Living with a hernia or opting for surgery?

Hello,

I had surgery in February, and in April, I got a cold that had me coughing for weeks. I started having some discomfort close to my ostomy when I coughed. My ostomy provider thinks that I may have a hernia, and she has ordered a belt for me. I'm still waiting for it to arrive.
I understand that this is pretty common, but I'm wondering if people just live with them for long periods of time or if most people have surgery to correct it.
I'm still healing from my original surgery, so this has just added to my frustration about healing.
Thanks for any tips or information you may have to give me.

I have lived with mine for probably over twenty years. It's not so bad that it is particularly noticeable, and I'd have to be in pretty extreme circumstances to agree to another surgery. I sometimes wear a support belt, but not all the time.

I have had a eurostoma for 10 years. Within the first year, I developed a hernia, much to my surprise. I went to see my surgery doctor for the last time. I showed it to him and asked about it. His response was kind of crass. He said, "You will be okay, just don't get fat." I will never get fat, I weigh the same as I did 50+ years ago. (I'm 80 years old this year and still weigh the same 173 pounds.)

So I was on my own, seeing as I had no ostomy nurse or doctor left to advise me. Google comes to the rescue. Research tells me three things. 1) It will slowly get bigger over the years. (I'm 9 years into it). 2) The mesh insertion repair is only about 50% successful. 3) Belts don't appear to do much unless you are going to play football or any contact sports where you need protection. A company in NY sells one that is made of hard plastic and works like a hockey cup.

So over the years, I have purchased quite a number of various types of belts, which I do not wear on a regular basis. I do like the secure feeling. I do wear my 5" wide one. I also have a 3" one but prefer the wider one.

When putting it on, be sure to raise the area on your back as high as you possibly can to give more "lift" on the hernia. That is important. If you don't, it is just pressing on your hernia and gravity is still pulling it down, which defeats the purpose in my opinion.

My hernia is now about the size of a very large grapefruit, but I can easily live with it as there is no pain.

Good luck

Jim Arnold

Thanks, it's good to know it's probably nothing that has to be addressed soon.

I have had my stoma for three years and have been informed I have a small hernia which is not really noticeable to me. Like Henry, I wear a support belt occasionally when I am lifting or carrying something heavy, so at the moment it's no big problem.

Getting Support in the Ostomy Community with LeeAnne Hayden | Hollister

Hi Jen,

I always laugh when I hear doctors have to "think" about things like this in this day and age. A quick MRI scan will tell for sure if you have a hernia or not, and I think they'd want to know for sure. Because if you don't, then something else needs attention that they're not providing. As folks have said, you can live with a hernia without much worry, but it is important to understand what it's all about. Your abdominal cavity is crammed full of your organs and skeletal structure. Think 20 lbs of intestine in a 10 lb can. So your abdominal wall is a group of muscles (instead of a single muscle) for flexibility. And it's holding a lot of stuff inside you that would push its way out if it could. A hernia is a tear in one of the abdominal muscles, or the connective tissue between those muscles. The problem is that tear won't ever heal, as long as something (your intestines) is pressing against it. But rather it will always be a weak point that won't get better....but could get worse. So it's important to keep an eye on it and avoid things that can allow it to grow in size. Things like coughing, lifting heavy things.......or constipation.....anything that puts stress on your abdominal muscles......needs to be avoided. The danger is that if the bowel that's trying to poke its way through gets choked off by your abdominal muscles, you'll obstruct blood flow (your intestines will die) or you'll cause an obstruction that can't be cleared without surgery. So you can certainly live with it and not have any problems, or try to fix it and take your chances (it's hard to get your muscles to grow over the screen matrix they use to patch the tear). Just be aware of what it's all about and what to look for going forward. Take a side view pic every 6 months or year just you have a record, and can tell if it's getting bigger over time. Find a good support belt, and keep the name and number of your abdominal surgeon in your wallet.....just in case. With any luck, you'll forget it's there and subconsciously remember not to do things to make it worse. But if it were me, I'd want to be sure I knew what I was dealing with. Tell your Docs to get off their asses and find out what's going on. You deserve that much.

;O)

Bob

About 10 years ago, I had emergency surgery on a strangulated small intestine due to a hernia I didn't even know I had. The doctor didn't think I'd make it through. It happened after a cold with severe coughing. If you are still coughing a lot or do again, I think a hernia belt would help to alleviate some of the pressure.

Hi Bob... I found your article regarding hernias and what it's all about very interesting. I am a new Austin resident as of the middle of June. I believe a hernia is starting above my stomach. I'm getting along very well with the convex-flip collapsed flange system, although I believe the area is protruding a little more than it did 2 months ago. I'm wondering if I need to make an appointment to go back to my surgeon to have her look at it. I don't want to complain, although I don't want it to become a lot larger. I'm a farm girl and I don't weigh much, but I do lift heavy objects. Please advise. I really appreciate your input. Blessings, Ginger

Newer osteomate...2 1/2 mo.