Signs of a Parastomal Hernia: What to Look For

I have this kind of a lump on my belly right above my stoma, and my stoma sort of caves into it and gets smaller and harder to clean off because it goes sort of almost flat against my skin. The bump above my stoma doesn't hurt; it's not painful. It is just like a hill on my abdomen. My mom says I need to contact Dr. K., the surgeon, and make an appointment with her. I am afraid to do that in case she says it will require more surgery. I don't think I can wear a hernia belt because my stoma is up high on my abdomen and I don't think the opening of a hernia belt would reach to where I would need it to go. I am not sure what to think. I don't want any more painful surgeries. I have had a couple of major ones and I don't want to repeat that experience. So how can I tell if what I have is a hernia or just my belly being weird?

Listen to your mom; she's given you the best advice. It most likely is a hernia, but there's a very small chance it's something else that needs investigating sooner rather than later. I've had my hernia for around 10 years; it doesn't cause me many problems. My doctor's advice to me was to leave well alone unless needed.

I agree you need to listen to your mom and make an appointment with the surgeon. It could be a number of things, not just a hernia. Could be an abscess, could be adhesions, could be a hernia. But you need to get it looked at and find out what it is. And you can't be afraid of surgery. If it needs to be done, it needs to be done. I know the feeling and the not wanting to have another surgery done. I had six in a year and they were every 3 months apart. The point is though, you can't stop a surgery if one needs to be done; you will just prolong the problem and get worse, having more complications and having more problems. It's better to get it looked at than to ignore it.

I did write the surgeon's office, they wrote back and asked for pictures. So I sent them three pictures. So I hope they can figure it out from there.

Like I told Beth, they asked for pictures so I sent them pictures. They said if I had any pain make an appointment to come in. Trouble is they are an hour away, if I was in pain I'd go to my local ER probably. Not wait for an appointment with the surgeon.

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

The “bump” pretty much gives a hernia away. Mine was confirmed during a regular scan I had done.

Hello there, I hope you're doing okay. I have a large parastomal hernia that I am waiting to see a surgeon about. If it isn't too bad to say, it kind of looks like a woman's bust with my hernia on the front, if this helps in any way. As for the stoma flattening, do you wear a convex bag to push the stoma out? You can also get stoma paste or flanges to help the bag adhere better. Hope you get it sorted 😊

G-Day Infinity, I am going to tell you off, Infinity. When you were getting dehydrated, you said you knew you had to drink more but you couldn't do it. Well, this is another thing you do have to do. You're trying to get out of it because it's a 1-hour drive. Come on, 1 hour. Go see the surgeon and if it's nothing to worry about, that's great, but if it needs fixing, then get it fixed. We want you around for a long time, Infinity. Regards always, IGGIE

Thanks for the chewing out. I did contact the surgeon's office. They asked for pictures and I provided some. My stupid mom took pictures of me that showed my bra, so that was embarrassing, but I sent them anyway. Now they can have a look and see what they think. They said if I was in any pain at all to make an appointment to come into the office. But it doesn't hurt right now anyway. So I guess that is a good sign. I am doing everything they told me to do. And I am doing better with hydrating too. I got a bottle that tells me how much to drink and when. So I am sipping, not guzzling, which is good too. But it tells me to do some every hour all day. So I am trying hard to do that. And my pee is coming out more clear than it was, which I think is a good sign. But in my last kidney test, my kidneys have declined a little bit. Not majorly, but some.

I wear a 2-piece Hollister pouching system. When I put it on, my stoma sticks out, but then after a while, it shrinks down in size and the ring compensates. I have a really good seal on my bag because I use a ring and because I use Dermarite wands that really help with sticking as well as being a barrier film. I am getting the hernia checked into with pictures and talking to the doctor's office about it. I hope that will be enough for them to go on. I don't think the pictures do it justice, really. But I tried.

I am wondering if she will order a scan. I am not sure at this stage what she will be thinking.

From the pictures, it looks minor. The pictures don't do it justice, but my mom thinks you can see the bump in the pictures. I don't know. She said there is definitely a bump there.

You do know you don't have to wait to see the doctor. Tell them you want to see the doctor and make an appointment. And don't wait to see if they order a scan; say you want a scan done. Why wait and put off when it can be done and you can find out what is going on?

That’s true. An hour drive is just a reason to enjoy your day. 

You're not going to know for sure until you get a scan.  It sounds like you're not feeling any pain from it, so that's good.  Once you get your scan results then you can go over the choices available to you.  I hope it all works out for the best.  Good luck!

G-Day Infinity, sipping water doesn't catch up with what you need. Drink like your life depends on it. Regards, IGGIE

I've had a lot of success with sipping about 4 oz of fluids every hour all day long. My pee has been much clearer than ever. If I guzzle liquid, it just comes out my ostomy.

Thank you, I hope so too. I will maybe follow up when I know more. For now, since I am not in pain, I am okay with waiting to see what the surgeon says about the pictures I sent. If things change, I will take more action.