Hernias
 

This wasn't supposed to happen to a man like me. I was supposed to act like a workhouse til about age 80. Who knows, maybe I still can, but a bit more reserved.

I have an inguinal hernai on my right side. I never thought I'd be shoving my intestines back into my body. About once or twice an hour - at least - I do so.

I had a CT scan about 10 days ago - my PCP tells me there is a tiny beginning of one on the left, the one on the right calls out for surgery. I have an appointment with the surgery clinic in a couple of hours.

I have, of course, heard about the hernia mesh issue. Dunno what to make of it all. Word I've read is that the stuff often does lead to greater success rate. One site said synthetic mesh yielded the least chance for reopening, the animal tissue mesh 2nd best, and mere stitching up had the most chance of reopening.

Who knows ...

Check out Shouldice hospital in Toronto. They have their own surgical technique.

Check out Desarda in Florida. He has his own technique also.

Both of these work without mesh. Shouldice attempts to restore all four layers of the muscle wall in your abdomen.

Isn’t mesh-less hernia surgery a thing?

I have the mesh. Its been in since about 2008, no problems. I itch a bit now and then and wonder if I might be allergic a little to the polyester mesh.

Same here. itch every now and then but no issues either.

Hernia Repair
 

I have the mesh and a bit of tug boat hawser on the other side .

Take some time and research all the methods, I'm thinking there is no one size fits all here .

If done correctly you'll love it .

Learn how to lift properly, use your knees not bending over....

Double Iguinal repair one year ago.

Since they detected a small tear on the opposite side....have both sides done at the same time.

Oh, and..try to have empty bowells prior to surgery..the anestetic locks you up for 3-5 days after the proceedure.

Best to just go get it done, unless you like poking your guts back inside when they pop out.

My hernia was caused by the hip surgery.....a common problem.

Poking Your Intestines Back In
 

FWIW, this is *very* painful too .

I earned to use the upper pads on my fingers, not the tips per se and ever so gently massage then back in .

Failure to do this can lead to a loop sticking out and of course, it doesn't just sit there making you miserable, it often twists and causes a blockage that can kill you .

Also, try to not have a super hot and horny girlfriend who likes to have sex in the car out in the country when you're waiting for surgery .

She refused to take no for an answer and I'm amazed I could still get wood with her bouncing up and down on my lap in the car in the mountains in the snow....

Weird memories to be sure .

I felt that lump pop out & went to my doc. Yep, thats a hernia. Sent me to a doc who specialized in hernias. After surgery, skin was BLACK ½ way to my knees, belly button, & around my legs. And incredibly painfull. I asked what the mesh was, he said it was the same as the material used to string tennis rackets. Thought I had another one a year later. I could feel it popping out like the 1st. My doc said it was not. Went to the hernia doc. Yes, barely started, will get worse. This time after, small area of blue/purple, & NO pain at all.

I guess sex in a car is better than no sex, but it's a close call. :)

Pushing the intestines back in is not fun. Early on as it got worse, a couple of times I'd feel a weird pain down yonder and would discover quite a bit sticking out. A bit shocking.

Lately I gently massage the area quite a bit.

The doctor was reassuring. I had been reading about it and he filled in more detail. He said most of the serious infection/rejection issues were with women who had a large amount of the mesh holding up the bladder to relieve incontinence. He said that the animal tissue mesh is virtually not used anymore, too many incidences of infection. He discussed two approaches, one was a sort of direct cut it open, the other more of an arthoscopic method going down through the naval. Said it is easy to do both sides with the latter. My PCP had said that surgery usually wasn't done w/o symptoms, as is the case on my left side, but the surgeon said the beginning of a tear could be seen and that patching it now was prudent. Sounds good to me.

My reading has it that the mesh has been used for some time now and is generally effective.

Odd and perhaps fortunate coincidence, the CT scan saw a small growth at the point where the input channel joins one of my kidneys. My PCP had told me about it, the surgeon looked at it more closely, he said it was small, was sort of hanging at the junction, looked like it would be easy to remove. Were it larger and in the kidney, might have necessitated removal of kidney. Ulp. Could be lucky it was found now.

We'll see, I go in on the 7th for that.

Sounds like good news all 'round .

I always felt having it in the car was better than anything that is routine.;) Luckily the Mrs. thinks so too.

Healthy Sex
 

She was a wild one to be sure .

Most beautiful woman I ever dated, I wonder what she is doing now .

Ah yes, the pain of recovery from hernia surgery. Did it 3 times. Holy crap it sucks. The first day was fine (pain meds are a wonderful/crappy things). Felt fine. Was walking a bit around the house. Made lunch ... no problem. Went to bed, woke up .... Who the hell kicked my ass when I was asleep? Had to have Ms Mash roll me out of bed, put my pants on, put my socks on and help me stand. Coughing and sneezing never scared me so much in my life. I was convinced that if I coughed that my insides would be out side. Thank god for gravity on the toilet.

You do not realize how much/often you use your stomach muscles during the day. After a week things got back to normal My last one (inguinal) was in '09. No problems since and I try and be careful when I lift.

That was plenty good for me a few times. Other times a huge disappointment, mainly because I was thinking how fine it would have been with that particular woman with more spacious accomodations. As opposed to awkward.

Oh well, life's a beetch and than you die.

Post surgery, blood can leak down into the scrotum.
Dont freak out if you look down and your nutsack is the size of a cantalope..and the color purple.

The body will eventually absorb the blood/fluids.

Can take up to 1 year for full 100% recovery..depends on what kind of shape you are in to begin with.

Try to have sex within 1 week, post surgery, just to make sure none of the plumbing has been damaged.

Whoa. Cantelope sized scrotum might have me heading for the ER. :eek:

Did it once in a bugeye sprite. Anybody done the deed in something smaller?

If that happens..dont panic..and definately Dont Run.

Yeah, for sure, I tried to block all memories of that 1st surgery, , , ,

Not sure there is anything smaller and still referred to as an automobile.

Exactly!

It just goes to show what youth and enthusiasm can accomplish.;)

I had hernia mesh surgery around 25 years ago. I used a crutch to help get me up out of bed for a while. Worked well.

Good to hear. What, did I think I was going to get away with never having this, given that I work like a horse at age 67?

My dad had a hernia when he was in his sixties (?). I said" Dad, how did you get the hernia?" He said he had used the walgamuth method of finding out if something was too heavy to lift. I said "oh?" He said "yeah, you grab it and lift as hard as you can and if it does not move it is too heavy", then he smiled.

Where there is a will there is a way. I really hated leg cramps with a passion.

Infection picked up during an examination. Not that large but concerning. First batch of antibiotics did not clear it. That may have been the time the cat scan or MRI picked up the abdominal anurisim. Only one testicle seriously enlarged.

I had a hernia repair in 1976. Lasted till about 10 years ago. Bothers me a bit now. Stuff is coming out... a little. Apparently not enough for another surgery.

Had a mesh done on the other side. Mild discomfort when stretching for 6 months.
Pain came back sporadically. Can’t do crunches or work on abs. Intensifies pain. Hurts enough at night to wake me up.
Learned to sleep on my back. This makes the issue mostly go away. I would scissor my legs when I slept on my sides causing everything to pull on the mesh.
I do NOT recommend mesh surgery for hernia repair.
They have an unacceptably high rate of issues afterwards.

Redoing mesh surgery is an issue. Scarring from the mesh makes second attempts difficult and not recommended unless pain is severe.

Old style (non mesh) surgeries can fail over time as mine did but I didn’t have any issues for many decades as opposed to the mesh surgery which has been an issue almost from the start.

Very few surgeons do non mesh.

I would travel to Canada to the Shouldice clinic if I got another surgery or another place which didn’t use mesh.

Better Sleep With Pain
 

Try a pillow between your legs and sleep on your back or side.....

One side..confirmed..torn.
The other side..a small tear (Impending).
Have them go in with the scope..Do both sides at once.

Mac, do you have an update on your condition ?