WHO KNOWS ABOUT PARASTOMAL HERNIAS??

HI IS THERE A FELLOW OSTOMATE OUT THERE THAT KNOW'S MUCH ABOUT PARASTOMAL-HERNIAS?? 4 MONTHS AGO I HAD SURGERY FOR A HERNIA AND AT THE SAME TIME THE SURGEON RE-FASHIONED MY STOMA, THEN AFTER I HAD BEEN HOME FOR 4 DAY'S I GOT AN ABCESS AND ENDED UP WITH PERITONITIS AND HAD EMERGENCY SURGERY. ANYWAY 4 MTHS LATER MY HERNIA HAS COME BACK?? IS THIS NORMAL AND WHAT IS THE SUCESS RATE WITH A HERNIA REPAIR. I REALLY DONT WANT TO GO DOWN THAT TRACK AGAIN. VERY CONFUSED!!

Hi , i had an illeostomy 12 months ago and have a hernia i have heard that repair is not very succesfull , i tried all the support garments and belts that my stoma nurse had  and nothing was of any use and so uncomfortable. I found one belt on the web which is absolutely brilliant it is the Nu Hope support belt i wear it all the time have even gone to bed with it on it is so comfortable and the hernia is no problem now hope this helps . Peter

Hi, I have a huge parastomal hernia, which the docs want me to have sorted - however, it will mean a huge op including a repair to my recto-vaginal fistula and the changing of my loop ileostomy to an end ileostomy. I believe that hernia repairs are only likely to have  a 50% success rate (?, please correct me if I am wrong, which I hope I am!), which I assume will be reduced if you already have a hole in the muscle - ie the stoma ?

As to hernia support, non of the ones available from my Stoma Nurse were man enough for the job! In the end I had to have them specially "built" by the Orthotics dept of my local hospital (not sure where in the world you are? I am in England....so it is provided by the NHS) It is not a pretty garment as you can imagine, but it does do the trick - it is similar to the nu-hope garment mentioned previously, but is much bigger and I suspect somewhat stronger!

I have decided that the prospect of all that surgery is too much for me to bear at this moment in time, so hope to postpone it for a year at least unless it needs doing in an emergency. Good luck in whatever you decide, Rachel x

I have hade a peristomal hernia and had it repairedo on July first. I still hade a problem after 2 months. Also at that time I had a resection ( rectum removal ). I am still recovering from the surgery. All that I can say is that life is better since the surgery. I do hope that you have a speedy rercovery. It is not easy but it will improve your quality of life. Hang in there and everything will be ok! I hope that you will experience the luxury of not haviving to use the bathroom ever again. It has taking me a good two months to heal. Best wishes to you. LOL

I had a PARASTOMAL-HERNIA in 2004 remember it well sick as a dog for 14 hours taken by ambulance to hospital as well and truely blocked emergency surgery later that day, 3 weeks in hospital as the N.H.S gave me 2 free bugs but back to work after 6 weeks, whilst I was open they re-worked things a bit but steered clear of using gauze, however in hindsight I would of considered. Since then no repeat although I did get an abcess in 2006 but this was cut open and drained whilst I watched and I was discharged 6 hours later, that was casued by an internal body cavity they think. The hernia self inflicted by abdominal crunches so my doctor banned me from them and exercise in general for 6 months.  I think a support belt may help post op so that surrounding muscle can settle and strengthen, even a cough can may it pop back out.  I think another visit to hospital for further suregry in very likely for most certainly within 5 years or so.  I have not tried a belt but some that have give a thumbs up, I avoid heavy lifting now and touch wood so far so good!

Hi there. I too have a huge parastomal hernia which I was going to have reversed but have since been diagnosed with breast cancer.  It was a tiny lump found in a routine mammogram which has been removed .  (just the lump not the whole breast) I will be starting chemo in 3 weeks then radiation after that.  Getting back to my hernia looks like it will be put on the back burner for about a year.  After reading stories about reversals etc I wonder what I should do !!! I have had my colostomy for close on two years now.  I'm still trying to find a suitable support garment but don't have a very big range here in NZ.  Are there any other ostomates here with similar issues that could maybe suggest something.  Am very tempted to make my own.  PS. I also have a smaller hernia  further up on the right hand side so I do need a wide support garment LOL