My thoughts on getting a Hernia.

[Koch Ebola]

I just found out I got Hernia. I use to joke about it and I thought I was impervious to it until I got it.
I am 67 years old and my advice to all your men. Get a check up ever so often by your doctor.
I write on the subject.
https://stephenjaymorrisblog.tumblr.com/post/665383388010659840/hernia

[Walleye]

1. A hernia kept my brother out of Vietnam. So it may have saved his life

[marble falls]

2. I would have rented one first before buying it. We old guys lose our muscle tone and it happens.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

3. The men in my family often got hernias.

So I think there's a genetic predisposition to them, probably to varying degrees.

I've had three in my lifetime, the first one when I was younger than TWO YEARS OLD! That hernia bulged into my scrotum! I don't remember it, but my mother and older siblings realized that something was seriously wrong because I was crying so loud... and they said that I almost never cried about anything. (Which made me a popular baby in the family, since they had anticipated lots of interrupted sleep.)

I later learned, about four decades later (!!), that my oldest brother was balancing my belly on his head as he held my arms and bounced up and down! He said that I was laughing as usual, but then I was suddenly shrieking and so he quickly placed me back in the crib!

So I said, "Holy crap! So that's what caused that hernia!", and he got angry at me for even suggesting it! "Don't you DARE try to blame me! It was only a coincidence!"
(And then I dropped it.)

Anyway, I had two more hernias as an adult. Surgeries were done each time, with mesh inserted to prevent it from happening again. And it's indeed never happened to me again.

After the last operation, the surgeon said, "You didn't tell me about your hernia from when you were a baby."

Me: Oh, I forgot! HOW did you know about that?!

Him: I saw the tiny scar inside of you, from the operation that clearly must've happened when you were a small baby. Anyway, I wrapped the mesh down there too... to help prevent another hernia that might protrude into your scrotum.

Me: THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[ret5hd]

4. What kind of recovery time after surgeries?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

6. It depends on the size of the hernia.

Some guys have TINY hernias (which can actually be more dangerous in terms of restricting blood circulation to the intestine), and the operation isn't as invasive. Those guys are sometimes back to work within a couple days!

I had over a 6-inch tear from my last hernia, mostly because I kept delaying corrective surgery as it got bigger. So the surgery was pretty invasive with lots of mesh and such, and I didn't feel comfortable trying to return to work for about a week.

You'll want to avoid lifting anything heavy for even longer.

Your surgeon should have the best advice for you, depending on your situation.

EDIT: And don't be surprised if your penis later looks bruised and swollen, like the surgeon and nurses all took turns clobbering it with a hammer. LOL! It's just from gravity pulling the fluids from around the incision to it.

[ret5hd]

8. Swollen? Like, uhhhmm...bigger? Do they charge extra if that happens?

[Buckeye_Democrat]

9. Lol!

The width of mine seemed to about double, but it was clearly from fluid build-up mostly under the outer skin. It was actually pretty hideous-looking, but it didn't hurt despite all of the bruising.

There's good advice from someone else further down this thread. They're almost certainly going to intubate you despite how they MIGHT tell you it can be avoided if you don't eat or drink for many hours before the surgery. In my case, they intubated me both times anyway! Which sucked, because it made me cough for awhile in post-op... and that can be painful after surgery around the abdomen!

And be sure that you get some pills for pain!

One of my nieces drove me home from the hospital after my second hernia operation (as an adult), but she was in a hurry and said that she couldn't stop at the pharmacy for the pain pills. She kept apologizing, and I told her to not worry about it! I wasn't hurting much at all!

Well, that was just the after-effects of my anesthesia and pain meds from the hospital! By the next day, my abdominal area was hurting pretty bad! I slept in a recliner that night instead of a bed (after learning the first time that it was much easier to stand up that way), but even getting up from the chair was a very painful struggle. It felt like my 8-inch incision was going to rip wide open! (Which wouldn't have really happened, but it FELT like it might!)

So I finally got up that morning and called my sister about the prescription. Luckily, they didn't question her about getting pain meds for someone else... and I THINK it was Percocet if I'm remembering correctly.

And very soon after taking the pain pill, the amount of relief was AMAZING! Then I had far more mobility, like I did the previous day soon after the surgery.

They also gave me a bag of local anesthetic, near the incision. But I temporarily peeled back the bandages that next day and I realized that the IV needle for the bag wasn't even in me! So that bag got tossed in the garbage, being mostly a nuisance.

Edit: Just get the pain meds from the hospital if you can. Cripes, that's what I should've done!

Edit2: It probably won't be as bad for you. My incision the 2nd time was pretty big. The surgeon said my hernia was a "whopper" during the initial consultation, and that it was the biggest one he'd personally ever seen. Then he scolded me a bit for not getting it fixed much sooner. I lived with it for about 10 years, I think, since the hernia itself wasn't painful MOST of the time. And that hernia started very soon after I had surgery for the one on the other side, which made me pretty angry because I had basically begged to get the mesh to cover both sides! The first surgeon said something like, "The health insurance will only help pay for the one side, so let's just do that."

[PJMcK]

5. I've had two inguinal hernias repaired

Once, I was playing catch with my son and as I reached for a ground ball, I felt my right groin muscles separate. It wasn't pleasant. The other time, I was sailing and while pulling down the jib, I had the same sensation on the left side. Both events were painful but the repairs were easy procedures and the recoveries took about 4-6 weeks. Glad I won't have to go through that again!

[louis-t]

7. Two things they don't tell you before surgery, and one thing they do.

They don't tell you: You will be intubated. Your voice will be a little scratchy for a few days.
They don't tell you: You will be catheterized. After surgery, the nurse said to me "if you can pee in this cup, we can send you home." They must have heard me screaming out in the hall. People who have to cath regularly build up a callous. Me? No such callous.

They do tell you: "Don't go online and watch any videos about hernia surgery."

I asked if I should leave my underwear on or take it off. "No no, take it off. There are no secrets in surgery."