Incisional Hernia

From: Marilyn (haven49gal@aol.com)
Mon Sep 1 21:44:06 2003


I am 64 years old and have always been a healthy and vigorous person. In February of this year I underwent a complete abdominal hysterectomy because of a very large, benign ovarian cyst that I never even knew was there. I felt really good about 2 weeks following surgery and returned to my normal routine despite all advice that at least 4-6 weeks of light activity was required to recuperate. I strained myself and wound up with a rather large incisional hernia which began to show itself on my lower left abdomen about 6 weeks after surgery. I was referred to a surgeon who specializes in hernia repairs, both open and laparoscopic. The herniation was in the lower part of the incision, almost to the pubic bone. Surgery was performed on July 18th.....he tried the laparoscopic way first, but there were too many adhesions from the hysterectomy and the hernia itself, so he had to open the prior incision to make the repair. When he came to see me in the recovery room, he told me it was an "excellent repair" and that I had wonderful tissue to work with.

Unfortunately, an ileus (intestinal paralysis) developed the day after surgery while I was still in the hospital which caused me to violently wretch and throw up continuously. A nasogastric tube was inserted to relieve this condition and after 4 days the ileus resolved and the tube was removed. I spent 8 days in the hospital. My doctor checked me daily and I could see that he was not happy when he checked my abdomen. He sent me for a CT scan which revealed that the repair had failed, most likely due to the violent heaving I experienced. He said it only takes "one stitch" to unravel the whole thing. In addition to this failure, I also wound up with an enormous hematoma at the site of the laparoscopic incision. It is still oozing heavily and I have to change the dressing twice daily. A repeat hernia repair will have to be performed, but my doctor says this can't be done for a few months as everything inside must settle down. Now, I've started to experience terrible pain, not just from the hernia and the hematoma, but if I cough, sneeze or laugh hard I get this excruciating pain across my mid-section (at the level of my belly button). If I don't wear the abdominal binder, I can't walk for more than a couple of minutes without pain. I notice that when I place my hand under my hernia (size of a cantaloupe) and lift up my entire belly, the pain goes away somewhat.

It seems that everything that can go wrong with a hernia repair did go wrong. Now I'm wondering about this terrible mid-section pain....could this be adhesions, especially since my intestines are now bulging out again? I am seeing the surgeon on Thursday (he sees me every 2 weeks) and I will, of course, consult him about this pain, but I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience. Thanks.


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