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Inguinal hernia surgery, swelling or recurrence?

Posted , 3 users are following.

bobby08
bobby08

I am a 24 year old male who just had inguinal hernia surgery 5 days ago. I'm not sure the specific type of surgery, but the surgeon said that I'd be able to resume heavy lifting in just a week. About 8 hours after I got home I noticed a lump in my scrotum. Visually it appears exactly the same as the hernia. It seemingly comes from the same spot (abdominal wall) and has the same muscly texture. It started to get extremely tender to the touch by the second day.

I called my surgeon the first day and he dismissively told me over the phone that it was just swelling. The next day he called me and said that it could also be fluids. I do certainly have areas of fluid but this patricular thing is not a fluid. He said that I had a big hernia, but that he "tied it all back" so he can't imagine it being an early recurrence.

So I waited over the weekend and the swelling got slightly worse on the third day, but has remained the same for the last 2 days. I called his office today to see if he could just look at it and ... he's on vacation this week. Seriously. I spoke to a nurse who simply said that "swelling and fluids are common. See if it goes away tomorrow." Clearly even normal swelling doesn't simply go away in a day. I asked her if there were any signs to look out for if it was a recurrence and she only mentioned a fever and pain when peeing.

I was never given any specifics about the swelling beforehand. I assumed that swelling meant swelling of the incision area or of the testicles. Is it normal for swelling of something else that would mimic an inguinal hernia (as in seemingly penetrate the abdominal wall and enter the scrotum)? Also, is there a way to be able to tell the difference between normal swelling and a recurrence?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • jim31807
    jim31807 bobby08

    Posted

    Doesn't the surgeon have someone covering for him while he's away? It is irresponsible to leave you like this.

    • bobby08
      bobby08 jim31807

      Posted

      I was never told but I would hope and imagine so. They all seem to be so convinced that it's normal swelling, even without seeing it. My biggest issue with them is just complete lack of information both now and beforehand. I was literally only told "There may be some bruising and swelling. You'll be in pain for a bit but you'll be able to resume heavy lifting in a week." That was it (he did also explain what the operation itself was too). Asking specific questions now like pulling teeth with them.

    • Tammyshernia
      Tammyshernia bobby08

      Posted

      tell them you want to see the dr on call or you will go to the er and any good dr will tell you not to do that to come in to see the dr
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