Hi, new here, though I've had a colostomy for almost 14 years. I have a hernia just to the left of my stoma; I've had it for a few years (that I know of) but it's gotten quite large lately. I've gotten a referral to a colorectal surgeon, but have not seen him yet. I'm not experiencing any discomfort or difficulty eliminating, but suspect it's contributing to some leaks once a week or so.
Anyone have experience/wisdom to share about hernias? Thanks!
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I have a very large hernia on my ileostomy; it has been growing since December 2022. It's so large it is painful for food to move through it, I look 9 months pregnant on one side, and am going to have it removed at my next surgery in September. My surgeon wanted to wait so that I am able to save as much small intestine as possible and fix it at the time of my reversal. I hope this helps a little... and I hope my surgery is able to happen as scheduled.
Sunshine Girl
Have you tried using convex wafers? If you're not already using them, they might help prevent leaks.
I've had my hernia for around 5 to 10 years. I don't have too many problems from it, and surgery is to be avoided in almost every case due to health problems. Most say if a hernia isn't causing any problems, they're better left alone.
I have convex wafers and convex barrier rings. I have a fairly big belly too, and my stoma is recessed quite a bit. So there's that.
I had 2 parastomal hernias. One behind my old loop ileostomy and another under my end ileostomy and then an umbilical hernia as well. They tried stitch repairs in the last but they never held. At first it's a watch and wait till you get an obstruction usually. That obstruction did happen to me but was partial.
2 years ago I had mesh surgery and they fixed all 3 with an open surgery. My colorectal surgeon had referred me to a general surgeon to do the job. So far so good although I am slowly developing a very small parastomal hernia at my end ileostomy again but it's my own fault for lifting things I should not be lifting. I was told 20 pounds max but here I've been lifting too much at one time trying to rush like groceries etc... bad ne