I went to the doctor over vacation and found out that I have a hernia that will require corrective surgery. it's in the groin as opposed to the stomach/abdomen area. Has anyone ever had this type of surgery before? I've been reading up on it but was curious to hear some first hand accounts.
Cant help you with that specifically, but my Dad has had abdomen hernia surgery twice. Most recently last month which they did laproscopically and put in a mesh to reinforce the muscle wall. He didn't even need to spend the night at the hospital. He was up and around the day after and chasing the grandkids on day two, fwiw. They gave him percosets but he tossed those and made do with just a big does of ibu for a couple days.
Yeah from what I've read online and heard anecdotally I guess abdominal hernias and groin hernias are completely different animals as far as corrective action and recovery go. I'm not scared or anything. It's just an inconvenience that I want to get taken care of ASAP but obviously I'd like there to be minimal pain and complications. I think the worst thing about it is that the doctors recommend waiting at least a few weeks before having any fun with the wife.
My brother has. He went back to work too soon and irritated it. Ended up bothering him for about a year until the pain went away.
My brother had that surgery when he was 17. I urge you to be very confident in your surgeon, my brother had whatever herniated wrapped around his man parts and was very close to becoming castrated if it wasn't for a good surgeon.
Yeah I researched it pretty well. I live an hour north of Boston and there's no shortage of world class medical facilities and professionals there so that's where I'm having it done. I've read that if the surgeons cuts a nerve down there it can pretty much ruin your sex life. the surgeon I'm seeing uses the latest and greatest techniques and comes highly recommended.
Funny (ok, not really) you should bring this up Dana. I had mine done on the 22nd of last month.....my right side groin area as well. A "normal" tear is about the size of a pencil (according to my Dr.) but mine was big enough he said he could have fit his wrist through it. Anyway, what should have been a relatively easy one hour deal, turned into an almost 5 hour ordeal. I had some lipomas (fatty deposits) in there that got cut out as well. I'm still sore, and can't really do a whole lot w/o it causing some painful discomfort for a day or 2. It'll be 4 weeks on Friday, and the Doc originally told me I'd be back to "normal" activities in about 3 days. Well, not much was normal about mine, and turned into what my wife is now calling major surgery. I went home the same day about an hour or so after the cutting was done. Couldn't stand taking the pain meds, so I quit those on day 3. Just dealt with whatever so I didn't feel all doped up. I'd make a terrible junky. I was walking that evening and haven't stopped since, but it's been a slow progression.... Yours should go gooder than mine did and I bet you'll heal quickly. You'll be fine. Promise. Just don't start chasing the wife around too soon. Come back and let us know how it went. We'll wait for ya'.
Yeah my wife and I both have an issue with abstinence. I guess that's why our children were born ten months apart. Your hernia tear sounds awefully bad. What were the symptoms prior to the operation? Were you in a lot of chronic pain? Mine is a very low grade pain that comes and goes. It's really more of a discomfort than a pain. Sometimes when I'm doing certain things it's a little worse. I had a physical earlier in the year and I'm otherwise healthy so I'm hoping I have a quick and painless as possible recovery. I have the consult next Wednesday and will hopefully have the surgery about three weeks after that. I want to get it done as soon as possible so that my wife doesn't have to feed pellets into the boiler, snowblow, shovel etc etc Also our 7 year wedding anniversary is coming up the first week in November and it would be nice to have healed by then.
Dana and papa, how were your hernias discovered? I want say I'm feeling something abnormal in my right side groin area too but I've never had one and wonder if it could be something else. And, something as simple as sneezing or blowing my nose makes me feel it. Same with you guys?
Actually, I felt a "pop" while coughing. Slight pain that went away, then a bulge that got worse in my lower abdomen that went down uh.....further. No real pain, just an annoyance really. Finally went to my primary doc, who setup a consult with a Urologist. He told me I definitely had a hernia, and he could fix me up within less than 2 weeks. In my case, the "cure" has been worse than the problem was. I know now that I shouldn't have waited. I was probably tearing it a little more every time I lifted/moved firewood. HDR......go see your doc. Hurry up, we'll wait.
I had a 2-fer on the groin 8 years ago. Both sides. The surgeon puts some mesh in and you will be better than new. The healing took a little while. I had more lingering pain from the damage that the laparoscopic instrument made coming in from my belly button and being run down to my groin than the actual repairs at the groin, or so the surgeon told me when I went back for a second follow up because it was till hurting
My heat is.... There was no moment when I knew I had torn something with me. I had some mild pain and some other symptoms that I thought were caused by a recent vasectomy I had. If you want to start a private conv I can discuss those other symptoms with you because they can be somewhat graphic and personal to describe and I'd rather not do that in an open forum. Anyhow it was not the pain but these other symptoms that led me to schedule a vasectomy followup visit with the doctor at which time I was diagnosed with inguinal hernia on my right side. The doctor said that people commonly think that hernias can only be caused by extreme physical exertion leading to trauma but in fact something as simple as sneezing or getting out of bed the wrong way can cause one. I guess there is a lot of individual biological predisposition involved in it as well. Much in the same way that some people can eat a gallon of ice cream every day and not gain a pound while others gain ten pounds after a single serving......some people are just more prone to hernia and others can abuse their bodies without mercy and never experience a hernia. This is my layman's understanding of it anyway.
That was something else my Urologist told me......he and his cronies no longer do the laproscopic repairs. They now put the mesh on the outside of the abdominal wall, because sometimes stuff that wasn't supposed to would stick to the mesh and cause problems. The piece of mesh in me feels like the size of a tennis racket. My scar will end up being 5", but normally it would be about an inch. I was surprised at the pain I had when getting in and out of bed. Didn't know those muscles were used for that. Ended up sleeping in a recliner for almost 2 weeks. It's still uncomfortable getting in and out of the darn thing. I'm not relating any of this to scare anyone, but it is what it is.
The surgeon I'm seeing doesn't do laporoscopic repairs either. He does something called advanced preperitoneal repair or Kugel repair. When they do this procedure they place the mesh on the inside of the abdominal wall. This procedure is supposed to produce less post-op pain, a faster recovery and a recurrence rate of less than 1%. Sounds good to me. Did you have a standard open mesh procedure papa? Do you mind if I asked where you had your's done? I'm going to have mine done at Newton Wellesley Hospital just outside Boston.
Evidently, many moons ago, they would clean up the tear, then pull the edges together and sew it all up. That was too much stress on the repair, so they came up with the mesh. Gooder plan.
From what I've read there are different type/brands of mesh manufactured by different companies. I guess it's whatever the surgeon prefers.
