I had this surgery and was fully recovered and back to strenuous activities in three to four weeks. Of course I was 24 at the time...

 

[Buckeye]

Hey all,

Not posting much these days but still checking in from time to time. Got a question for you. My DH is going in for hernia surgery next week. It’s an inguinal hernia. Because of the size and placement, laparoscopy is not possible. Rather, he’ll be having the traditional open surgery.

We’re confident in our doctor and his recommendations after having researched this extensively. Just wondering if any of you have been through this and if you can let us know about how long it took to recover and any suggestions for post op care.

DH is 58 and otherwise fit and strong. He hates this and wants to get back to his usual level of high activity ASAP. Naturally, I want to be cautious and make sure he recovers completely with no complications.

Make sure he asks his surgeon what can go wrong if he overdoes it too early and ruins the doc's good work.

 

[Redbugdave]

I had this surgery and was fully recovered and back to strenuous activities in three to four weeks. Of course I was 24 at the time...

Same thing with me. I was 25 and in the service. I walked bent over for a few days. I still have the scar about 3 or 4 inches long. I was not supposed to lift anything more than about 10 pounds for about 2 weeks. That was 30 years ago.

 

[bbbamI]

DH had this done a little over 10 years ago at the age of 49. He was a 'fortunate' one as he had a double hernia.

His recovery time was two weeks. Pain meds took care of his discomfort and he was not to pick up anything over a few pounds during that time. Since he did what the doctor told him to do, he was just fine.

Here's a hint...to help your DH get out of bed, place a small chair (like a dinette chair) close to the bed. Sit in the chair and have him pull himself up to a sitting position. If needed you can swivel his legs to the edge of the bed.

I'm sure he'll be just fine.

 

[samclem]

I also had this surgery when I was young (22 YO). A little pain afterward for a week or so, took it easy for a while longer but I was fine after that. No recurrence of the problem, no additional repairs needed and it has been 30 years. He'll be glad he got this fixed--one less thing to worry about.

Good luck

 

[bbbamI]

Oh..one more thing. It would be wise to have a small pillow handy just in case he laughs or feels a sneeze coming on...he needs to hold it to his abdomen.

 

[obgyn65]

Same for me, but I was 28 at the time.

I also had this surgery when I was young (22 YO). A little pain afterward for a week or so, took it easy for a while longer but I was fine after that. No recurrence of the problem, no additional repairs needed and it has been 30 years. He'll be glad he got this fixed--one less thing to worry about.

Good luck

 

[truenorth418]

Had the same procedure 4 years ago. Was uncomfortable, bed ridden, and had an extremely nasty bruise for the first few days, but was well enough 4 weeks later to ride 5 Boro Bike Tour in NYC (over 40 miles long). Have been fine since.

Best of luck to him.

 

[SJ1_]

I also had this surgery when I was young (22 YO). A little pain afterward for a week or so, took it easy for a while longer but I was fine after that. No recurrence of the problem, no additional repairs needed and it has been 30 years. He'll be glad he got this fixed--one less thing to worry about.

Good luck

I was 12 and recovered in a wk. or two.. Also had no problems since and it
had been 49 years

 

[calmloki]

have matching scars both sides, the latest one two years ago. Mesh only on this one, mesh & a plug on the other. I felt the latest operation was superior, neither was laproscopic BTW. Lifting and such was scary for weeks, heavy lifting made me think for months after, after a year I didn't think about it at all. Numb skin around the incision site. Funny hedge trimming. Pretty easy deal all in all - he should be just fine as long as your cats perform cat therapy by stepping repeatedly on the site.... Oh - no swimming for several (6?) weeks - guess an infection in the abdominal area is not advised.

 

[Alan]

My dad had the same surgery when he was 78. He had left it way too long so the protrusion was large and very painful.

He had an epidural and said the procedure was really easy. (he requested music from the 50's during the operation and chatted with a nurse). He never mentioned how long it took to recover, but having being retired for almost 20 years he had mastered the art of taking it easy.

 

[Walt34]

I've had two, about a year apart in my early 40's. The first one was a new experience in pain and I didn't get out of bed for five days unless I absolutely, positively, had to. I didn't eat anything for those five days either. The only pain med I had was Tylenol with codeine and that wasn't near enough. I should have called and asked for something stronger but at the time didn't think of it.

The second one went as advertised. I was sore for a few weeks, but could walk, and remembering the first one asked for a stronger pain med and got percocet. It turned out I didn't want it for more than two or three days.

This is the one in which I found that percocet, boredom, a Visa card, and tool catalogs are a very bad combination. The UPS truck pulled up in front of my house every other day for the next two weeks.

Eventually in both instances recovery was complete and no further problems since.

 

[Badger]

I had 3 (one had to be redone a few years later) but none were open surgeries. The first two were 25+ years ago and he plugged the hole which was cutting edge at that time. Years later the proceedure was to stitch in a strong 3X4 mesh patch surrounding the weak area. The good news is that it is now "bullet proof" - better than new.

Cheers!

 

[Purron]

Thanks everyone!

 

[timeasterday]

Was your DH in a lot of pain from the inguinal hernia? I ask because two months ago I was getting a lot of hip pain when running but it also hurt in the side of my lower abs when I sneezed. The sports MD told me to rest a couple of weeks and by then the pain when I sneezed was gone (but the hip pain still lingers today). Every now and then I get a twinge of pain in that same area of the abs when straining heavily. I'm seeing a different MD next week so I will bring that up with her.

 

[Purron]

Was your DH in a lot of pain from the inguinal hernia? I ask because two months ago I was getting a lot of hip pain when running but it also hurt in the side of my lower abs when I sneezed. The sports MD told me to rest a couple of weeks and by then the pain when I sneezed was gone (but the hip pain still lingers today). Every now and then I get a twinge of pain in that same area of the abs when straining heavily. I'm seeing a different MD next week so I will bring that up with her.

Not at first, but it's getting worse.

 

[timeasterday]

Not at first, but it's getting worse.

OK, thanks. I hope the surgery goes well and he has a quick and full recovery.

 

[Telly]

Purron, what's the news on our patient? I've been checking every day, wondering how it went/is going.

I had one side, open method, in my late 50's. The surgery itself went fine. And I felt unexpectedly well afterward... till the IV pain killer wore off, and things started to happen.

If I had the surgery on a Monday morning, I still felt pretty good Monday night, but pain was increasing slowly. Tuesday afternoon and evening I started to feel a lot more pain, and little strange pain feelings, like little earthquakes. I did not realize what was going on. Fluid retention in tissues, and swelling that was growing, and growing... from the incision area downwards. Oh boy. Tues. night I was starting (starting?) to panic. It was grotesque swelling, monstrous, and blue and blue-black areas. I looked like some kind of mutant. The checkout paper work said some swelling in the, ahem area, was possible. DW remembered the Doc mentioning it to her when I was in recovery, as a possibility. It was bad!

Got ahold of the Doc the next afternoon, he said that was not uncommon, and that "it was amazing how flexible skin really is". Um, yeah, but will it go BACK OK again? He said that by the 1 wk follow-up, swelling should be coming down. It did.

For the first few days, I needed help with pants, socks and shoes, no way could I do it myself. I started the day out taking one Hydrocodone (actually, its a mix with acetamenophen, to keep it off of the most restrictive drug list), then boosted to 2 at a time in the afternoon, and 2 before bed. I really tried to minimize the narcotic use, but it was just too great.

The only way I could get any sleep for about 3 weeks, was to lie on my side, incision side UP, with legs pulled up some, with knees one over the other, so legs were stacked in parallel. My knees hurt almost immediately, but a folded-over bath towel between the knees fixed that. To get in or out of bed, I had to start with the towel in place, and knees locked together and held with my hands, then roll into place. There are a lot of muscles in the area, and I never realized how much we use them for just about every movement we do!

After a couple weeks, I became aware of the screen. It felt like a piece of aluminum window screen had been put into me, and I could "feel" the sharp cut edges, that's what it felt like. That feeling decreased over time, would come back in certain movements, disappeared by 4 months or so.

I would say that I was out of commision from doing all the activity things I usually do, for about 3 months. I met a guy in his 20's, who had both sides done about 9 months before, he was told a happy happy timeline story, it did not go according to plan for him at all. But he did tell me "it WILL get better, even though it doesn't feel that way now!!!" That was true.

 

[Scubablue]

Hi All- A different question re: hernia treatment: What type of physician did you go to first for diagnosis: internist, gastro, or other? I understand general surgeons usually do the procedure but want to minimize the other steps. Thanks!

 

[packrat44]

Had 3. I am a slow learner. First one when in the military. Found during an out-processing physical. Fixed by Uncle Sam. Second time I tried lifting about 300 pounds of cast iron with out help. Bad mistake. Third time, I do not remember what I did. But it let me know immediately that I screwed up again.

When I was having the 1st repair there was another military member having a re-do. He was given Sick Leave to re-coup after the 1st surgery. He went home and started hod-carrying for his father's masonry company. His doctor was very POd about having to re-do.

 

[Meadbh]

This very much depends on where the hernia is. A hernia is defined as an abnormal protrusion of a viscus (internal hollow organ) into an area where it does not belong. Hence, for example, if your hernia is hiatal, it means your stomach is sliding up into your thorax where your esophagus should be. That is not visible externally and may present with heartburn and reflux, which will lead you to your family doc, possibly followed by an internist. If you are overweight, slimming down is treatment #1.

If, on the other hand, we are dealing with an inguinal hernia, which happens to be the commonest one in men, a piece of intestine has managed to slip through the little opening where the testes went down to the scrotum when you were about the size that Prince George is now, and the first symptom is a lump, which enlarges when intraabdominal pressure increases.....which is why your doctor asked you guys to "cough". Lumps and bumps tend to gravitate towards surgeons.

The bottom line (pun intended) is that the possibilities are endless, so you guys should probably start with your friendly neighborhood family doc or nurse practitioner. He or she has the background knowledge to send you in the right direction.

Hole that helps.

Meadbh

Retired doc, thinking of dropping licence but does not have insurance in your area, so no liability accepted!