Hernia
 

Went to the doc yesterday because I have been in pain since last week. Last Tuesday I picked up a pc of steel that 10 years ago I would have carried on my shoulder. Well father time has other plans these days I guess. It has not been quite as bad this week but figured I would keep the appointment. Good news is it is not a hernia, bad news is its a double hernia. Not looking forward to the coming weeks. Not having insurance is a killer but also found out that since it happened at work WC should cover it. As a business owner I can exempt myself from coverage but thankfully a few years back I added myself to the policy. Still not looking forward to any of it. My doc insisted I go get scanned yesterday so he could better see the issue. $740 for a glass of nasty fruit punch dye and 10 minutes in the machine at most. they didn't get the IV right so I got a large bruise the size of a silver dollar today. I went this morning to get blood work done and had to go to 3 different places before I got one that would accept cash payments. The other two said they were no longer setup for cash, insurance only.

So, who else has had this surgery? any advise other than not to rush recovery? It will be kind of hard for me since I am just a 3 man shop but will try my best. Thankfully it is just now getting into what is normally my slower season. I was hoping to use that time to work on my panel truck but............

Re: Hernia
 

That sucks... I hope it heals quickly.

Re: Hernia
 

Just reading about it makes me hurt. I've been lucky, never had one. I remember my dad writhing & groaning in pain & agony with a hernia when I was very young. And a guy I worked with years ago had hernia surgery, big tough guy who suffered through a very painful recovery. Hope your surgery goes well and you have a quick & easy recovery (if that's possible)!

Re: Hernia
 

I had a hernia for years and got it worked on, they put a small patch cover over it. Did work. So for years again I lived with it in pain.
Finally I went to local doc named "Smith" here in Waco, he works on Baylor football players when they get hurt. Well what he did was put a Kevlar sheet under the muscle layer about ten inches wide and 10 inches long, secured it and it is bad to the bone! I highly recommend that, would never waste time or money on those other fixes. Because they are not.
And I had one at my belly button he fixed also. :)

Re: Hernia
 

-
I had double hernia surgery in 2000. The only problem I had at that time was getting in and out of bed for the first few days. After it healed up, no more problems.

LockDoc

Re: Hernia
 

That hurts just thinking about it..

Re: Hernia
 

The hardest part is letting it heal. It will take some time. Your body will let you know if you're trying to do too much - you need to listen. It's been years since I had mine and I only think about it if someone mentions a hernia.

Re: Hernia
 

I had the mesh fix and a few years later it failed....sending me in for emergency surgery one Friday afternoon....like you I luckily had myself on my WC and it paid 100%

as others have said...you gotta give it plenty of time to heal....
Mine was in 2012...even now I sometimes have some pain...especially if I overdo it with lifting etc....good luck...

Re: Hernia
 

The insurance deal is the new norm. I have always had it but I am self employed with a $5k deduct able.

I recently had an ultrasound and had to go through the sniff test to make sure I was worthy by having insurance. I waited in line for 25 minutes then went through the whole deal of filling out papers and proving insurance. I didn't have my insurance card and of course that was a huge deal. I asked if anyone can even self pay anymore and the lady taking my info didn't even act like she knew what self pay was.

My normal doctor retired so I had to find a new general pactioner. I found one in a big network like they all are anymore. When I was making the appointment I first had to fax my insurance info before they would complete the appointment. I have Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and the lady on phone asked me if that was Medicaid!!! I told her if it was, I have been paying way to much. Around here that used to be the king of insurance companies and know it is not even known. I feel for you with the insurance deal.

Re: Hernia
 

I had hernia surgery 10 or 12 years ago. They went through my belly button and put some kind of mesh in. I have no residual pain what so ever, and do whatever I want.

I draw SSI now but I still have income. They take between $600 and $700/ month out of my SSI check to pay for Medicare (free healthcare). I pay more for Medicare than I paid for private insurance. The prescriptions cost me another $140.00/month from Blue Cross/ Blue Shield.

Re: Hernia
 

Sorry to hear about this, Richard. I've managed to miss this issue so far somehow. I hope you are able to 'let' yourself recover. I know how hard it is for an active, and self-employed, person to stick with basically looking at things that need done and not allowing yourself to do anything about it. For me this summer it was broken ribs second week of July. I remember early the next morning, which was Saturday, sitting in my back yard having my first cup. Everything I looked at, "Nope, can't do that". Usually as the caffeine kicks in I am jumping into something and don't stop. It was a hard pill to swallow to realize just how simple it was, "I can't do anything". I did get pretty good at it, though :lol:. I did do one job while down with my sons doing all the physical stuff. But still crawling out of the hole it made at the time of year I normally grown some fat for winter (in my bank account). I had to let some work go and one big job that needed fair weather to commence that has now passed. Hang in there buddy (no pun intended)

Re: Hernia
 

Richard
Hate to heard this.
I have never had one but I watched my Daddy go through the pain.
Try too take it easy for a little while.
My Daddy had many through-out his life.
The first couple of times / He added insult to injury.
After awhile He learned to take it easy till it got a little better.

Hope you get well soon.
Dwayne

Re: Hernia
 

Had one done myself, inguinal, can't clearly recall but I was 2 weeks of lazy boy chair, that's where I slept and 2 weeks of light duty ( walking/talking, do not pick up anything) had a mild infection, so keep an eye on things and go back if it doesn't seem to be healing right.
Friend of mine had one and did not lay off, pained him for a long time.

Re: Hernia
 

Thanks for all the replies. Did something stupid yesterday and went to the Apple Scrapple festival yesterday which required a lot of walking. By the time I figured out I had messed up I was only half way back to the truck. I did get a few pics of some trucks that were at the show though. I am hoping resolution to this starts on Tuesday when I go back to the doc

Re: Hernia
 

It sucks to not even be able to walk much. That's the one thing I could do with the hurt ribs.. I hope I never get a hernia.

Re: Hernia
 

It is weird, After hurting pretty bad Saturday I took it real easy yesterday and the pain was not bad at all. I woke this morning with no pain at all. I have worked on the road all day today and still no pain but have felt nauseous most of the day. Hope to find out more tomorrow.

Re: Hernia
 

It's amazing what doctors can do now. I hope you get good news.

Re: Hernia
 

I began to develop a hernia in the mid-90's but no one seemed to be able to diagnose it as a hernia. In 2006 it gave way and I had to have surgery.

Oddly enough it wasn't bowel but fat that had moved into my scrotum.

I was left with a tingly feeling that kept me up for a week. I went in to see the doc who said "most hernias are this big (pinching his finger) but yours was this big (wrapped hand around upper forearm)." He said "I had to cut through a lot of nerves, the tingling may never stop."

At that I said "well I'll be dead by morning because I cannot handle another day without sleep." He gave me some perocet and let me go.

I took one pill, felt like I had drunk a case of beer, and that night, the tingling stopped! I shelved the bottle and never touched another one.

My hernia repair consists of two meshes (most are one) and works fine. Every so often I feel a "pinch" but only if I'm lifting something wrong or doing a ton of pushups. P90X workouts (crazy heavy on pushups) are not a problem for some reason.

OP:

You'll get over this but if you are overweight, I strongly urge you to get into shape. Excess fat pushes down on hernia repairs and increases the likelihood of a second failure.

Re: Hernia
 

I don't consider myself overweight just a foot too short :lol: I could stand to lose a few.

Even though they show 2 hernias I am almost convinced that is not what was causing all of my pains. The last 2 or 3 days I have been mostly pain free even with more manual labor. I believe it is a partial blockage of my intestines. Every time I eat I get bloated and have discomfort for several hours then it goes away. Have to go back to the doc to discuss more. At some point the hernias will have to be addressed though.

Re: Hernia
 

I had a double hernia surgery. My surgery was about 17 years ago. They used mesh and titanium hog rings to connect it to the muscle wall. It was a success and haven't had any problems since. It did take a while for the giant black grapefruits in my pants to reduce in size back to normal. ;)

Re: Hernia
 

I had hernia surgery (one side) about 22 years ago. Had a mesh put in and have had no problems.

Some advice, don't rent a funny movie while you are recovering from hernia surgery!