Hernia Repaired!

Last week, on October 28, 2014 I had an umbilical hernia repaired. This little bump under my skin, near my belly button, was causing a bit of discomfort.

At a visit to my general doctor, he referred me to a local surgeon to do the procedure. I visited the surgeon and showed him my belly. He said, “That’s an umbilical hernia, all right.” to which I replied, “I could have told you that.”, and he said, “Yes, but I didn’t ask you.” I immediately laughed, and so did he. I knew I was in good hands.

I worked through the scheduling and all the pre-test & pre-questions, and received my schedule time.

Wendy & I reported at 8a to Mercy Hospital Fairfield on October 28. I was nervous but did okay. Everyone there was really, really nice and took great care of me. The procedure started around 9:30a and I was awake and ready to go home around 11:30a. Apparently, I woke up asking for cheeseburgers and gin & tonic.

The recovery wasn’t as bad as the groin hernia repair I had 11 years ago. This time, the discomfort was (as expected) in getting up and down, and any sort of bending or lifting. Even that was less uncomfortable than after my groin hernia. But that pain has faded pretty quickly.

Now, almost a week out, I continue to have tenderness at the surgery site and bending over to, say, pick up a dropped piece of paper is still out of the question. However, if I dropped something larger, I can now bend and get it. Lifting heavy stuff is still off-limits. Unfortunately, nearly every one of my animals qualifies as “heavy stuff”.

Getting better all the time!