I have had a sizable hernia on top of my stoma just six months after getting my colostomy.
I am now investigating having my colostomy reversed to the opposite side.
I just cannot deal with the hernia any longer. My colostomy is a breeze to handle...but not with the hernia.
Hi, I have had my hernia for 15 years. It came about 2 years after receiving my stoma. I first had it stitched, but it didn't last very long. Then I had a mesh, and after a short time, it came back. I tried belly bands, and that didn't help. They say don't lift anything heavy, but when you have a 2-year-old daughter crying to be picked up, what can you do? After it came back, I asked the surgeon what he could do, and he suggested moving it to the other side. I asked if that would fix the problem with hernias, and he said probably not. I asked if he could do it and mesh it straight up, and he said no. And it's likely the hernia would return eventually, so I wasn't going through the pain to do that, so I have just lived with the hernia. It sucks as I hate it! The other thing I had to consider was that each time the large bowel was going to be shortened, which was also a concern. Maybe things may be different for you, especially since you're unlikely to lift heavy weights constantly like I do, being a male. May I ask what difficulties are you having?
Cheers, Dennis
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Hi Crossley. Ya know, I think it’s all about feelings. I don’t mean the pain feelings which could control everything. I mean the feelings inside our heads, our hearts and even our souls. I mean the feelings of who we are now compared to who we were; how we accept our situation or maybe we don’t. My wife asked how I felt and I said, “like crap”. She asked what hurt and I answered, “Nothing hurts, well, everything hurts, I don’t know, It all sucks.” That was a long time ago. You question if your feelings are normal. How normal is it to relocate your butt hole to your belly where it’s usually in the way of your belt and, you know. But that’s where we are and for lots of us we are so much better off than we were before, physically. Emotionally, psychologically, well, that might be a different story. I believe talk therapy is wonderful if we could find a real empathic or sympathetic listener. So guess what! I found MAO and began “talking” with a keyboard with some of the wisest, kindest most sympathetic and compassionate folks on the planet. Regardless of where we’ve been, lots of folks here have been there and worse places and found their way back healthier and happier. We really do help each other.
Keep “talking”,
Mike
I was close to having the surgery, but then I opted out and am dealing with it by strength training. I finally did some troubleshooting to find an appliance that works, as the leaks were a major concern. I opted out of surgery as the recurrence rate of it coming back was high, and why subject myself to yet another surgery with no promise of success?
