Ditto what Traderjoe said.


Had a hernia in 1967 and 1968 that had to be repaired. No small incisions here.
Cut about 2-1/2" on the left side, 4 inches on the right.
I too, was sewn up 'the old fashioned way'. One stitch at a time. No mesh in here!

One word of caution!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Three days after I left the hospital, my neighbor wanted to play a game of catch.
This kid (ha, he was my age) pitched 'wild'.
I didn't stop the baseball. It hit my lower stomach area. When I awoke, my white shorts were covered in blood.
Ambulance trip back to surgery to close me back up!

In closing (pardon the pun). . . Do EXACTLY what the doctors tell you to do and you will be fine.

(I'm a member of the 500 stitch club!)

Keith

 

If you are still a candidate for laproscopic/mesh repair, git'er done ASAP. That type of surgery and repair is the fastest surgery, and the quickest recovery. Do limit yourself per instructions. You want that repair to take.

In the future, you will get a warning if the mesh starts to pull a little. No biggie, you just need to heed the warnings. At your age, you can take a lot. By 30 you start getting more of these hints and by 40 (certainly 50) you stop and analyze every warning your body gives.

Fear not the repair. Good luck.

 

Ok, get ready for a book about surgeries. I've had 5 in the last 6 yrs, 3 of them hernia. In 2000, I had kidney cancer and a kidney removed. That was major, have the 10 inch scar to show for it. A year later, I had my first hernia surgery. It was called a post-op hernia, a weakness in the abdominal wall as a result of my kidney op. that was done just above my stomach area. One year after that, another post-op hernia at the other end of my original scar on my lower left abdominal area. Both of those hernia ops were regular incisions, few inches long, with mesh put in to strengthen the area. That last one, even tough it held for all this time, it still caused my lower left abdominal area to bulge out. It looked like I had a baseball sticking out. And just three weeks ago, I had a double surgery. They took out my gall bladder and did it by laproscope, plus, they re-repaired the hernia on my lower left ab area, but because of scar tissue from before, they couldn't do the lap-scope, had to do a regular incision about 4 inches long. This last surgery was the easiest I've had. Hardly any pain whatsoever. Just a twinge here and there. they kept me overnight just to be safe but, I've been up and around and pretty much back to normal except for the heavy lifting part. I recommend getting it done as soon as possible and if they do the lap-scope, better yet. And if they tell you to take some time off work, do it. By taking it easy for 2-3 weeks, it'll heal better and you won't regret it. By the way, all the scars on my mid-section makes me look like a walking road map.

 

Yup, I had the surgery too, 6 yrs ago. Doc found it during a pe-employment physical for the police department I was going to work for. I had no pain or any other indication that I had a problem. Turns out I, and a lot of people, had a lot misconceptions about hernias. They are not a result of heavy lifting, though that is a common way to discover you have one. People of any age can have one, even newborn babies. Basically, a hernia is a weakening of the abdominal wall and if left unchecked will continue to expand - kind of like a bicycle tire that gets a bulge, sooner or later it's going to pop. I over did it too soon after the surgery and it set back the healing quite a bit, dumb mistake on my part. Like the others said, follow the doctors orders and everything will be fine.

 

The surgery was a piece of cake for me, though I can occasionaly still feel it years later.

 

ugh 7 days til my surgery, not looking forward to it other than the week off work, besides the part where i dont have enough personal time to cover all of it.

 

A week off of work? Is that what your doctor said? You better check with him. I'm retired so, going back to work don't bother me but, my son had hernia surgery a couple of years ago and he was off for a few weeks, doctors orders. Of course, his job was lifting heavy baggage at the airport, which brought on the hernia to begin with. Don't you have the ability to go medical leave? I think you're gonna find that you'll be restricted in some things you can do. It's been three weeks since mine and the doctor said yesterday that I have another four weeks till I can lift anything over 15 lbs. YOu have to have some good healing time, laporascope or not.

 

No way will you be lifting anyting after a week. You can want to all you like, your body wont allow it.

Make sure you stay away from children and sick people as much as posible. Coughing (or laughing for that matter) after this surgery is not recommended for awhile, forget about work.

Good luck

 

my surgery is on a friday and the doc told me i could go back on a monday or tuesday if my pain wasnt too bad. i said no ill take the whole week off because im not going to push myself. so ill have about a week and half off before i go back to work on light duty.

 

I had the umbilical surgery about 3 years ago with the mesh and about a 3 inch scar. Stiches were the kind that dissolved away. Was told not to work for 10 days and after I went back, not to lift anything over 10 to 15 lbs. for 2 months. Also, no driving for about 3 weeks. I too feel "pulls" in the area, check for anything that "feels" funny, and then tell myself "no lumps, no worries". I'm sure I'll know if and when somethimg really does happen. Bottom line, follow doctors orders to the letter. It was my first surgery. I too was unsure what to expect, but, looking back, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Just be carefull when you get home.

 

I had inguinal surgery. No big deal. The 2 things I recall are coughing, sneezing or even clearing your throat will be excrutiating for a week or 2. But perhaps with lap it is not so bad. And make sure you plan to not have to exert any effort when nature calls that'll hurt too..My sense of lap vs open was that lap is faster recovery, open can actually be safer because the risk of poking the scope where it aint supposed to go.. but either way its a routine deal. I had open and never used any pain killer except 1 percocet at the hospital when I woke up. I was out of work 1 week, no lifting over 10# for six weeks, no golf for 3 months. I felt 90% after 1 week but TAKE IT EASY, if you dont you'll be in there again. Good luck.

 

Im a retired Anesthetist and have done anesthesia for more of these than I care to remember. It's not uncommon for folks to be more worried about needles and anesthesia than the surgery itself. Alot of it is fear of the unknown. A 20 year old first timer for surgery is usually really nervous. When they start the I.V. they will numb the skin first and it wont be anything as bad as you may be thinking. After the I.V is in then they will give you some sedation to help you relax and you will feel much much better. They would usually give a young guy like you 2-3 milligrams of Versed. Feel free to ask for it by name and Im sure the Anesthesiologist will smile and be happy to provide it and ask you how did you know? They have other things they can give you that work well also. Tell the Anesthesiologist right up front you are really nervous but he will already know. Rest assured that you will do great and are in the hands of experts that have done it thousands of times. The advice the guys are giving you is good and dont dare lift anything heavy for quite some time. Remember that even when the pain is gone it's not completely healed and you can re-rupture it which is mucho bad.

 

on the topic of anesthesia... you *hope* they've done it thousands of times. A guy I worked with ended up in hospital for a few days because of an overdose of anesthetic at the dentists office. The guy was small, probably didn't weigh 100# and that may have been a factor in the OD.

 

The Dentist office is really a different world than the hospital, but suffice to say they are not equipped to handle serious emergencies which is why they send them to the hospital. But there can also be adverse reactions to medications in any setting but you can also give a proper dose to a patient and they can react way out of proportion to what you would expect. Every patient is an individual in how they react.