OT: Umbilical hernia surgery

[kevinvc]

I had the procedure yesterday and have to admit that I was overly myopic about the whole thing. In my mind I was thinking I would be back to commuting by the middle of next week and able to start doing longer rides by the end of January. At the moment I can't even stand up straight and lifting a full glass of water hurts. I know 24 hours is a little early to start predicting what my recovery will look like, but I'm feeling pretty down right now. Of course that could also be the percocet talking; opiods mess with my moods.

Has anyone else gone through this? I know everyone is different, but I'm trying to get a general idea of how long until I'll be able to ride 50+ miles. I have a lot of plans for this spring and may need to dial expectations back if I'm going to be out of the saddle for an extended period.

[Saint Vitus]

Tell you what, let me know how you're doing this time next week. I'm having two inguinal hernias repaired next Friday, the surgeon might go lap, might go standard. One obviously has a shorter recovery time than the other :-/

[572cv]

The belly button fix? Yes, a few years ago. It was a a bit of a pain for a few weeks, and they don't want you to bust your gut open again, neither do you, so its good that it hurts accordingly, I guess. But it gets better fast enough. I was back on a stationary bike going gently on a trainer in about a week, but I could feel the stitches, so I didn't push too hard. You will lose a few weeks of training, if you were going to do that. But, really, don't be down. It is real surgery! Performed by a real doctor (I assume) ! It takes a bit of time to heal, but way less than what a lot of forumites have dealt with recently. And of course the big plus is how much better your belly button looks :eek:

[JAllen]

Can't comment on the recovery time for the surgery, but I wouldn't be too hard on yourself.

Happiness makes you heal faster!

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk

[gasman]

You will feel better tomorrow, guaranteed. It will get better every day after that. Just follow doctors orders on lifting and straining.

If you can get off narcotics and just take ibuprofen that will help you also.
Everyone is different in terms of recovery time but I suspect you will be on the short end. Listen to your body and you'll be fine.
Best of luck.

[ERK55]

Having finished 4 umbilical repairs today I would urge you to be patient.
Complete healing time is about 6 weeks, at which time you will have achieved 90% of the ultimate tensile strength of the wound. Until then heavy exertion or straining should be avoided. To do otherwise may risk a recurrence. Of course your surgeon will render his/her own advice.
Overall a pretty small procedure but coughing, sneezing, and laughing are not fun for the first few days. Stay away from comedy clubs.

[kevinvc]

Thanks for the info. I'm 2 full days after the surgery and already a total pain in the ass for my family; I'm not a good patient. Still hurts to walk fully upright, can't find a comfortable position in bed, still having enough pain that I need to take the percocet. Unfortunately, the percocet gives me a headache and makes me nauseated to the point I can't watch tv, but it's the only thing that takes the edge off the pain. It also has me totally "blocked up".

We've actually had some moments of nice mild sunny weather the last couple of days and it's driving me nuts not being able to get outside and do stuff.

I guess it's a good thing I'm on a tight budget right now because otherwise I'd be buying all kinds of stuff online since there's not much I can do other than cruise the web.

I don't know if I can handle 2 more days of this, much less several weeks. :crap:

Having finished 4 umbilical repairs today I would urge you to be patient.
Complete healing time is about 6 weeks, at which time you will have achieved 90% of the ultimate tensile strength of the wound. Until then heavy exertion or straining should be avoided. To do otherwise may risk a recurrence. Of course your surgeon will render his/her own advice.
Overall a pretty small procedure but coughing, sneezing, and laughing are not fun for the first few days. Stay away from comedy clubs.

[scrubadub]

If you're not already taking some colace or Miralax, consider adding those to help with the constipation. Both should be OTC.

Alternating ibuprofen and tylenol works well for pain control. As usual discuss with your doctor and not some random person on the internet. :cool:

[etu]

Having finished 4 umbilical repairs today I would urge you to be patient.
Complete healing time is about 6 weeks, at which time you will have achieved 90% of the ultimate tensile strength of the wound. Until then heavy exertion or straining should be avoided. To do otherwise may risk a recurrence. Of course your surgeon will render his/her own advice.
Overall a pretty small procedure but coughing, sneezing, and laughing are not fun for the first few days. Stay away from comedy clubs.

1+
young people with strong core usually have the most discomfort after any abdominal incisions. related to spams and greater tension on the wound from the higher resting tone. might want to try a little warm compress over the area.

[gemship]

I had an umbilical hernia with surgery a couple of years ago at the age of 39. It went pretty well I guess, my doctor/surgeon and I went with the mesh patch. I guess it's about an inch and a half in dia. ? Well thats how it felt after surgery LOL. No...it was the darnest thing but I could really feel it's size for a good three weeks after surgery. Then one day it fused and we seamlessly became one! I was presribed perks 325mg as well as ibuprophen 600mg. The perks were useless and I chucked them in the woods but the ibuprophen worked well. After one week I stopped using them all together. After two weeks discomfort was there but manageable after fourweeks I took on a job for a elderly man involving four eight hour days of heavy brush clearing in 90 degree temps. after six weeks I started my path of self employment at a a commercial clammer. I will say I didn't lift anything too heavy, over 15 pounds for at least a month. Hang in there and ditch the perks it will get better.

[kevinvc]

It's been almost a month and I still can't do anything. Drove last weekend and had to look over my shoulder to back up - serious pain for 2 days. Tried riding a bike around the block - no way and it was hard just rolling it up the front steps at the house. Walked 10 blocks at a moderate pace and was sore. Basically, anything that in any way engages my core muscles or any kind of twisting causes immediate discomfort that can last for a a couple of days.

I had a follow up appointment and they said everything is fine, guess I'm just a slow healer. Doctor said to err on the side of caution and don't do anything to aggravate it even if it means being a slug for another month. Warned me not to try to push through the pain since re-tearing the spot is worse than the original condition.

I am not good at not doing anything. The weather has been relatively warm and i can't think of anything I'd rather do than go for a ride. I have little patience for watching tv and am getting bored with reading and surfing the internet.

Anyone have any suggestions for passing time? I guess I'm just feeling frustrated and sorry for myself. What have you all done when recovering from something that keeps you from being able to move?

[572cv]

I'm sorry to hear this, and surprised at the same time. I guess we are all a little different, and heal differently, and this is certainly cautionary. One thing I would be doing at this point, though, is to get a second opinion and some additional thoughts about it. My experience with this was not nearly as bad, and I was beginning to be progressively more comfortable after about a week. Stopped the pain meds within a day or so. I was going out to a dirt road near here for walks within days. I couldn't lift much, and was admonished NOT to tear the stitches, but life wasn't so bad. Maybe you had a bigger stitch up job to do, or something, but I just can't see that you shouldn't be on the mend at this point. Get a referral and see what comes of it. Good luck, KVpal.

[fkelly]

Sorry to hear about the continued problems after a month. I had the surgery: hernias on each side patched six months ago. Surgery on a Friday. Walked around the block the next day. Walked at least a mile each day after that for two weeks. Only needed pain medicine for 24 hours, ditched it after that. Still have a stash of oxycontin I suppose I could sell :). Saw dr. after two weeks and was back riding in less than 3 weeks. So results do vary significantly.

I'm not sure what a second opinion will do. By the time you get an appointment etc. the problem may have resolved itself. And they aren't likely to open you back up again just to look.

Maybe watch some streaming series on Netflix or Amazon to kill the time. Or take a foreign language course or learn something else that you've always wanted to learn but never had time for.

[steelbikerider]

I was 54 when I had my surgery. I was on easy trainer 30 min trainer rides in a week. After 4 weeks I started on easy road rides. after 6 weeks I moved to Z2 rides and added another zone every 3-4 weeks. My surgery was at the end of November so I didn't worry too much about intensity until early March. It took about 16 weeks to reach 100% in the weight room. I didn't push it but gradually built up. I ended up with a good year of riding, good overall fitness and even lost about 5 pounds.
I had the mesh insert and very little pain post-surgery. I now feel a tightness occasionally but doc said that was normal

[ERK55]

Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time of it. Most are feeling pretty well after a couple of weeks-sounds like you've fallen on the wrong end of the bell curve.
I would agree there is no sense in trying to push through pain. that would be counterproductive.
Was there is mesh graft placed, or not??

[holliscx]

My daughter is almost 4. Her belly button has protruded a little bit since birth. The doctors told us it's a hernia and that it will require surgery by age 5 if it doesn't go away.

[earlfoss]

I thought I'd resurrect this thread to include my recent experience with umbilical hernia surgery.

I'd had an umbilical hernia forever, it had been a very small one with fat incarcerated in it. The fat was stable, and the hernia was never an issue from my childhood through about a month ago. As you get older, these things tend to get bigger!

During a team training trip to the LA area, the fat decided to become mobile through the hole in my abdomen. We were rolling back to Venice and I felt a bit of abdominal fat pass through the hole and protrude a bit. It was disgusting!

I got back to the house and if I wasn't 100% sure it was a hernia, the feeling of pushing it back in sealed the deal. I pressed on it, and it resisted briefly before squishing back in. Again, disgusting. At this point I wasn't sure if it was fat or intestine, so I just kept my fingers crossed. I figured that if it was intestine I'd be having some pretty gnarly issues that weren't currently happening.

Went to dinner, passed out at the restaurant. Combination of a big training day, and thinking about the feeling of pushing that thing back into my body had me on the ropes. Disappointed I wasn't able to finish my Manhattan that night!

Finished the training trip (4 more days), lots of miles on the bike, lots of climbing. I had to push the hernia back in a few times. Once on a 50mph descent which was an interesting experience.

The day after I got home to Wisconsin, went to the clinic and got referred to the surgeon. He looked at it and yup, let's operate.

Up to this point I have been training 12-18hrs/week in preparation for racing season, so that's the last thing I want to hear.

Last Wednesday was the surgery date. The procedure was performed at 9:30 am, and was out of there by 1:30pm. Easy peasy. The surgeon said that mine was at the ideal stage for repair. Less than 2 cm, and only needed 4 stitches to be closed up. No need for mesh. The incision below my belly button is less than 1/2 inch. Now I read a lot of back and forth on mesh vs. suture (tension) repair, and it seems that most opinion leans toward mesh as a primary repair technique, but I defer to my surgeon's experience with these things. I did let him know to repair it well as I am an extremely active athlete. In any case, the surgeon said the repair was as easy as they get, and recovery should be a bit quicker than usual due to the size of the repair and the amount of work needed to access it.

Post-op, pain has been manageable. I have had to take it easy the past 4 days which is not my style but I know what's good for me. Was on Vicodin days 1 and 2, but transitioned to Tylenol and am now taking it as needed maybe 1 dose a day. I enjoy random testicular pain like someone is shooting me with a bb gun. That's not fun, but is lessening. General anesthesia and Vicodin put my digestive tract to sleep, so day 2 required some magnesium citrate for motivation. Motivate it did. To the max.

Sleeping sucks. It's hard to find a comfortable position, and once I find it I stay in it all night. I tend to move around in my sleep so that's an adjustment to deal with. Laying on my back, there's less tension on my stomach than when on my side. However, I can feel the repair moving around the layers surrounding it and it's not the best thing to feel and think about as you try to go to sleep.

I was told that I should take it easy for 1-2 weeks post surgery. The sutures are strong, but the tissue is currently weakened and that's where the risk of further damage lies. I plan to hop on the trainer on Monday very briefly to test the waters. I'm not planning to do much more than a short and easy spin, but it should help me estimate where I am and how much I can expect to handle in the coming days. I'll give myself until 2 weeks out to push the envelope a little, and with any luck I'll be close to 100% by week 4.

While not super ideal timing-wise, in the big picture the repair was a good idea. It wouldn't be fun to have a hernia pop out while contesting a sprint! This situation will probably keep me from overtraining myself anyway ha ha ha. But for real, there's no mercy in spring P1/2 races. Everyone here comes in hot, and to start the season on the back foot is not a good thing. I had to do that at the beginning of the 2017 season and it took until June to start getting back to normal and winning races again. I know it will be a-ok in the end, so I deal with it mentally.

That's a bit of a tome, but hopefully it's helpful to someone here.

[kevinvc]

I had forgotten how rough my recovery was until re-reading this thread. I was definitely an outlier for a very simple procedure.

Sorry to hear you had to have the surgery, but it sounds like you're already on the mend. All I would say as advice is to listen to your body (and your doctor). Most folks are able to be active within a couple of weeks. I took a lot longer and think it was probably a good thing I didn't push it. My recovery was eventually complete and I never even think about it anymore.

Good luck with your healing.