Open incisional hernia

Hi incisional hernia repair 2 years ago, had 4 previous abdominal surgeries including a laprotomy to repair a perforated bowel.  Ialso had abdominoplasty at the same time as my abdomen was totally shot.  I was in 5 days, as I went to Edinburgh for my op, we stayed there for a further week.  seriously I was nowhere near fit ot travel and the journey home to East Yorkshire was a nightmare.  They told me 5 week recovery but it took weeks/ months, I had no painkillers as they made me sick, so did the whole thing without painkillers nightmare again; take them if you can.  I smelled dreadful after the op, and kept trying to find out what the smell was, it was me,no idea why.  Lots of debates about mesh versus own tissue repairs these days, I have mesh, causes some problems, but some people have v bad problems after mesh repairs including autoimmune disease, bad pain etc and it is v difficult to remove if it all goes wrong, and yet it works really well for some people.

Find the best surgeon you can someone with loads of experience and well recommended, this op is not a walk in the park and not to be undertaken lightly.  Hope it all goes well for you  

Hi well i had a CT and  it said hernia in abdomine  and  when the dr opened me up laporscopy it wasent a hernia it was a 6 cm mass not cancer thank  god.my belly blew up  i  dont no  how  noone couldnt of known what it showed.it shows even  scans dont no .you should be fine i  was in  1 day went home  6 oclock same day reply

Hello Vicky when I had my abdominoplasty and mesh hernia repair, i did not have any external stitches and the only drains were right at the bottom of the scar draining away antibiotics that had been put into my abdomen by my surgeon, i think I had 4 drains.  They were not painful to remove like the one after my laprotomy to save my life following my bowel perforation, which was extremely painful to remove but came out quite easily, I spoke to the nurse about it and we worked together and it came out no bother.  If you are having a mesh repair bear in mind that it can become infected.  I did not research this before my repair, but I now know that antibiotics will not cure this infection and the only cure is to have the mesh fully removed.  Mesh is intended to be permanent and is inherently difficult to remove.  On the otherside of the coin not all mesh becomes infected and I completely understand you wanting your hernia repaired.  If all goes well it will definitely improve your quality of life, as I said previously it is a painful op, but the pain will go away.  Ask your surgeon how she intends to close your wound, hopefully without stitches clips etc it is possible, also ask about drains, hopefully only for antibiotics.  My surgeon was Andrew de Beaux in Edinburgh he is brilliant.  much kind regards 

Oh bless you Vicky.  I too am a bleeder so before my laprotomy to resection my bowel I spoke to the surgeon about my situation ( had major haemorhage after my third c section, had to be given a blood transfusion), I said I needed Vitamin K to prevent the bleeding so he gave me a shot before the op.  Before my hernia repair I stopped taking a herbal medicine I take, which I know is an anti coagulant, I  spoke to my surgeon about it and took Vit K prior to my op, his opinion was that it would not do any harm and I did not bleed after my hernia op.

I too had loads of adhesions prior to my hernia op, my surgeon told me afterwards about the adhesions and that he had sorted them out.  

I agree with you you do need to get your hernia repaired, I hope that my comments will go some way to allaying your fears.  If you have a good surgeon as you say she will be able to deal with all of your issues.

Hope it all goes smoothly, will bethinking about you, and please do let me know how you get on.  All the very very best for this week.  most kind regards Shirley dancer 

Ugh, Vicky.  While I was on a cruise ship in May 2015 my appendix ruptured. After returning home from surgery and 2 wk stay in the Azores I had my first incesional hernia surgery Sept 2015 with no mesh. 10 days later I had a intestinal obstruction and went to the ER.  In the hospital for 4 days with an NG tube through my nose. On May 24, 2016 I had a 5 hour hernia surgery from a large hole in my abdominal wall. They went through the same incision along with 7 laparoscopic holes. This was a difficult recovery with 3 days in hospital and 2 months of bed rest. You CANNOT us your abs!  

Here I am 6 months out and still in pain.  I also have pain from partial obstructions from scar tissue. It may never fully obstruct and the doc is hoping it will go away. I am quite sick of it all. If they do more surgery to break up scar tissue that surgery will cause scar tissue.  Most days I just wait like a ticking time bomb when I may have to go to the ER again. 

I hope it will be easier for you. 

Dear Vicky Judith, most people do underestimate, bowel/abdominal problems.  Here comes the but, I had adhesions which caused me problems for 33 years, resulting from 3 Csections.   I had a lot of problems with my bowels during those years.  They did finally perforate in 2013 when I had emergency surgery ( a bowel resectioning to prevent my death).  

What I am saying is there is hope, it is horrid and horrendous.  My poor abdomen which has undergone 4 previous surgeries has survived a hernia repair and abdominoplasty, this last surgery was just over 2 years ago, I am 70.  My life is difficult at times, and very difficult at other times, but I have survived so far, I hope this helps you to take a little courage.  I will never be the same again, but I appreciate things far more now than I ever did before, I take tremendous pleasure out of a beautiful sunset, the autumnal colours, I live life in techni-colour when I can and when I suffer, I suffer.  I too do not believe if anything else goes wrong for me, for instance mesh infection that I will survive.  I try very hard not to dwell on it.   Live love laugh, if you can.  Bowel disease is utterly horrid.  Thank God for the medical experts that work in this field, may they get better at what they do and may hernia surgery improve.

Rest as much as you can Judith,  I had gastroenteritis last year and it has taken me a year to recover, these things take time, but I am so much better now, our bodies have had a lot to cope with, and recovery does take ages.  It is good that there are groups like this where we can talk to those in similar circumstances to ourselves.

 

Hi ladies I had my pre op yesterday and surgery is now set for the 10th November I won't get chance to ask my questions till the morning of my surgery. The nurse said oh it's only a hernia you will be home the same day?? I said my letter said I'd be admitted so she checked and I'm definitely staying in I had previously been told 7-10 days nurse didn't seem to have a clue. They went through all my previous history noting my issues with bleeding and the fact I nearly lost my spleen last time due to it being stuck to my liver and pancreas so I don't think for a second this will be a quick operation but I will keep you all posted. I'm to be at hospital for 7am next Thursday but could be waiting all day depending on where I am on the list. I had an ecg yesterday but when I saw nurse she said oh we didn't need to do that after all we only did it as we thought your bmi was still 40 haha mines now in the 20s so that's one risk cut down hope your all as ok as we can be I'd love to keep in touch it's so nice having you to talk to xx

Hi Vicky all the very best for your op, hope it all goes well and that your surgeon is brilliant.  Stay brave.  Keep in touch

Hi Vicki

I had my open incisional hernia repair 4 weeks ago. It was a long operation - 4-5 hrs and it was a large hernia. I had 2 drains and was in hospital for 6 days. The first couple of days were the most painful and I needed help walking. I have been taking things slowly and to be honest, I'm surprised at how well I feel now. My incision has healed well with no complications but I know I'm still healing internally as I do still have some pain, not all the time, mainly at the end of the day. I was very anxious about having the op, my surgeon was great and very honest with me in that he said it would be a difficult operation, but afterwards he said it had gone better than expected. At the moment, I have no regrets or concerns. Good luck, and please do keep us informed of your progress.