I am having an open hernia repair!! YIKES

[bcsimpsons]

So as the title of the post says, I am having an open hernia repair of an incisional hernia. I have had it almost my whole life but lately it has become much more problematic so they want to repair it before it becomes an emergency. My question is this, how much is having an open abdominal surgery going to affect my transfer ability, sitting ability, breathing ability.

I asked the surgeon all of these questions and of course he gave me the answers for the ab patient. I am assuming they may be a little different for me. Any answers/insights/etc would be most helpful!! The repair is scheduled for the 8th of August. I will be in the hospital for another 3-4 days following depending on how things go.

Thanks so much,
Becky

[lynnifer]

If it's anything like a hysto, I'm doing 3-4 weeks of short term rehab hospital stay afterwards so I won't have to lift myself or anything .. not sure if it's comparable Becky. You can't catch a break!

[bcsimpsons]

oh sheesh, I"m not sure if it is... maybe I'll call the surgeon and see if he thinks that would be a good idea.... They are opening up my old incisions so I"m thinking it will be easier to rip out staples or put to much stress on it doing transfers, which is why I asked. He did mention lifting restrictions and I am definitely more then the restriction. I am crossing my fingers that this is it FOR A GOOD LONG TIME!!!!

Becky

[ekephart]

They are going to be a bit different for you. You use your abdominal muscles to transfer so I expect that will be the biggest challenge. I like the idea of a short term rehab stay post surgery to make sure you are able to do for yourself what you need to before you go home.

If you do not need a binder for breathing support now, your breathing should be OK. Sitting should also be OK once you get into your chair.

Something you may not have thought about though is pressure relief. How do you do weight shifts now? That is probably going to be an issue because you will have stitches that you need to keep intact until it is time for them to be removed.

Any abdominal surgery is going to impact anyone. Any surgery is going to impact you more than an AB person. I agree that it is best addressed before it is an emergency. You have the ability now to make plans for your recovery and even though it will not go as planned (what does), you will be better prepared for the unexpected.--eak

[bcsimpsons]

Eak- oh yea I didn't think about pressure relief, I mean I did but I was lumping that into transfers :). I currently do the shifting side to side method. Ok, definitely going to be calling the surgeon on Monday and talk with him about these options. Thanks guys!!

Becky

[ekephart]

The surgeon has probably never done this procedure on someone with SCI that has to worry about weight shifts. He or she probably knows less that you do about how this surgery is going to impact you. Surgeons tend to only concern themselves with their procedure and averages. You are anything but average (and that is not a bad thing).

The weight restriction worries me. I really think you need to look into short term rehab if that is at all possible. It does not need to be a SCI facility (though that is always best) but somewhere that has a clue about what your needs are and the assistance you will need in the short term. They may also have a power chair with tilt that you can use short term to do weight shifts without compromising your healing. Remember, you probably will take longer to heal that pre-injury. Expect this and you will not be worried that you are not healing according to the surgeon's schedule.--eak

[bcsimpsons]

Would my SCI doc be a better person to ask all of these questions to?? I"m going to start looking into rehab places now! Thanks again!!

Becky

[ekephart]

Becky, if you are lucky enough to have access to an SCI doctor, certainly take your questions there. I wish we had someone local that knew SCI. We are lucky in that our PCP has been willing to research SCI issues and how Ryan's injury impacts his whole body health. Most doctors expect you to fit in a box that they call average. Who wants to be average?--eak

[bcsimpsons]

I am very lucky that I do have a physiatrist who specializes in SCI! One of the only perks about living where I do. I am not a fan of being average. I just wish I was a little more toward the average side of the spectrum :). Thanks again for the advise!!

Becky

[SCI-Nurse]

Hi,
Wish you the best and keep us posted.

AAD

[thehipcrip]

You've already received great advice here, Becks -- I'm 100 percent behind the short-term rehab stay. Your physiatrist should be able to answer all your questions and point you to facilities. He might even know some people who've used the facility before who can give you the patient-side review of the place.

When are you having the surgery? And how are you doing and feeling pneumonia-wise?

[bcsimpsons]

HC- I got great advice and will be discussing all of this with my physiatrist on Wednesday. The surgery is going to be on August 8th. I am having it done so many weeks away because I started summer courses and it would be impossible to complete them the way I want to if I had the surgery earlier.

As far as the pneumonia goes, I am still coughing a whole lot. The fevers are gone :). Also, the newest thing is that when I blow my nose, it is coming out almost the consistency of milk.... white and bubbly. Very odd looking. I am starting to feel a little better though!!!

Becky

[willowlady]

hi, i live in south wales uk. i have read about your hernia problems and that you have had surgery. how did you get on?
my daughter is in hospitol at the moment and her surgery is on june 8th. she has been in so much pain for 3 years. hospitols have told her it could be irritable bowel, appendics the list goes on and so have the tests. thank god last year she plucked up the courage to ask for a second opinion, and as soon as the surgeon saw her and the way she had her leg positioned he knew it was her mesh causing the problem.he has told her that he will do his best for her but may not totally stop the problem depending on how the mesh has effected the nerves.i hope your surgery was a success,please could you let me know how you got on

[david varner]

I was a general surgeon for over 20 years before I became a quad. Here are some of my ideas:
Surgery itself will probably go very smoothly and most well-trained general surgeons will have a good working knowledge of the impact of this surgery on your body and will also have some good post operative advice.. They will probably put a little piece of mesh inside to strengthen the abdominal wall.
I think an abdominal binder would be helpful to take off any pressure off that wound site while your are recovering. This may be useful for probably six months.
I don't know if you are a para or a quad, but you probably have such laxity of the abdominal muscles you're not going to put a lot of pressure on this wound site other than the weight of the abdominal contents. Again, this is where a binder May help.
Depending on how big you are, how big the hernia is, your abilities, your assistance at home, and the immediate postop course, you may not need any rehab hospital stay.
The surgery should not impact your weight shift regimen.
*I hope this helps, and good luck.

[bcsimpsons]

I was a general surgeon for over 20 years before I became a quad. Here are some of my ideas:
Surgery itself will probably go very smoothly and most well-trained general surgeons will have a good working knowledge of the impact of this surgery on your body and will also have some good post operative advice.. They will probably put a little piece of mesh inside to strengthen the abdominal wall.
I think an abdominal binder would be helpful to take off any pressure off that wound site while your are recovering. This may be useful for probably six months.
I don't know if you are a para or a quad, but you probably have such laxity of the abdominal muscles you're not going to put a lot of pressure on this wound site other than the weight of the abdominal contents. Again, this is where a binder May help.
Depending on how big you are, how big the hernia is, your abilities, your assistance at home, and the immediate postop course, you may not need any rehab hospital stay.
The surgery should not impact your weight shift regimen.
*I hope this helps, and good luck.

David- Thanks for the input. I am a T11-12 para for a little over 8 years. I had the initial hernia repair in August of last year. The hernia is actually the result of a previous abdominal surgery that I had when I was younger. The hernia was right under my ribs on the right side. I ended up needing to have a revision of the original repair done in April of this year because the mesh that was implanted decided to attach to my intestines.

I am not that large of an individual, 5 foot 2, on a good day :) and weigh between 130 and 135 depending on where I get weighed. Don't worry, I don't mind telling my weight :). I am now almost 10 weeks post the second surgery and I am still having issues. Going to be seeing the surgeon on Thursday actually to discuss all of this with him.

Becky