I Have An Abdominal Hernia

[WeDidIt]

An Epigastric Hernia, to be more precise. A hole has torn above my navel and below my rib cage, allowing what the abdominal wall used to hold in to bulge out about the size of a baseball at its worst and the size of a golf ball most of the time. I currently have none of the symptoms that indicate a twisted intestine or strangulation of the hernia.

This problem manifested ten days ago. I was able to get in to see my doctor last Thursday. I will see a surgeon a week from this Thursday, at which time I hope to be able to schedule surgery, probably for some time in late August or September, if I'm lucky.

In the meantime, I have to be careful, not do any lifting, and carefully watch myself for any of the symptoms of an incarcerated or strangulated hernia. If any of those symptoms do manifest, I must go to an emergency room immediately and will probably face emergency surgery.

Wait times exist under our current system. That isn't going to change any time soon.

EDITED TO CLARIFY: My physician is an instructor in one of the top medical schools in the nation. She referred me to one of the top surgeons in the medical school's surgery department. The hospital is one of the best in the nation. This is in Chicago, Illinois. My point in this whole thing was to point out that wait times comparable to the "nightmare wait times" the Republicans describe for a public healthcare plan already exist under the current system.

I also have one of the best healthcare plans already. I'm lucky. I know how easy it would be to lose that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. Oh no! Hope you have the surgery soon. take care

[hedgehog]

2. Are you in a rural state?

[WeDidIt]

4. My doctor's offices are in Chicago

The hospital will be Northwestern Memorial.

[hedgehog]

8. Wow! I figured you had a long wait because of limited medical facilities.

It must be that as scary as your hernia sounds to us, the chances for complications must be fairly low. Not much comfort while you're waiting, i know.

[Mind_your_head]

3. Are you in the US or 'somewhere else'?

Sorry about the hernia, but what is the "point" you are trying to make (if there is one ~ perhaps you're just complaining/venting)..... :shrug:

[WeDidIt]

7. The point isn't really about my hernia

The point is, the Republicans keep decrying "wait times" for public health plans.

Tehre are wait times in the current healthcare system not unlike the worst scenarios spelled out by the opponents to health care reform.

[Mind_your_head]

11. Well, yes I agree with that, about the wait times.......MOST IMPORTANTLY

people w/o available "HEALTHCARE" wait forever! There is no doctor coming, there is no return to the hope of HEALTH again ~ EVER!

[CTyankee]

5. Well, I have an incisional hernia, the result of a couple of surgeries in 2007

to correct an elective procedure which tried to correct a problem with diverticulitis. It was called a "complication."

So I did try to have the hernia fixed with further surgery. It didn't work and my incisional hernia is even worse (i.e. it's even bigger). I now have to wear tunics the size of extra large when the rest of my body is a Medium. It's not a good situation but I can't do anything about it.

I hope you get better and all will be better with you. My case is hopeless in terms of restoring me to normal size.

You'll get better, I predict. I won't. My surgery has a very bad success rate so I guess I should have at least expected it, but of course I hoped for the best...didn't work...

[rwheeler31]

6. This is not fun lay down and find entertainment.

[sellitman]

9. I have had 3 hernia operations

They have really come a long way since my first one 20 years ago. Just take it easy and you will be fine.

Hope you get well soon.

[undeterred]

10. A friend of mine had a midline hernia

somewhat higher up and in deeper layers of muscle. He knew the exact day the pain started, several years ago. Well, over the last few years he was given several other diagnoses, including that he needed a hip replacement, or that his abdominal pain was caused by depression.

Finally he found a doctor who was able to get to the root of it by doing a thorough physical exam which involved showing the doctor which movements caused the pain. He had an inch and a half tear. The same doctor repaired the hernia -outpatient surgery- and he immediately felt better.

Imagine having a hip replacement when what you need is a hernia repair.

[spanone]

12. take care...had the surgery a couple of years ago....you'll be fine

[Turbineguy]

13. A Doctor once told me

there's a hospital in Toronto that specializes in hernias; "a hernia mill" he called it. No more details.

[marybourg]

16. That was years ago when US docs weren't using the mesh

reinforcement and Canadian docs were using it. Lots of Americans went to Canada for the improved operation. Now US docs routinely use mesh. (in fact they probably think they invented it; after all we have the "best medical care in the world").

[ConcernedCanuk]

18. Hospital is called the "Shouldice Clinic"

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.
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I had two hernias repaired there in the 70's

walked me right off the table afterward, and both the scars are what one would call below the "bikini" line

invisible to everyone except your most intimate friends

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=shouldice+clinic&meta=&aq=0&oq=shouldi">Shouldice Clinic

And by the way, if the hernia is around the navel, it is called a Navel hernia - Abdominal hernias are those that happen in the lower pelvis - right above the "unmentionables"

If your doctor is referring to a hernia around the navel area as "abdominal" - I suggest you get other professional advice . .

By the way, I'm 58 now, and NO complications since the operations in '72 and '73

[WeDidIt]

20. I used "abdominal" to separate it from "inguinal" to the lay person

It's Epigastric. That's the term my doctor used. It's above the navel, but below the ribs.

[Juche]

24. The British Hernia center is good too

http://www.hernia.org/

[Warpy]

14. There's no earthly reason a medically stable person can't wait

for an elective surgery like a hernia repair. Every person who gets pushed into the schedule as an emergency dislodges a stable patient who's been waiting.

25 years ago, when I had insurance, it took me three months to get in to see the plan's specialist when I had documented illness that was occasionally fatal and needed close watching.

I have to laugh at these screaming meemies out there who think all of a sudden things are going to turn into some nightmare system where rooms are third world and they have to wait five years to see a doctor for the flu.

Fear makes people stupid and the GOP with the insurance industry is trying to ramp up that fear and make them even stupider.

I guess it's up to us to try to educate the poor suckers.

[WeDidIt]

15. Exactly!

I know what to watch out for and right now, this is not an emergency. I knew there would be a wait as soon as I figured out what had happened to me (the weekend before I was able to see my doctor).

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. "Fear makes people stupid " - yup yup

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.
.

That's how the USA ended up with Dubya for 8 years

"Fear makes people stupid"

excellent observation Warpy

too bad it's so true

[lunatica]

17. The important thing to remember is lots of people live with hernias

My mother developed a hernia after many surgeries because her abdominal muscles were weakened. She had an operation to contain the hernia but then it burst out again. The doctor basically told her to make sure it didn't get worse, to use some form of girdle or containment garments to keep it in place and to not worry about it. That was 30 years ago. She has never had any problem with it, but she doesn't strain her muscles by lifting heavy things. She's 84 and doing fine. She's lost weight so it's visible now, but she insists it doesn't bother her. It's about the size of a softball.

[lindisfarne]

21. They've changed the way they treat them. If they get strangulated, it can cause serious

problems. I'd get a 2nd opinion from anyone today who told me it can wait forever.

Your mother might be old enough that surgery might present more risks than the untreated hernia, but for a younger person, I'd pursue a 2nd opinion. She might have just been lucky all these years, or perhaps, even now, given whatever kind of hernia she has, medical opinion would be to do nothing. But that's not typical for most hernias.

http://www.diseaseaday.com/intestine/hernias-what-causes-them-and-how-to-lower-your-chance-of-getting-one

The only treatment is surgery. Surgery isn’t always urgent and doesn’t always have to be performed right away. You should consult your doctor, who will advise you on the urgency of the surgery. Remember that in some cases the hernia may become trapped and strangulated, so surgery is important.

[WeDidIt]

22. My doctor referred me to a surgeon

I see the surgeon one week from Thursday.

There's no way to speed up the process short of an emergency. That's how healthcare works under our system.

[lunatica]

25. Of course it needs to be monitored.

My point is that with care it isn't life threatening. Of course it can become a problem. In my post I said she's had it for 30 years. That was when she was in her 50s. My point is she's lived with it for 30 years without any problem. I'm not making this up.

[Juche]

23. Meh, I've had a hernia for years

Too bad I had a mental illness as a teenager and cannot buy insurance on the private market due to pre-existing condition exclusions. Tell the GOP that that counts as a wait time too.

[JackDragna]

26. If you get surgery, it's no biggie.

I had mine repaired with a laproscope. In, out, done in 30 minutes or your pizza is free. Outside of a bit of post-surgery bloating, I was fine in two days.

[Ilsa]

27. Good luck with your surgery. It is alot easier to recover from

now than way-back-when, if that is any consolation. I'm sorry you have to wait for your turn to come, but I'm glad for you that you have such an expert available to handle your case. Please take good care of your hernia until then.

Back in 1992, I was volunteering at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. I took one lady over to radiology to schedule a mammogram for a suspicious lump. The wait for her mammogram was something like two months.

Six years ago my sister in Houston had to wait something like three-four weeks for thyroid biopsy. She had thyroid cancer.

I've been telling people in our small city that wait times in large cities are long. They don't want to believe it that they have it pretty good here where we have an excess of hospitals and doctors compared to population.

Hugs to you.

[DainBramaged]

28. I had one of those surgically fixed in 1992

started out as pain in my navel, and got progressively worse as I got older and tried to work out. Surgery was about an hour and I spent a day in the hospital. Couldn't go back to work for a week and couldn't fly for a month.

[usregimechange]

29. Best wishes on your recovery/wait time. Can you alter your title to add, private care wait time etc

[FormerOstrich]

30. I suppose the warranty was up

on the scar left from exploratory surgery over 20 years ago...hence, a hernia which sounds very similar to your own.

I had it fixed about a year ago..with mesh. I drug my feet some to get it done because I hate going to the Doc/etc. It was an easy surgery once I had it done (at least from my perspective).

I am thankful that I had insurance.

Good Luck with yours..