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Just had an Open Hernia Repair
I just signed up for this Forum and got many helpful tips about recovery, etc. Thanks! My surgery was this past Thursday and so far all went well. Due to two past abdominal surgeries, the Dr. felt the robotic/laparoscopic procedures might not be the best method given the amount of prior scar tissue involved. (One was a mesh Hernia repair but the other was a radical prostatectomy.) The Dr. and I both agreed the “open” procedure was called for. Note: the Dr. was willing to attempt the robotic/laparoscopic procedure however, if he ran into too much scar tissue he’d only have to complete the procedure with the “Open” repair. Everything is going well. The only real surprise I got to experience was my first sneeze after the surgery!
Man, that made me a believer of some of the pain you all speak of! My next “big event” will be a BM! I’m drinking a laxative… but I promise not to elaborate on the results! -
5 Replies
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DeeJay
To feel everything normal for me it took 6 to 8 weeks. In the initial days I also had jerk like feeling while sleeping and the feeling suddenly woke me up – yes with a jerk. That jerk made the incision area painful for 15 minutes and was gone as it came. For every other function (including the one you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask!) it took nearly 10 weeks. In the days after the incision cut remained hard but over months – yes months – it softened and now I still have some hardness. The cut area heals VERY slowly over months and years.My surgery was by Dr. Goodyear of PA with ultrathin mesh. He said the mesh is 8x stronger than the human tissue. I also used Milk of Magnesia – the well known laxative for over 60 or 70 years – in the initial days to help me empty bowels and not put strain on digestive system. I also avoided eating hard to digest food like cheese, pizza etc. Lots of walking, short and long walks slow or whatever pace that suited me helped a lot. In fact Dr. G said I should keep walking daily for the mesh to merge well. Initial days the surgical cut felt like Dr. G sued up a snickers bar inside me. LOL.
So give it time and take it easy. Life will return to complete normal as time goes by. Do not try to “TEST” any of your body functions by lifting heavy weights and such. Surgical cut is what it is and takes time to heal. Listen to your body. If it says no, no it should be.
Please post updates and good luck. If you are happy with your surgeon, please post his details – like what his daily profession is (not all surgeons do surgeries ONlLY daily), state and location; so other people can benefit.
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Yes I did.
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Thank you for your post. Did your surgery involve mesh?
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It’s been five weeks since my Open Inguinal Hernia repair. Things are going very well. Tight clothes create some irritating feelings but nothing to really complain about. However, I still have some numbness/tingling in area of the incision (left side) and below to my genitals. The sensation does seem to be abating slowly. My Doctor says the numbness in this area is normal. I’m just curious how long it may take before the sensation is gone. If it has to do with nerves, my guess is it can take some time, like a couple of months or so.
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😀 excellent.
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