Hernia Repair Advice - Importance of Following Post-Surgery Care

For those with or thinking of hernia repair and worried if it will come back. When they tell you not to lift a certain amount of weight, LISTEN!!!

You need to lift furniture? NO! NOT EVEN WITH HELP!!

You went grocery shopping and are in a hurry to get stuff in, so you load up both arms with bags. NO! Take lighter loads and more trips back and forth.

Most of us think that after surgery we are fixed and can do all these things, but mesh can give. Your hernia can return if you don't listen. It's less likely it will return if you follow what they tell you.

The reason I bring this subject up is I see a lot of posts about hernia repair, and I had an awesome parastomal hernia repair, but like an idiot, I lifted a client's heavy laundry basket, and I now do have back a very small hernia from that. Nothing quite noticeable cosmetic-wise, but the CT scan shows it.

So if you go through all the trouble of getting it fixed or had to have one fixed, please follow the doctor's instructions.

Good advice. Unfortunately, both my hernias were caused by uncontrollable coughs, even though I did everything in my power to avoid it. They doubled my dose of Lisinopril in the hospital as my blood pressure was high from pain, which caused a chronic cough and led to my parastomal hernia. Then I caught a virus 2 days after reversal surgery. I held my stomach when I coughed, took prescription cough meds, and wore a hernia belt, but still got a new hernia. Never lifted anything...

But yes, good advice!

Yes, coughing will do it too. But the things we have control over, like lifting, will minimize what I was trying to say, as it happened to me. I'm referring to after hernia repair and people lifting.

I'm sorry you had to go through that virus and coughing so hard that it caused hernias. I get bronchitis quite a bit, and that becomes worrisome. I just had a bout of it last November where I was sitting up in my bed in my sleep, coughing my brains out.

Yes, I totally get it. Control what you can (lifting). And try not to get sick LOL! I am considering staying in a bubble for 10 days before and after my upcoming hernia repair... LOL

Guys aren't great at weight limits. At least this guy isn't...

I was told I could only lift less than ten pounds. But that's just silly, right? I'm just using my shoulder and my biceps to lift that heavy grocery bag... Yeah.

So here I am, coming on week 8 of my stoma, and now I get this bulge next to my stoma that if I press on it, I can feel that something pops back in and the bulge gets smaller.

So now I wear a hernia belt that has a rather tightly sized hole for the colostomy bag, and with the belt my bags are lasting only two days at best. But hey, I don't have to keep popping my innards back in when I wear the belt.

My stoma nurse said a hernia is a very common side effect of a colostomy and that they should repair it when I get my stoma reversal.

Now I'm just at a point of hoping for the best... Oh, and did I mention I'm no longer lifting anything even approaching ten pounds?

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister