Community Chat

[pjoy]

After several months of waiting for an appointment, my husband will have surgery to repair two hernias tomorrow. I've never had a hernia myself, but I can tell he's in quite a bit of pain. To anyone who has experience with this surgery or who has helped someone recover... any advice? Thanks!

[deepwaterdotter]

My husband had surgery for a single hernia last year. He was on bed rest for about 3 days afterward, and no strenuous activity for a month. He may have taken pain pills for a few days after the anesthesia wore off. No problems since.

[Luma2]

The husband of an acquaintance of mine had a serious complication. It was found later that the Doctor nicked his colon (bowel). I don't know what the signs of this are, but something to watch out for.

Wonder if surgical procedures should be videotaped to document mistakes, although this may be seen as an invasion of privacy for the patient.

[sfnative]

My husband had a humongous hernia, so when he finally relented and saw a surgeon, the doc said that while he was in there, he was going to check the other side. If the other side showed signs of herniating, he would repair that side as well. As it turned out, DH had both sides repaired.

My husband did not have an "open" procedure. That is, the surgeon did not make a lengthy incision across the lower abdomen with a scalpel. Instead, he used laparascopic technics to make the repairs. This requires that only several small incisions be made, which bode well for recovery.

My husband's surgery was a same day surgery. Once home he slept quite a bit and ate light for at least several days. I took time off from work to oversee his post-op time at home, because I knew he'd push it, which would not be good.

Slow and easy are words to remember.

My husband who hates doctors, injections, surgery, dentists, any kind of pokiing and proding, actually did quite well under my supervision. I simply had to remind him how to sit down, how to get up, how to get into bed and out of bed. AND - a MUST purchase for your DH is the tubular aluminum structure that fits around the toilet bowl. This will allow your husband to place each hand on a rung and gently lower himself onto the seat, then grab again and help lift himself up when done. Believe me, if your DH doesn't have this item up and going when he returns home, he'll kick himself.

I pray all will go well for him during and after the surgery.

[straykatz]

My DH recently has a hernia repair on one side - it was day surgery - we were home by noon and he went back to work 4 days later (he has a desk job)....he is still tender (its been 2 full weeks now)....he is not allowed to lift anything over 10 lbs or do any strenuous activity for 6-8 weeks.

[pjoy]

Thanks for the replies! We were at the hospital all day yesterday, but my husband seems to be recovering nicely. He says he's tender but doesn't feel the need to take medication.

[Kalli]

I had hernia surgery. I remember getting sick from the sedative afterwards. And being forced to eat a horrible vegetable which to this day I can't identify. I remember getting home and climbing onto the kitchen counter to get candy out of the cupboard and causing my mother to almost have a nervous breakdown right then. Also, I wasn't stitched on the outside, but was glued!

The dr purposely put the incision in a natural crease in my skin low in my abdomen. He told my mom I might want to wear a bikini some day so he hid the incision! What a nice guy!! heehee Oh, yeah..I was 5 at the time and I was able to wear a bikini when I became a teenager.

I hope your DH heals quickly.

-Kalli

[JustJazzmom]

On 2/4/2014 pjoy said:

Thanks for the replies! We were at the hospital all day yesterday, but my husband seems to be recovering nicely. He says he's tender but doesn't feel the need to take medication.

Wait till all the anesthesia wears off-- he'll want the pain meds then! They inject local anesthesia to the operative site and when it wears off, its going to hurt there. Try also frozen peas in a bag if he is reluctant to take pain meds. Pain meds enable a person to move without going ow ow ow. It takes the edge off of the pain so you can do normal things like go from a sitting to standing position and vice versa.