*** OFFICIAL INGUINAL HERNIA RECOVERY Thread ***

[temerity76]

Hi,
Yes it's the one by insightra.

[temerity76]

I am on Day 8 after surgery.
When I cough I can feel the area bulge just like before the surgery. Is this normal and if yes, how long does it take before coughing bulging stops completely?

[Magnacromion]

Hi all,

I finally took the plunge and had the repair done last Friday. Wanted to share a bit about how it went, and offer to answer questions from anyone who's considering the procedure.

I had a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair. The surgeons (the chief of general surgery at the local teaching hospital and one of his fourth-year residents) installed Bard mesh with absorbable tacks. This was performed under general anesthesia, and the anesthesiologists also administered a nerve block before putting me under. If you are offered a nerve block, I highly recommend you accept it. It will decrease your need for opioid painkillers. With all the headlines these days about deaths from opioid abuse, the use of opioids was a serious concern of mine. Getting a nerve block kind of sucks, but it's over very quickly, and they will usually offer you an IV sedative (e.g., Versed) if you request it.

I had specifically asked the anesthesiologists to hang Toradol (sort of like IV ibuprofen) for post-op pain relief rather than opioids. I also requested "deep extubation"; since I was a 27-year-old in great shape coming in, they agreed with both requests. "Deep extubation" means they remove the breathing tube while you are still completely unconscious, as opposed to waiting for you to wake up and start coughing, gagging on the tube, and following commands. This introduces an increased risk of aspiration, but it allows for a more peaceful, less traumatic awakening.

The anesthesiologist held a mask over my mouth. I breathed normally, and I was completely out within a few seconds. I remember absolutely nothing between that time and waking up peacefully in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit). When I woke up, I felt like I had had a nice, relaxing sleep. Within about a second, however, I noticed a strong burning sensation around my abdomen. I won't sugarcoat it; the pain was pretty bad. Not bad enough to make me scream, but bad enough that I was breathing shallowly to avoid moving my abs too much. It's probably the worst pain I can remember (including the time I got t-boned by an SUV while bicycling), but that isn't saying much. I'd say it was maybe a 5-7 on a 10-point scale. I tried for 15-20 minutes to make it without opioids, but eventually I caved. The PACU nurse hit me with 12.5 μg of ******** (a pediatric dose) and 0.2 mg of Dilaudid (the smallest adult dose). Once I got out of the PACU, I took a 5 mg oxycodone pill. The pain was bad, but manageable with that drug cocktail.

You have to get up and urinate on your own to be discharged from the hospital. This was incredibly hard, but I was nonetheless discharged about 6-7 hours after the surgery was finished. I almost passed out the first time I stood up. Apparently this is just a side effect of anesthesia. It wore off after a while. A friend took me home and I caught little cat naps throughout the night. I had to wake up every few hours to take pills. This is important. For the first few nights, you should take your pills around the clock. Set an alarm, eat a few crackers or something, and take your meds, even if it's 3:00 AM. I was taking 5 mg oxycodone every four hours and 600 mg ibuprofen every eight hours. The oxy helps to distract you from the pain, but it was actually the ibuprofen which made the pain go away. Unfortunately, you can't take too much ibuprofen or it will literally burn a hole in your stomach, so I had to supplement with oxy.

For the first 24 hours after discharge, I was in considerable pain, though I could get up and walk around a little bit. Getting out of bed was the hardest part. You can't move your abs at all without causing pain. Also you can't comfortably sleep lying flat. I had to prop up my head and shoulders with a reading pillow, then jam some pillows underneath my knees so that my abs weren't stretched out.

Oxy sucks. Not sure why people get addicted to that garbage. Made me feel lightheaded and loopy, but not in a fun way. Just in a frustrating way. I felt pretty good 24 hours after I was discharged, so I stopped taking the oxy cold turkey. I replaced it with Tylenol (you can mix ibuprofen with Tylenol but not with other NSAIDs). That worked fine, and I actually felt better than I did on the oxy. It was amazing how quickly I bounced back. I was up, walking, and cooking within 48-72 hours after the surgery with minimal pain. Now I'm 6 days post-op, and I feel great! I have hardly any pain at all. I'm going nuts not being able to lift, though.

One more thing: take the stool softener they prescribe you. Just take it. Anesthesia and opioid painkillers will screw with your bowels. You do not want to strain to pass a stool. I was not able to have a bowel movement for about 72 hours after my surgery.

Hope this helps. Happy to take questions, though it may take me a while to reply.

[SoccerAgain]

I finally took the plunge

I had a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal hernia repair. The surgeons (the chief of general surgery ...... installed Bard mesh with absorbable tacks. This was performed under general anesthesia,

Good luck. I had the exact same procedure, even down to chief of surgery. Bard Soft Mesh. Three years later I had the mesh removed. Don't delay if things seem wrong. I hope you're one of the lucky ones. "Took the plunge" is an appropriate term.

[temerity76]

Day 11 and I feel normal again. Almost no pain and cut has fused properly. It will be a week till I can drive again. Just waiting to get back to the gym. I'll start off with light jogging+cardio first and gradually ease into weights.

[culican]

When I woke up, I felt like I had had a nice, relaxing sleep. Within about a second, however, I noticed a strong burning sensation around my abdomen. I won't sugarcoat it; the pain was pretty bad. Not bad enough to make me scream, but bad enough that I was breathing shallowly to avoid moving my abs too much. It's probably the worst pain I can remember (including the time I got t-boned by an SUV while bicycling), but that isn't saying much. I'd say it was maybe a 5-7 on a 10-point scale. I tried for 15-20 minutes to make it without opioids, but eventually I caved. The PACU nurse hit me with 12.5 μg of ******** (a pediatric dose) and 0.2 mg of Dilaudid (the smallest adult dose). Once I got out of the PACU, I took a 5 mg oxycodone pill. The pain was bad, but manageable with that drug cocktail.

You have to get up and urinate on your own to be discharged from the hospital. This was incredibly hard, but I was nonetheless discharged about 6-7 hours after the surgery was finished.

I had a bilateral laparoscopic repair at the end of August. I had none of this type of pain and was able to walk out easily to my waiting ride 45 min after I woke up. Only difference is that my surgeon used the ProGrip self-adhering mesh, which uses no tacks at all. I wonder if that would explain the burning pain you experienced. I never needed any thing stronger than acetaminophen (Tylenol) for my recovery.

[KonaKoffee]

My turn in the barrel. I was in the shower about four months ago and noticed a small quarter-sized bubble on my right side. "WTF is that?" I thought. I blow it off... No pain or other symptoms... yet. Weeks go by, I'm still lifting and active as usual. The bulge came and went, but I started to suspect it was a hernia, started looking it up on the interweb; phuq me, it's an inguinal. Now I'm spooked and stopped going heaving, especially on the big "pushing" lifts like DL and squats. Over that time it's obvious it's not static, but progressing. I catch that nasty flu going around and the incessant hard coughing moves the inguinal to the front of my awareness. NOW I can really feel that little beesh. It's squishing in and out, gurgling, starting to have a burning sensation now and then and generally just "there" all the time now. I don't think that intestines are trying to escape yet though. AND I notice the left side is acting up, but not near like the right side. I found this thread and one piece of advice stood out: Don't wait and get it corrected ASAP. Roger dat.... Soon as I feel better I scoot to the doc, which I haven't been to in 4 years. Hernia confirmed.

So I have a consultation with the surgeon next week.

Brahs, going into the consultation, what should I ask? Reading this thread it looks like there are quite a few options to consider in terms of procedures, methods and materials. I'm a little confused as to what mesh I should ask for or avoid. Staples or tacks don't sound good, but I don't know. If you were me at this point going in to the consult, how would you approach?

Props to everyone who shared ITT, the varied experiences helped me get an idea of what to expect and guide decisions. Kinda funny, I never thought I'd check in on a BB.com forum to seek medical advice! But here we all are.

Insurance with Kaiser. Anyone who has experience with them please share insights and experience. I've been with them for about 30 years. At the general physician level, they have always struck me as mediocre but adequate. Treated like cattle. But once bumped up to specialty level if needed, I've always had a decent experience.

Edit #2 Keep thinking of questions.... Anyone use cannabis for post-op pain management? I don't do so hot on opioids.

[SoccerAgain]

There is plenty of information already in this thread. Anybody who replies will just tell you something that they already wrote.

I can add this though - you don't get to ask for the mesh that you want. The material is typically purchased by contract through a purchasing department for the big hospitals or surgery centers. You don't get a choice of method either, probably. If you're going to choose a mesh and procedure, you need to do that first and choose a surgeon who does what you want.

Also, they will usually tell you what the optimum outcome is, like no tacks, one side only, explore the other side and leave it alone if they don't see anything. But when they get in there, it seems that they often get nervous and add tacks, maybe more mesh, just in case, and they'll do both sides. You'll go in thinking one thing will happen and come out with much more.


One thing that I've recommended that seems more than reasonable is to ask your surgeon if they've had a patient like you, that does what you want to do, and if they've heard from them afterward. Like more than a year later. The common answer is "well, I haven't heard of any problems".

Finally, at your 15 minute consultation the doctor will seem like a great guy, with comforting words, and you'll feel like they have it handled. But, the proof is in the pudding, as the old saying goes. Find some pudding and make sure it really is good. If they don't know for sure how their patients are doing, or you haven't talked to one of their former patients then you're both just shooting in the dark. But you're the only one that's going to get hurt.

It's not as simple as it seems. Brah. And it doesn't matter how tough you are, you can't muscle through a bad hernia repair. If you could you'd just muscle through the hernia. Be careful. Good luck.

Edit - just saw your "treated like cattle" comment. That's a good description of the hernia repair with mesh field. We're like cattle to many surgeons. Get 'em in, move 'em out. Find the right doctor.

[KonaKoffee]

There is plenty of information already in this thread. Anybody who replies will just tell you something that they already wrote.

I can add this though - you don't get to ask for the mesh that you want. The material is typically purchased by contract through a purchasing department for the big hospitals or surgery centers. You don't get a choice of method either, probably. If you're going to choose a mesh and procedure, you need to do that first and choose a surgeon who does what you want.

Also, they will usually tell you what the optimum outcome is, like no tacks, one side only, explore the other side and leave it alone if they don't see anything. But when they get in there, it seems that they often get nervous and add tacks, maybe more mesh, just in case, and they'll do both sides. You'll go in thinking one thing will happen and come out with much more.


One thing that I've recommended that seems more than reasonable is to ask your surgeon if they've had a patient like you, that does what you want to do, and if they've heard from them afterward. Like more than a year later. The common answer is "well, I haven't heard of any problems".

Finally, at your 15 minute consultation the doctor will seem like a great guy, with comforting words, and you'll feel like they have it handled. But, the proof is in the pudding, as the old saying goes. Find some pudding and make sure it really is good. If they don't know for sure how their patients are doing, or you haven't talked to one of their former patients then you're both just shooting in the dark. But you're the only one that's going to get hurt.

It's not as simple as it seems. Brah. And it doesn't matter how tough you are, you can't muscle through a bad hernia repair. If you could you'd just muscle through the hernia. Be careful. Good luck.

Edit - just saw your "treated like cattle" comment. That's a good description of the hernia repair with mesh field. We're like cattle to many surgeons. Get 'em in, move 'em out. Find the right doctor.

Maybe I blew past a previous post that described what to look for in a consultation, but I didn't see a comment on that phase. My bad if it was in there somewhere. But you offered up a couple of notes I'll take in to the meeting, so thanks.

I am insurance rich, but cash poor. For better or worse, I am confined to my insurance provider's options. For example, on the previous page someone described a particular mesh product that looked pretty bitchin' to me, but if Kaiser doesn't offer it or the doc isn't trained in it, nothing I can do about it. I'll find out soon. I don't have the $$$ to shop outside the plan.

My wife has had 3 hernia ops but she's useless for advice. "I don't even remember the procedures," she says. "The C-sections... those I remember." Of course the major difference is that I have a MAN hernia, which is 1,000 x worse than a sloot hernia. They just don't understand what we go through.

[culican]

One thing that I've recommended that seems more than reasonable is to ask your surgeon if they've had a patient like you, that does what you want to do, and if they've heard from them afterward. Like more than a year later. The common answer is "well, I haven't heard of any problems".

I am very happy with my repair so far (5+ months post-op). However you are right, my surgeon is not going to contact me asking how I am doing. For that matter, I had a non-mesh hernia repair performed at Kaiser South San Francisco ~25 years ago. It gave me pain for years and finally failed. (Thus the need for another surgery.) They have no knowledge of that and if I phoned them up to tell them, I doubt that they would talk to me.

The surgeon I had for my recent repair used the ProGrip mesh. That seems be a good product but as you have said, they didn't tell me this beforehand when I was scheduling the surgery; I was given no choice. I seem to have just been lucky.

Insurance with Kaiser. Anyone who has experience with them please share insights and experience. I've been with them for about 30 years. At the general physician level, they have always struck me as mediocre but adequate. Treated like cattle. But once bumped up to specialty level if needed, I've always had a decent experience.

I had Kaiser for quite a while in Northern (and Southern) California. Don't take what I wrote above to imply that their surgery was sub-standard. Back in the early 90's when I had it done, the mesh was not in widespread use and many surgeons still did the "Bassini repair", which was known to be failure prone.

You do have to know how to "work their system" though. I had a cervical disc problem with numbness and loss of strength in my hand. I called and they gave me an appointment at some ungodly interval in the future. I asked for the person's name again and then asked, "So, you are saying that there is no concern that this could get worse by waiting to see the doctor." She replied, "NO!, I didn't say that. Let me look again. Yes...we can get you an appointment this afternoon."

I think you get the idea.

[SoccerAgain]

Just checking in, to keep the thread alive. I think that it has great value.

I had Bard Soft mesh removed about two months ago and feel much much better, and am still improving. I would say that I am better now than when I had the hernia, and much better than when I had the mesh. But not as good as I think I could be if I had had the proper procedure.

Since there is nobody, apparently, collecting and quantifying information about the quality of the medical devices, the best I can do is to say to avoid Bard Soft Mesh. And Bard Mesh is probably the same weave, but with thicker fibers. I would avoid that also. Based on the fact that Bard is not improving their product or tracking its effectiveness, I would, personally, avoid all Bard products.

The ProGrip product seems to work for at least several people. In the big picture, if the FDA and the device makers and the surgical societies are not going to protect the patient, then it's left to places like this to spread the news, both good and bad.

Sorry Magnacromion, I know that you recently had Bard mesh implanted. I hope it works for you. If it doesn't, you know where to go, based on my previous posts. Good luck.

[Darkestred]

I'm fairly certain i will need inguinal surgery as i have now noticed a slight burning sensation that lasts a few moments when i feel around the bulge. I have had two inguinal hernia's for 18 years. Both have never bothered but one has started only very recently. One has seemed to of "disappeared" over the years but i was told the inflammation went down.

I have been reading forum post after forum post and the overall outcome has seemed to be in-favor of people having the surgery fail. Most of the failures seem to have been from going too hard too fast and/or starting too early regardless of the 6-12 weeks recommendation.

The most important piece of data missing through my research are the ones who posted years ago about how they have been going for x years with no issues but have never followed-up.

I am a bit bummed about this and its compounded with other issues. i am wondering if this is the end of the road for me. I have avoided certain exercises for so long but now i wonder if implementing certain exercises that used more core has me where i am today.

or

If i take 3 months off and ease back into recovery for another 3 months and avoid core dominated exercises will i be ok? i do not lift extremely heavy but i wouldn't consider it light either. On the other hand, people who have posted failure did similar or are they leaving out important information that caused the operation to fail...

[culican]

I have been reading forum post after forum post and the overall outcome has seemed to be in-favor of people having the surgery fail. Most of the failures seem to have been from going too hard too fast and/or starting too early regardless of the 6-12 weeks recommendation.

...

If i take 3 months off and ease back into recovery for another 3 months and avoid core dominated exercises will i be ok? i do not lift extremely heavy but i wouldn't consider it light either. On the other hand, people who have posted failure did similar or are they leaving out important information that caused the operation to fail...

My experience is quite the opposite. Before my surgery I not only searched this board but every strength training/bodybuilding board, crossfit, rock climbing, hiking, running, etc. board I could find. There was a very clear trend: Those who returned to activity sooner had better results. The ones who said thing like, "My doctor told me to wait six weeks so I waited 3 months just to be sure." had horrible results and limitations on their range off motion and more continuing pain.

Tissue scars as it heals. If you don't move it you will get tight scars that will stay with you a very long time. One surgeon actually recommends that his laparoscopic surgery patients do hyperextensions starting 24hr after surgery. This is to keep scar tissue from building up.

I was back in the gym 10 days after. I squatted 275lb 11 days after and did ab wheel exercises. It has now been six months and I have no pain or other ill effects from the surgery. Had I waited three months and "eased back" for another 3 as you suggest I think my results would have been terrible.

In the last two weeks I have deadlifted 380x1 and 365x3; repair is holding fine. No pain.

[otayhawk]

Just had my left indirect inguinal hernia repaired 10 days ago.

It was a laparoscopic repair and Johnson Marlex was used. Is it one of the good products out there or should I be worried?

Anyway, I could walk around the house and lay straight from day 2 but keep feeling a mild disconfort from the mesh itself when walking.

Is it expected? How long you guys had to wait until not feeling the mesh at all?

[culican]

http://www.journal-surgery.net/artic...092-1/fulltext

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3025220/

Past, Present and Future of Surgical Meshes:
A Review
http://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/7/3/47/pdf


In answer to your question, I could feel mine for about 6 weeks and could actually feel it from the outside for about 4 weeks. The mesh I got was partially absorbable. From what I can find, Marlex is not. However, the healing process is very complex and there is a lot of inflammation at the beginning, which may be what you are feeling.

[otayhawk]

It's now day 17 since I had two hernia repaired, one tiny umbilical hernia (no mesh) and one medium to large left inguinal hernia (this one was mesh repaired), which was the main focus of the surgery.

I feel much better, no pain at all, just a mild discomfort from the mesh every now and then, especially early in the morning when I wake up.

Its funny that the tiny umbilical area that was repaired seems to bother me more than the area where the mesh is.

My doctor told me to go back running only in week 8 and that I should wait to start lifting again until week 12.

[flanaganshane]

First of all a big thanks to shoulderbrah for starting this thread and for all that’s contributed over the years! I found this thread the night before surgery while searching relentlessly for info on post hernia surgery. I’ve read every single page of this thread and it’s been very comforting!

So I’m 47, very active inside and outside of the gym. I’ve been a gym rat since high school. Currently I’m 5’7 and around 170. In my prime of working out about 5 years ago I was around 190 and pushing some heavy weight. I have no idea how I didn’t get a hernia back then.

Fast forward a few years of primarily maintaining a 315 one rep legit bench max and a 405 one rep max squat. My body feels great and the chronic shoulder pain I had for years of lifting heavy went away.

Well on March 22nd 2018 I had a good arm pump going and decided to do some legs. I very rarely do leg press but I was feeling good and I wanted to press some heavy weight. I honestly don’t even remember what I was pushing but it was a lot and I was doing sets of 5x5 adding plates after every set. I also remember not breathing properly on my last couple reps of my last two sets. I remember because I reminded myself between set 4 and 5 and I still neglected to exhale on my last 2 reps of set 5!

When I got home I jumped in the shower and decided to manscape and that’s when I noticed a very slight buldge just above and to the right of my package. It did not hurt whatsoever and I doubt I would have noticed it for a while if I weren’t shaving. I had my wife look at it to confirm that I wasn’t seeing something that wasn’t there as it was very small. She confirmed a buldge and I wrote it off as groin strain initially. I honestly didn’t give it a second thought as there was zero pain or uncomfort.

Later that evening we had flag football practice. I never felt any pain or discomfort at all through practice. 5 days after I noticed the buldge I was again at football practice and about 20 minutes in I started to feel a slight nag. It wasn’t painful at all but more of a heavy feeling in the groin area and my right leg sorta felt heavy. I told one my buddies about it and he said let me look at that buldge. I showed him and he said, that maybe a hernia.

The next day was the first day I noticed some very slight pain at the end of the day. When I say pain I mean barely a 1 on the scale. It was more of just that weird heavy feeling in the groin area and slight discomfort in my right testicle. But at that point I knew I had to get it checked out. I made an appointment with a general surgeon for that Thursday March 29th.

I went into my appointment hoping it was a groin strain and honestly the last thing I thought she was going to tell me was what she indeed told me. After several questions, mainly about my lifestyle and activities, and me telling her about my leg press workout, she had me drop my shorts. She confirmed with two tests both having me cough while standing and laying that I had an inguinal hernia.

After literally a minute of silence I said, so what’s that mean. She said, well Mr Flanagan if you want to continue living the very active lifestyle that you’re living then you’re going to need surgery. I said, surgery for a hernia?, can’t I ice and heal this little buldge??? She pulled out this pamphlet and broke it down to me in lamens term as to so I knew what I was up against. She did tell me that if I wanted to put surgery off that I could but that she did NOT recommend that as there is a very slight chance of strangulation of intestines which could lead to emergency surgery.

Unfortunately at the time I hadn’t found this thread so I honestly didn’t know what questions to ask besides, what now. She did tell me that she did both lap and open mesh surgery and that she and her two partners have been using the same type of mesh with absorbable tacks for a while with great results from her patients. I did ask her if this was a common operation for her and she said I average 10 hernia surgeries a month and I already have 3 scheduled for next week. That alone made me feel good and I said, can you make me number 4. She adviced me to let all of this digest, line up a flexible work schedule for the next 4-8 weeks and to call her back after.

Two hours later after discussing it with my wife we both figured why wait. I called her office back and scheduled the surgery for Tuesday April 3rd 2018. That gave me the weekend to finish staining my decks and to buckle up some loose ends around the property. Oh and some sexy time with the wife haha!

Literally the night before my surgery I started to get anxious and decided to google “inguinal hernia suregery forums”. I found this thread along with several others on the first page of google and went to reading! I was a member on bodybuilding for several years but never posted only read topics and obviously forgot my log in info so I felt impelled to reregister and post to keep this outstanding thread alive!

Today marks day 6 post surgery. Since this post is longer than I inteded it to be I will follow up later today with my recovery. Thanks again for all that have helped me and many others with this thread!

[flanaganshane]

Today is 7 days from my laparoscopic right side inguinal hernia surgery with mesh. I’m not sure the brand of mesh used but I will find out when I go for my 14 day post op next week. I do remember the Doc telling me that she’s been using the same brand for several years with great success. She also said that she uses absorbable tacks that typically are fully absorbed in 8 weeks.

Alrighty, I went under around 11am on Tuesday April 3rd, seven days ago. I was released from the hospital at 1:30 feeling good and zero pain. Obviously the anthesia and the oxy they gave me when I came to helped with the zero pain affect.

My goal was to only take the one oxy they gave me at the hospital, get my prescription of oxy and only take them if I was in extreme pain. I have high pain tolerance and I hate the feeling I get from pain pills. I had ACL surgery and I was prescribed oxy and took them for one day and came off and did Tylenol extra strength and ibuprofen, so I figured I would be fine without them and I was.

So I took 2 Tylenol extra strength 500 mg in the morning, 2 ibuprofen 200 mg around 2pm and 2 Tylenol PM 500 mg around 9pm for the first four days. Day 5 and day 6 I took 2 Tylenol extra strength when I woke up and then 1 Tylenol PM at bedtime. This morning I felt great and decided to not take anything and I will probably take 2 ibuprofen around 2pm and 1 Tylenol PM tonight. That’s more than likely going to be my routine for this week and then I plan on coming off that this coming weekend.

Day 1 one was actually pretty easy for me, I came home and walked for about 10 minutes, albeit it was short as I couldn’t walk fast nor far. It was more of a shuffle huntched over. I tried to get up and walk around the house every hour to 2 hours. Getting up off the couch sucked for sure but it was doable with the proper technique. I had a catheter put in and pissing for the first several times sucked really bad! Overall pain for me on the first day would be a 4-5. I slept on my back in my bed from the first night on.

Day 2 was hands down the worst day! Not even going to sugar coat it, it sucked in every definition of the word! I walked every 2-3 hours for 10 minutes on day 2. I had my first dump at 9am and it helped with some of the bloating. I’ve been taking stool softeners since day one. Pain wasn’t constant but getting up and sitting down I’d say the pain level for me would be a 6. When I pissed the pain was on an indescribable level! Pissing was dreaded and scary to say the least! This day will be your worst I believe...

Day 3 was really only a tad bit better than day 2 for the first half of the day but by the evening I was starting to walk better and the pissing fire sensation was gone but I was still gun shy when I pissed. For me day 3 was the turning point. Pain was very minimal maybe a 2 for me by bedtime on day 3.

Day 4, woke up and decided to go to the gym to do some walking on the tread mill while the wife was in her spin class. I walked 2 miles at 2.5 mph and it felt great! I couldn’t help it and went to the 5 pound dumbbells and did some curls for kicks and giggles. I made sure to not engage my abs and to only use my arms. I would say the pain I felt on day 4 would be a 1 but for the most part there wasn’t much pain at all.

Day 5, I just keep getting better. Continuing to walk every hour or so. Went to the grocery store with the wife. Not even sure I need to take any pills for pain but I will continue to take them.

Day 6, went to the gym and did a 1.5 mile walk session on the treadmill, did some 10 pound dumbbell arm curls for a bit followed up with another 1.5 mile walk session on the treadmill. Later in the day the inside of my right knee was a little sore and I’m sure it’s from the walking. Besides that I honestly feel great with the only pain I’m having at this point is from the small incisions. I still get up and sit down using as much of my arms as possible but I have zero pain in my abs now.

Day 7, I wanted to go to the gym today but I’ve decided to take it easy and just do my walking around the property. I have a hard time even at my age to not go to the gym and want to push weight so I’m going to eliminate that temptation by not going today. I feel so good but I have to keep reminding myself that I’m only 7 days out and I’m still early into the healing stages! Pain is still primarily only from the incisions but I wouldn’t even call it pain more like a tingling feeling reminding me of the suregery.

I will update again after my first post op meeting with my Doc on Wednesday April 18th. So far I couldn’t be any more satisfied with my surgery and my progress. I never want to experience day 2 and 3 again but once you’re past those two days it should be good sailing, at least it has been for me so far.

Anyone getting ready to go through this surgery I wish you nothing but the best of luck! It’s really not as bad as some make it out to be but everyone heals different and has different pain tolerance. Regardless it’s an outpatient surgery and not really bad at all!

[KungFuFighting]

Good luck with the recoveries =D

[culican]

Good luck! I had mine at the end of August last year (right and left sides) and am doing great. I am sure you will too!

[flanaganshane]

Thanks fellas, feeling really good and excited to hear what my Doc has to say! I feel as though I’m one of the lucky ones after reading several different forums and talking to people that know of someone that’s had the exact same procedure as myself. Most complaints I’ve read and heard seem to be more related to pain tolerance than anything else in the first 2 weeks. Day 2 and 3 was pretty bad but tolerable, after day 3 every day has been leaps and bounds better than the previous day. I guess only time will tell how well everything holds up but 13 days out I feel fortunate and about 90% on the “feel good” chart. Still having to remind myself that I’m just 2 weeks out though because I feel like I could do all of my old activities normally.

Will update again tomorrow after my post op...

[KonaKoffee]

I first posted in February and finally had surgery yesterday morning. Got to say- I had a fantastic team of doctors, very pro. In my first post I threw out the question if anyone had input on using cannabis in pain management in a post-op situation. Like many, I’m not a big fan of opioids but I’ll take them if it’s all that works.

No one chimed in on the topic so I was left to experiment on my own. Short version: using cannabis with ibuprofen or Tylenol is kicking ass. I haven’t had to take a single hydrocodone. I take an edible (gummy) with 15 mg of concentrate along with one or two nsaids... on the ten scale, my pain is a ZERO. I can’t help but wonder what others who described extremely painful post-op recovery would have experienced with this regime. I was bracing for the worst after reading many of these comments, but I’m moving around, eating fine and sleeping like a log through the night.

I was feeling so mellow and euphoric that I woke up this morning with wood... not even 24 hrs after surgery. That’s a gooood indication if you ask me. I got outside today, took off my shirt in the sun and walked (gently of course) for a half mile.

If I let the meds wear off, the pain rebounds and is definitely lurking in the background. And laughing or coughing will test your manhood, but other than those situations I’m zip zero nadda with pain. Very tender to be sure, but I’m not suffering in the least.

The big thing is being able to sleep hard... resting well is good medicine.

So at the end of day two, I’m feeling pretty optimistic and upbeat, considering the funk I was in for the last 3 months leading up to the surgery. Now that it’s behind me Im pumped about getting back in shape and moving iron! And if you have access to the herbal option, I highly recommend it. It’s the way to cope and you don’t have to use opioids.

I’ll second the notion of previous posters: get the procedure done, sooner than later. Those of us doing it now are the beneficiaries of 20 years progress in the area of hernia repair.

Congratulations Flanagan on your recovery.

[flanaganshane]

Thanks KonaKoffee, it sounds as though that you’re on a good path and I wish you nothing but the best in your recovery!

Today is day 14 and my first post op appointment with my Doc. Everything went well and I’m healing perfectly she said. She told me that I could lift up to 25 pounds and to let my body dictate anything more than that. She said that the 25 lbs mark is pretty standard for your average person coming out of surgery as mine. With that being said she did tell me that I could do more but to not overdue it and to listen to my body.

I have one more follow appointment on May 10th where she said if all is still going well she’ll give me the green light to do as I please. She actually wanted me to come back in 2 more weeks from today but the scheduling didn’t work out so May 10th will put me 15 weeks and 2 days out from surgery. So basically she was going to release me at week 4.

From week 1 to week 2 for the most part things continued to improve drastically for me. There was a day or two in that week that I may have over done it on my feet and I was reminded of my surgery in the late evening. Nothing that some ice couldn’t take care of.

I realize I’m only 2 weeks out but like I’ve said before I couldn’t be anymore happier with my surgery and recovery. I attribute my quick recovery to my Doctor who not only made me feel comfortable but is also extremely knowledgeable and skillful. I feel very fortunate at this point to have had her as my surgeon.

She also gave me a copy of my “immediate post operative note” and 3 pages of info on my mesh that she’s been using for 7 years I believe she said. The mesh is C-Qur CentriFX. Of course I ask her if their was any lawsuits on this product and she laughed and said, most companies that produce mesh products have some type of lawsuit pending. The conversation went a little deeper than that but in a nutshell she said that both her and her two partners have had great success with this particular mesh. She has also used both Bard and Covidien products over her 17 years of performing hernia surgeries and she said that she liked the results of C-Qur the best. Take that with a grain of salt I guess...

I will try my best to continue to update my recovery here. If anyone has any questions don’t hesitate to ask me. It’s pretty obvious from just reading here that not everyone heals the same. Again I had lap (TEP) right side inguinal hernia surgery. My hernia was considered small and I also had a small umbilical hernia that she stitched.

[jakob10102]

Glad this popped up. Will be reading through the whole thing in the next couple days. Have an appointment for an ultrasound at the Radiology center tomorrow to see if I have one or not. Have been experiencing some lower abdominal discomfort on my left side. Doc said no bulge that she could find but the lower left quadrant feels weaker, so it's possible it's there but not visible. Whatever it is, hoping for a speedy recovery. I hate sitting around.

[SoccerAgain]

Edit - this is actually a reply for flanaganshane primarily, but good for everyone, overall.

Good luck. Here's something to be aware of, so that you can catch any problems early. The mesh that they used is coated with a food supplement derivative, derived from Omega-3 fish oil. Basically, they chemically crosslink the oil so that it forms a coating on the polypropylene. Omega 3 fish oil started out as a "heart healthy" oil that you were supposed to eat.

If it sounds a little bit like voodoo, it might be. It looks like marketing more than science to me. The primary means of attaching the mesh to the abdominal wall is what they call "tissue ingrowth". Tissue ingrowth is needed so that the mesh won't move from its original placement. But the Omega 3 coating is designed to hinder tissue bonding. So they're kind of playing both sides of the mesh theory. I would assume that your surgeons used several tacks or staples to hold the mesh in place. It looks like CentriFX is the analog of Bard's 3DMax product also, shaped to fit the groin.

Seriously, I hope you come out okay. But if you don't it's best to recognize the signs early, especially the rashes and infection signs. I hate to be a downer, but if you read my past posts you'll see why I am.

Take care. Come back in a few months and years to report progress. Most people only have good things to say about the first months. Still haven't seen the multi-year positive results. I'm trying to collect good long-term stories also, but they're hard to find. The mesh problems have been around for 20 + years. It's a dice roll.

https://hollislawfirm.com/case/herni...-lawsuit/cqur/

http://www.atriummed.com/en/biosurgery/cqur.asp

http://www.atriummed.com/en/biosurgery/centriFX.asp

[flanaganshane]

Thanks so much for the info
Socceragain! During our conversation I asked my Doc what were the pro’s and con’s with this particular mesh and procedure in her and her partners experience alone. She said and I’m paraphrasing here, “not all surgeries are created equal, and you came in lean and with very good health.” “But to answer your questions we’ve had great success with this product over the past several years with a handful of recurrence being the most serious issue”.

She actually elaborated into very deep details in regards to the overall pro’s and con’s of C-Qur, even mentioning the omega 3 fatty acid issues and several other issues. At some point I told her that I didn’t need all that info because I couldn’t retain most of it in my peanut membrane.

Our lengthy talk ended with her telling me that she can’t tell me for a 100% certainty that I’m not going to have any future complications but that she felt extremely confident that everything should continue to go well. At this point that’s all I guess I can ask for. So far, so good and I can only hope my progress continues to be positive.

Again thanks for taking the time to care enough to give me a heads up and the valuable info that I’ll no doubt read over! I will do my best to continue to update good or bad. I hope things keep improving for you!

[KonaKoffee]

Day 3 - I could feel that there was a noticeable improvement in overall healing. In the evening I had a shot of bourbon and some Häagen-Dazs. I’m sure that breaks some kind of rules but it was nice.

Day 4 - today was a little weird. I felt kind of a crappy malaise when I woke up. I had coffee and went for a walk and then my guts rumbled. It occurred to me that I hadn’t taken a dump in 4 days, whoa. It wasn’t going to wait until I got back to the house, so I dropped trou and squatted (I’m in the country btw). It was a monster. The relief was significant. The internal pressure contributes a lot to your discomfort after a while, so keep those bowels moving the best you can.

On another note, I later had a sexy encounter with the Mrs. I don’t recall when the doc said it was ok to engage in sexual activity, but I’m sure it wasn’t 4 days! So sue me. I can tell you that coughing is about a hundred times more violent, threatening and stressful than sex (unless you go bananas with it). I bet you can go longer without sex than coughing in the first three days.

Today I felt good enough to forego any pain meds. Pain is present but completely tolerable. I’ll probably take something at bedtime but that’s it.

Culican had a very important point regarding getting active to the extent that you can. Babying yourself in recovery doesn’t help your cause. You don’t have to red-line, but moving and exercise is critical. If I recall, he was deadlifting on day 11. I don’t know if I’ll be doing that, but something that’s suitable for sure.

[flanaganshane]

3 weeks today: Not much to report on, everything seems to be in order as should be. I’ve honestly not had any out of the ordinary complications or unusual pain. Maybe my luck will continue as my healing progresses and time moves forward.

I’m on board with Culican and his Doc! I wouldn’t say I redlined it but I made it a point to walk a lot and to get some dumbbell work in every time I went to the gym the first 2 weeks. In this past week I’ve upped my weight lifting but I can’t tell ya exactly what I was pushing with each exercise and muscle group as it was still super light and I just moved up in weight to where I felt okay with it but to where I also felt the push.

Starting Thursday I’m going to push a little heavier and I’ll try to make a mental note of the weight I’m pushing for a reference to anyone interested.

[flanaganshane]

4 weeks today: So far, so good! Not much else to say, my healing is going great and I feel amazing to this point. I’ve been pushing more and more weight at the gym but I’m still playing it somewhat cautious. To this point I’ve been doing only upper body workouts with dumbells and cables. Not sure how much I’ve been pushing but I’d say I’m at around 60-70% of what I was pushing prior to the hernia.

I’ll continue to update weekly up to my 8 week date and then I’ll update monthly.

[jgei]

Good luck. I had the exact same procedure, even down to chief of surgery. Bard Soft Mesh. Three years later I had the mesh removed. Don't delay if things seem wrong. I hope you're one of the lucky ones. "Took the plunge" is an appropriate term.

May I ask you about the removal? My husband had the mesh done 10 years ago and he keeps having problems. We are thinking of going to Toronto or Germany and have the mesh removed. We live in NY. Thx for your time!