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Umbilical Hernia Repair

Published June 29, 2014 | By worryfreemom

After Megan was born, I noticed that my belly button wasn’t…normal.  I thought disfigured belly buttons were just another hazard of pregnancy, but when I was expecting Tristan, my midwife informed me that I had a small hernia.  Tristan was 9 lbs…and the hernia got a little bigger.  Then along came my 10 lb, 2 oz Josyan.  One day when I was about 7/8 months along, I bent over to pick up some toys and I heard and felt a RIP.  After a quick trip to the urgent care, I learned that there was really nothing to be done.

Josyan was born, I had a really weird belly button, but my hernia didn’t really bother me.  Until I started running again.  When Josyan was a year old, I started training for a 5K with my sister and sister in law.  Right around reaching the 3 mile mark, my belly button/hernia would just start to ache.  I went to see a surgeon who basically told me that I needed to wait until I was sure I wasn’t having any more children to fix it.  As long as it didn’t get ‘stuck’ out, I’d be fine.  Plus, with a 1, 3, and 5 year old, there was no way I could avoid picking up anything heavier than 10 pounds for 6 weeks.

Fast forward 6 years.  Now I’m to a point where I have to wear an elastic band around my belly to hold my hernia in–otherwise I’m in danger of having to lay on the ground at places like Sea World and try to push my stuck hernia back in.  I finally decide…it’s time.  In the last week, I have been doing a lot of googling and found that stories of others’ experiences really helped me.  So, I thought I’d share my experience.

Day 1:  So, Thursday morning I went in for surgery.  My doctor does things the old fashioned way, so I had a regular incision where she folded over the tissue (imagine a pair of jeans with a hole–instead of just sewing the edges together, she flapped one side over the other for strength) to repair my hernia–which was large enough she could put a finger in it.

It took me several hours to wake up from the anesthesia, but other than that, everything went great.  I went home a little loopy, but not in a ton of pain.  In fact, I didn’t even have the prescription filled.  I took a few Tylenol, mostly for my throat.  I think they got a little too excited with the breathing tube–I feel like I have a flap of skin hanging down in the back of my throat.

That first day, I slept on and off for most of the day…but found I was really hungry.  I had chicken noodle soup for lunch, a bowl of cereal for dinner…and some prune juice and dried apricots just in case.

Day 2:  I made it out to the living room on Friday where I graded papers on my laptop.  I took a few tylenol, but mostly felt ok.  Really, my throat hurt more than anything else.  On Friday, it was very hard to walk and I really wanted to take a shower.  I was really thankful for the prune juice and apricots.  I feltl a lot like I did after having babies–my belly was very tender and I felt like I had to hold it up to move.

Day 3:  Saturday.  I finally got to take a shower, but I found that I couldn’t stand up very long.  While my belly doesn’t generally hurt, if I stand up without supporting my tummy, it does.  My belly is still pretty swollen, but I’m relieved to see that my incision is pretty small and seems to be doing just fine.  Plus…I actually see a normal looking belly button for the first time in over 12 years!  The kids were pretty freaked out by it, though.  I felt well enough to notice that my house was a disaster–with the help of my amazing kiddos, we got most everything taken care of.  Tristan keeps telling me, “Mom, I think you need to go lay down now.”  😉  Mostly, my back hurts from sitting and laying all day.  🙁

Day 4:  Most of the swelling has gone down.  My throat is almost pain free.  Last night I was able to sleep on my side without difficulty, and today I’m able to walk around and take a shower without worrying about needing help.  I can bend down ok and almost feel like I could leave the house.  But I think I’ll be pretty stationary for at least a few more days.  My follow up appointment isn’t until 7/7, so I won’t be able to drive or do a whole lot until then.

I think I will be glad that I finally had this surgery.  It’s always scary to have to go under anesthesia, but the worst part for me was not knowing what my recovery would look like.  I hate sitting still & not being able to do normal things like clean the house!  But in a few weeks, I’ll be able to walk around and exercise without having to hold my hernia in.  That will be pretty awesome.  🙂

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