Inguinal Hernia Support Group

yes, there is lifting restrictions. the first couple of days you won;t be lifting or want to be lifting anything. not a lot of pain but just very weak and a little disorientated. the hospital gave me Vicadin pain killers but i did with out them ...the doctor said if i could get along on advil or moltrin it is much better for me... i was slightly in a haze for the first 2 days but able to function properly. really as i watched tv everthing has a slight haze to it... i was told all these little things are from the anaesthesia... it all clears up in 2 days....there is no lifting of 20 lbs or more at least until the stitches or staples come out in 7 days... then only light lifting,,,,,your body will be able to tell you how much you could lift..... i ran the lawn mower in 2 weeks. i let the grass grow for 1 extra week as i usally mow every week.after 3 days i started to walk to the corner of my block and then i just kept walking further each day ,...in 5 days i would walk a couple of blocks 2 or 3 times a day as i got stronger... the big relief came when the staples came out in 7 days .me and my wife walked home from the doctors office about 1 mile....... more in a little bit ,,,,( i;m in work)

the bad mesh/patch/plug in made by kugel... everyone knows about it by now but make sure of it... i am glad me and my doctor talked about it because it was an operation time choice that had to be made on me. when i was being operated on the hole was bigger than they thought so i needed a plug and mesh put in..... at least now i feel good we talked about it because you never know what has to be done..please take the time to move slowly the first few weeks... these are the important times for the healing process.... let everything set up good ,,,it will make full recovery much faster and better....

Phillip - Thanks so much. I talked w/ the surg. yesterday and asked a few more questions. I keep saying hietal (sp??) - bt it is the umbilical and inguinal they are doing. Why the mesh on one and not the other. So between YOU and him, I'm feeling a little better. The surg. is set for Oct 15 or 22nd (waiting for the hosp to call back).
Dude... I think it is AWESOME that you offer your support afterwards - what a blessing (at least for me). Hug your wife, she seems like a HUGE help. We live in Southern MD and A LOT of tree's - I'm a tad bit worried about allergies - sneezing. We will see when the time comes. Thanks again!

I;TS NOT JUST ENOUGH TO GO THROUGH LIFE LIKE A ROBOT. WHEN WE COME ACROSS THE BUMPS IN LIFE WE WILL BE JUDGED BY HOW WE RESPONED.
I FEEL I HAD AN "EASY" TIME FOR A REASON. I AM NOT GOING TO JUST BRUSH IT OFF.
IF IT WAS MY DESTINY TO HELP EVEN ONE PERSON,,,,,,,THEN MY SMALL BUMP IN LIFE WAS NO BIG DEAL.....(don't let me get all teary eyed). ONCE I DRINK TOO MUCH COFFEE FOR THE DAY, MY WIFE SAYS I DON'T SHUT UP!!!! .................

P.S..... the mesh is usually used for the inguinal hernias because the mesh reinforces the area and makes it much stronger then just some stitches. i know the muscles run horizontaly through the area so it works very well. maybe in the other area they can't attach the mesh that good..........just a thought!!!!

You REALLY did your research!!! I don't blame you on that. I'm not a big fan of docs. They are my last resort, hence me waiting on the umbilical for so long. I DO have another questions.. (They may answer when they do the post op stuff), what if you get sick... i.e. chest cold, allergies, head cold....
BTW.... if we all did our part and weren't robots, it WOULD be a more loving place. YOU did 2 things for me. Eased this surgery... and showed me that afterwards, it doesn't stop.. I need to help.

well here is my best answer to your questions.the way it went for me was when i went for the pre-op testing all the results were faxed to my doctor who gave the final ok.. the testing was done 7 days before the schedualed surgey and my doctor got the results about 2 days later and looked them over and faxed back to the hospital and surgeon an ok!! so it was like my family doctor had the final ok,which i guess is right since he has my history and charts for the last 10 years....he would determine if an on-going allergy problem was severe enough to stop the procedure....then the day of the surgery i had to get to the hospital 2 hours early and the surgeon meets you and talks to you again......so there is one last chance to make any changes or decisions....i believe at this point everyone pretty much is all set and unless its a strong cold or sickness that developed all will be a go...........

listen to this one... i get to the hospital 2 hours early with my wife and son (son=25 years old,he will drive me home after the recovery) the surgeon comes over to see me and says my operation will be delayed. he had an emergency operation in the middle of the night so the operation room is about 2 hours behind. soooo i had to wait an extra 2 hours....but i took it in stride ,,,i didn't want to get mad or anything all i thought about was the poor person who had the emergency. again. sometimes i think to much but maybe that was my small test to see how i responded to one of lifes little bumps we talked about... so i just said my prayers for the person who was sicker than me and waited my turn............

A 2 hour delay?! You did a good job putting it into perspective (I'm sitting here thinking would I show pity and selfish greed b/c I didn't get a coffee or diet coke!). Silly stupid things.
Well guess what a FEW more questions.
Steps.... did they say anything about steps to you? We are trying to figure out the logistics of everything and everyone (kids). We have steps and it sounds like everyone camps out on the couch for a couple of days. Which is fine, BUT the kid factor. I think my M.in Law would like to see me OUT of the HOUSE the next few weeks when she get here. It would make it easier on her - me not there (LOL). I'm constantly holding the baby - & it will be that urge to do so the 2nd or 3rd week.
Did you go in the a.m.? I'm worried about caffine withdrawls - LOL. Nothing to eat or drink...mmmm. I'm not a huge morning eater, but because I CAN't - more than likely I'll be starving that day.
So steps and IF you are sick - what do they do? Send you home?

steps;i remember the first night i managed our steps..we have 13 of them up to the second floor( the bathroom of my choice).I took one step at a time,left foot first(because hernia was on right side).this went on for three days...than on the fourth day i was going up the stairs and without thinking i started taking 2 steps at a time . i caught myself and slowed down.... i see i was starting to heal and feel better but you have to watch yourself....i did'nt have any little ones to pick up but i did catch myself again about a week later my friend came over with his 3 year old daughter and she came running over to me with her arms stretched out and i would usually pick her up in my arms a swing her around...but i had to stop just before i picked her up......i just did'nt want to take any chances,too much on the line i wanted to heal as fast as i could and get back to work.....you see with my job it's all about making over-time so i had to return as soon as i could...