Hernia???

I've read so many posts on here about hernias an having hernias fixed etc except I've never really READ them, and today I had my Upper GI test and the radiologist told me I have a hernia, that my stomach is set a little too high and that my surgeon could fix it while he does the rny. I need your info pls!

What do u know about this? Did you have it? Does it take longer to recover after surgery?

Thanks!

Sheila

 My upper GI didn't show a hernia but while my doc was doing my RNY on12/30/11 she repaired a hiatal hernia(which sounds like what you have). I ended up having 6 incisions instead of 4-5 and for the first 24-48 hours I felt like I had more pain in the hernia repair site than I did from anything else..however this pain was not substantial and the regular pain meds they were giving me worked just fine. My surgery was 2.75 hours which was longer than the 1.5 hours my surgeon had estimated but since your surgeon knows about your hernia already that may cut down on the time. After I got home from the hospital I don't feel that the hernia repair added any time to my recovery. I'm only a little over 3 weeks out of surgery so I dont have everything figured out yet..but I hope my reply gives you a little peace. Best of luck on your upcoming surgery. 

 Thank you for the info!...do u know if it HAS to b repaired, I read in a website that 15% of people have this however from looking at the posts on here it seems like a lot more people do.

Hi Sheila,

I have a Hiatal Hernia, which was described to me basically like what you said.
My doctor says its actually a simple fix and it is good to know in advance so they are prepared.
It makes the surgery a little bit longer, he says 30 to 45 mins. longer depending and in some cases they will need to make an extra incision. As far as recovery, he says that it does not add any time to it.

:-(



See what I mean? It looks like this is a common thing...so strange....

Im so NOT happy about the extra time of surgery but I'm glad it's nothing serious

 I'm really not sure of the long term issues if you don't have it fixed but on the bright side..they are already in there so they might as well..and you will not have a clue about the extra surgery time! They put me to sleep as soon as they wheeled me into the OR and I woke up what seemed like seconds later in recovery.

There are hernias and there are hernia.

Post op we get a different hernias... you may get it or not...

I had same experience didn't know I had hiatal hernia after surgery when he fixed it. No biggie, better to get it taken care of while your already under.

 Had a hiatal hernia that was fixed during my surgery.  No problems at all, but as it heals, I hiccup a alot.  Not regularly, just 2 at a time every few hours.  It's kinda embarrassing in meetings, but my close co-workers know why.  I was told it would be better around 3 months out.  I think it is good to have it fixed as it is common for overweight people to have them.

I also had a hiatal hernia that was found on my pre-op endoscopy. I was told that my surgeon always repairs these during the RNY because if you don't, its hard to tell how big your new pouch is. Since a hiatal hernia is simply part of the stomach that has pushed its way up through the diaphragm, you can see how it would be harder to make your pouch the right size if part of it is on top of the diaphragm muscle instead of below it.

I don't feel like the hernia repair has caused me any additional discomfort post-surgery. My whole abdomen is somewhat sore and the incisions are sore, but I don't feel any additional pain where the hiatal hernia was.

During surgery, the doc also found a regular hernia at my belly button. I have an extra incision from where he repaired this also, but again, I don't feel any more pain there than I do anywhere else.