I now have a hernia - should I be worried?

When Dr Jackson came to see me after my Sleeve, he advised me that I have a hernia on my belly button.  He didn't say that I had to have surgery on it or do anything at this point so I'm thinking that it must not be too serious.  Did any of you find out that you had a hernia? If so, what (if anything) did you do about it? I'm assuming that it might be similar to my gallstones and not cause any problems at all for me.  I'd appreciate it if you have any experience with hernias & could share with me. Thanks, everyone!

Deb

 Did they tell you how big it was? I had one the size of a donut above my belly button.  Had it repaired about 6 years before my rny, then because I had lost so much, my plastic surgeon fixed it again as it had weakened.   No worry, you can have it repaired later, and a much better recovery. 

Bonnie

Thanks Bonnie & Jenn! He never mentioned how big it was but, as I say, he didn't seem too concerned about it.  I'll just ignore it unless it causes a problem.

Deb

 Mine was huge.. we had just purchased this place and were putting in fence posts for the horse fence.   I would have to lay on the ground and push things back through the hole, pressure of whatever it was hurt alot.   It wasn't fun, and I was so scared to get it fixed as they told me they would have to open me right up.  I had two sections, belly button down, so being opened up was not on my list of priorities.    Later when my gallbladder decided to kick the bucket and I carried on with it for 7 months, surgeon said 'oh, we'll fix the hernia at the same time'.   Turned out all lap done, no issues.   Funny, two years ago I have 5ft of incisions after plastics and the thought about being cut open never bothered me one bit.  Recovering at a lower weight certainly helped. 

Bonnie

Wow, Bonnie - that sounds like it was a pretty nasty situation. Guess it just goes to show that there are so many side benefits to having WLS, huh? Glad you were able to finally get it taken care of!

Deb

I also have an umbilical hernia, I didn't even know until I went for my surgeon's appt and the doctor saw it then. Dr. Gmora looked at it when he did my surgery but didn't fix it because it would need more than a stitch or 2. He said it is better to have it fixed after weight loss anyway. I have not had any problems with it, I haven't thought of it in ages until I read your post. Likely at some point down the road I'll get it fixed but it's not causing me any problems right now.

I've had my umbilical hernia fixed 3 times. Once before RNY, again at the time of my RNY (I didn't even know it had reoccured) and again with my tummy tuck. It is only really a problem if something pops out and you can't pu**** back in. That is a medical emergency. Otherwise lots of people have hernias that never really bother them at all.

Linda

Thanks Linda - I'm getting a real education on hernias - lol!

Deb

I knew I had an umbillical one but it never really bothered me until after surgery.  The gas probably gave it an extra push.  Now it sticks out worse and is somewhat painful.  The surgeon had to fix a hiatal hernia before he could do my RNY.  He said to wait until I get plastics to fix the umbilical one.

Deb they just discovered I have one just above my bellybutton. I had a CT scan done and it was detected on the scan. Apparently its filled with fat and isn't an issue. I was told not to worry about it (easier said than done).

ETA: its about the size of a dime.