hiatal hernia?

For those of yall who had one, did you have any symptoms? What were they? I go for my preop GI on the 17th. Nervous about having the hernia. I'm only 27, with bmi of about 32.5. Just curious if anyone had symptoms that they noticed, or if finding out you had the hernia was a surprise.

We thought my husband probably had one back in 2012 when he had his surgery. His surgeon didn't do any preop tests for hernias, just waited to see if he had one once the surgery started. He didn't have one.

I'm nervous that if I DO have one, the repair of that will make my recovery tougher.

I had one but the surgeon didn't see it during the pre-op scope. He found it during the actual surgery and repaired it. He said I might have some extra soreness in my back while healing, but I never felt a thing!!!!!! It was a surprise to me that I had one. Good luck. Don't worry. I think they are fairly common in obese people. You don't sound heavy enough to qualify for surgery with a BMI of 32? I wouldn't worry about a hernia.

Thanks. I don't qualify with insurance so I am self pay. I am 5'10, 235lbs. I have struggled with my weight since puberty, and im hypothyroid. Ive been teased, ashamed, put down and tired as long as I can remember. I hate what I see in the mirror, and i hate how I feel. I can lose 10 lbs by starving myself, and then gain it all back and then some. I want to have this surgery now, before I develop major health issues. Before I gain any more weight. Before I have an unhealthy pregnancy. Before I pass bad habits on to my kids. 

The biggest issue I'm actually facing is people at the seminars and in my life saying I'm not "big enough" to have surgery. Well, I know that after 10+ yrs of diets and failed attempts, I cannot do this on my own. My husband had this surgery in 2012 and it changed our lives. Now it's my turn to feel confident and in control of my own body.

but I really hope I don't have a hernia lol

I am 5'11" and have struggled with my weight my whole life so I totally get where you are coming from. Being tall you stand out as 'Big' so unless you are super model thin you are big, especially when you are in Junior high and high school and your friends weigh like 105. I remember being 5'9" and 185lbs in Jr. high and feeling just as huge as when I weighed 300. You have the support of your husband and it is your decision. Losing maybe 75lbs is no small amount and with having the surgery you have a better chance of keeping it off. Get off the weight loss/gain roller coaster .. the sooner the better. I friend of mine just had the sleeve with a 37 BMI but she did have sleep apnea and beginnings of diabetes. She took a lot of flack ... her husband was behind her and that was what is important. Good Luck

Thank you! Yes, being tall adds even more to the being "big" issue. (I'm really closer to 5'11" than 5'10" but i refuse ro admit it lol) Women are "suppost" to be feminine and dainty. At my height and weight I feel anything but.

Buying clothes is nearly impossible between needing "talls" and "plus size" (I'm about a size 20)

Luckily my husband is 6'4", but I admit I felt so much smaller and prettier next to him when he was 400lbs. (He is now about 250 post VSG) he is amazing and his personality hasn't changed at all, and he still constantly tells me how beautiful I am. I got one of the good ones :) 

But I want to feel comfortable in my OWN skin. And I know my husband will love me whether I'm 235lbs or 165lb (my sort of goal weight. We will see)

Anyway, just good to hear from another tall woman!

I had a hiatal hernia that was repaired during surgery. I didn't know I had one till I was scoped, it was one of the tests I had to do b4 surgery. I always had a finicky stomach since I was a kid, so I was surprised about the hernia & that I had gerd & esophagitis! I thought my stomach was just acting up more than usual, not to mention that I didn't have the classic symptoms associated with gerd like feeling heartburn, or having acid come up & getting that burning feeling. My case was very, very mild & it probably would've gotten worse as time went by. I took a ppi like a month b4 surgery & for a couple of months after. My recovery not too bad, was back at work in a couple of weeks. No problems so far.

What is esophagitis?

Inflammation of the esophagus. I guess when he looked, he saw the inflammation, but I hadn't noticed, it was very mild. I was lucky it was caught early b4 more problems developed.

My doc did an endoscopy before the surgery and found a "pretty big hiatal hernia" (his words). So in addition to the band-to-sleeve revision, he also repaired the hernia. I have not noticed any additional discomfort from the hernia repair 5 days post-op. I also had no symptoms of it pre-op.

psychoticparrot

The only symptoms I had was severe acid reflux. That's one of the main reasons why my surgeon believed I had one.