It was the only thing that made today tolerable. Not as intense as a kidney stone, but continuous pain. Six months would make a quick death seem an arguable alternative. I am not sure how much of this is muscle pain, and how much is that they inflate the abdominal cavity for the procedure which attains a lot of the tissues. The holes stopped screaming about three hours afterwards.
You want to add another reason to avoid getting overweight to heart attacks, strokes, and looks? Hernia repair recovery is another very good one.
Did you have an old-fashioned surgery or laparoscopic? I had an umbilical hernia that had to be repaired twice. The first time the doctor only put in a stitch, and it failed after a few years. The second time, a different doctor put in a mesh, and it's been over ten years so far.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, the first surgery was traditional and the second was laparoscopic, and I can tell you the latter definitely healed a lot faster.
Rick: Laparoscopic with mesh. As you can see, I am doing well enough to blog, a low intensity activity. I do not have to lift anything heavier than my hands.
ReplyDeleteWith my open surgery, I didn't want to get out of bed for about 4 days. The second one, I was able to sit up for short periods by, I think, the second day. There was a lot less pain, and the healing went a lot faster, as in weeks.
ReplyDeleteSo take heart, as painful as it is, you should mend fairly rapidly.
Clayton, didn't your physician prescribe pain medication?
ReplyDeleteI had 3 traditional surgeries and one laparoscopic surgery on my abdomen and, honestly, I don't think I ever experienced a moment of pain. I wasn't spaced out from the meds but they did keep the pain at bay. In fact, after the last surgery (traditional - to repair a problem resulting from the lap) I had to request a lesser intensity pain med - the original med became too strong and was physically uncomfortable to receive.
I'm not medically trained but I don't believe anyone should be in pain after surgery - at least not from the slicing and dicing.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The day immediately after the surgery one generally feels better because there's some residual pain med in the body. After that, the incisions and such begin to hurt all on their own. My mother had several surgeries and mentioned how the other patient in her semi-private room thought that waking up from the surgery meant the pain would be gone. My brother has had several knee surgeries, and he would agree that it won't miraculously go away.
ReplyDeleteMy hernia operation was an open one, installing mesh, and doing anything since the surgery that involved bending at the waist or having the right leg unsupported causes a burning sensation in the operating area. Someone I know told me that I could expect a recovery in two or three days. LIAR!
Clayton, I hope your recovery goes well and quickly and easily.