I believe that I have hernia . My navel is bulging and is...

black & blue. I've had abdominal pains for about 2 weeks now. Have a doc's appt. at 6;00 PM today.
Are hernia surgeries painful? Whats the recovery time?
Man....this is going to fuck up my summer!

And recovery time is relatively short.

In fact, when Mr. Bouncy had it done a couple years ago, it was day surgery (outpatient). He was in and out in an afternoon, then rested a couple of days (not even that) and was better.

You cannot lift anything even remotely heavy for quite some time, though. His job at the time required that, so he got to have an easy time at work for about six weeks. And I took out all the garbage to the curb.

You will have a little smile on the south side of your navel. That's where they cut open and tuck that sucker back in! From what I understand, it's a relatively low-risk, simple procedure. Tuck in the offending protruding parts, then repair the abdominal wall where it ripped, then sew up smile on navel. Voila!

You described it perfectly, Bouncy! :thumbsup:

LOL!

strangulated hernia, which can be life-threatening. You have seen a doctor, haven't you?

The main thing is to take a week or two off if at all possible after the surgery...I'm not going to lie, it hurts...make sure you have someone on site to help you out for the first couple of days. Recovery time seems like it'll never happen for the first few painful days, but I was back to work within 2 weeks (and fully functional after 3).

Definitely also listen to the advice about lifting...don't lift ANYTHING over 5 pounds or so for at least six weeks...

Good luck!!!

She'll probably volunteer to nurse me back to health.

do the laproscopic surgery. They go in through your belly button, inflate you with carbon dioxide, pull/push everything back into place, unroll a kevlar mesh from hip to hip and staple gun it in place with titanium staples. You'll be up and walking the same day, and doing moderate activity by the end of the second week. If you're already in shape you'll heal even faster.

It's most painful in the first 72 hours, but you'll have great drugs for that, and don't let the pain keep you from getting up and getting light activity (i.e., careful housework, easy walking, etc.). It really heals pretty quickly.

You will find your swinging parts get a bit swollen - that's just trauma and fluid accumulation and goes away in a day or two. Not as exciting as it sounds.

that's me today.

must. get. more. sleep.

:blush:

Surgical recovery time always seems underestimated. They claimed a week, I was back at work by the second week, though it took awhile to gain strength back. I didn't have much pain.

I had five hernias, including the navel, I had less kevlar mesh, only in the areas where the hernias were.

I can feel the mesh when I bend certain ways. It feels like I have mesh inside! Imagine that.

but we discovered a "future" hernia just in the very early stages of happening, probably congenital. I'm extremely active so I was actually back at kickboxing (very carefully) at the end of the second week. The only times I felt the mesh pull was in the first couple of days when I got on the elliptical machine at the gym.

It wasn't too bad - sounds like you were busting out all over! Hope all is better now.

but I was a runner for many years and am generally very active in daily life, in a somewhat physical occupation.

The hernias haven't slowed me down at all.

I had surgery a few months back and they gave me darvocet and it was like a sugar pill. They rarely send you home with morphine so what are the great ones?

Darvocet mostly makes me not care about the pain too much - kind of like it's far away and sorta tolerable. That doesn't mean it completely erases it, but unless you are unconscious or non-functioning you are going to still feel some transient pain while you heal.

It's natural to have pain - it tells you to move carefully, and the expectation that you should have no pain at all probably isn't realistic. (wow! I sound like the Marquis de Sade)

My problem with all painkillers is that they completely put my digestive tract to sleep, so I'd rather just get through manageable pain with as little medicine and as few other problems and side effects as possible.

It just started about a week ago. There is no pain, and I'm glad it's not a cancerous lump. Mine is an inch or two above the navel, so it might be the type of hernia that you have, or maybe not. Doctor says my surgery can wait as long as there is no pain or organs stuck in the bulge.

Last August the same thing happened to my husband. He was lifting our daughter from her crib, and, in his words - "something went pfftt." He went for a couple of weeks without seeing the doctor and telling me that with rest it would get better. That is his mantra whenever he hurts himself or gets sick "If I just get some rest I'll be fine." It hasn't worked well to date and didn't work well with the umbilical hernia. When he finally couldn't take the pain any more he called the doctor and got an appointment. The doctor saw him that afternoon and immediately sent him to the ER for a surgical consult. They operated the next day on an out-patient basis using laproscopy. He was sore for a week and back to doing regular things in 4 or 5 weeks - including shooting his crossbow. Your summer should not be ruined at all. Good luck.

You've had very good advice here, today! Nothing for me to add, but to say "Hi, and good luck!" Not that you'll need it...These are easy to fix...You'll be fine, esp. with your RN lady friend to help you recover! Of all the things to go wrong inside a body, this is one of the easiest to fix.

Not to worry, my dear maveric!

:hi:

I just hope that it goes well.

It will go well...You are a (relatively) young man, in good health and in good shape, and even if you weren't...these are EASY to fix! I know it's scary, facing even minor surgery. You don't have control over what happens to you there, you aren't even real sure what the problem truly is...so of course, you're nervous and/or scared...Try to not worry. WORRY IS USELESS OVER SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER! This is one of my mantras, and it really helps me cope! And I hope it helps you, as well!

:loveya:


:hug:

jobs in the near future and a hernia would keep me from doing so.
Plus its a bit painful too.

You were going to get into a much more strenuous sort of work, IIRC. Hm, that might complicate things a bit...Of course, that's the sort of thing that you would talk to your MD about...The pain is controllable and probably won't last very long...one would hope!

:hi:


:pals:

But if thats not available I wouldnt mind shipyard fabrication.

No problem at all. I never even had to take the pain medication.

The only thing was, I couldn't lift anything heavier than 9 lbs for 6 weeks and my son was 18 months old at the time! My husband or older son always had to be home with us.

No problems since then either.

Good luck.

About 1 week. <Hope its nothing serious> on edit