So I am FINALLY getting this fixed, after a bunch of scans and tests to ascertain if my cirrhotic liver can handle the general anesthesia. I NEED this done. My hernia is now so big my once deep “innie” belly button is now a red, angry protruding silver dollar size. When I place my fingers around it, I can feel a “hardness” that’s close to the size of a softball, so they’ll be stuffing a big amount of my intestine back through the hole in my abdominal muscle.
And my back is KILLING me because I have had to alter my posture in such a way that I am pushing outward with my abdominal muscle to accomodate the increased girth. I look pregnant. It’s disgusting. I also have to push in against my belly button when I get up from a laying or seated position, or when I cough or sneeze. I have had several instances where I feel a “pop” where it feels like my intestine just pushed out a little further. This sucks.
Yet…I’m a little nervous. I hope I wake up. I don’t want to die. I am told that due to my liver’s difficulty in dispensing with anasthesia that I may be kept overnight for observation for an outpatient procedure, which I don’t want. That means my parents will spend the night here in my bed, which is a big inconvenience for them, they’re 74 and 76 years old.
Good luck. Mr.Wrekker is looking at having to have that done. He had gall bladder removed last summer and they think that’s why he herniated. Let us know how it goes.
Thank you. Also, my enlarged belly button is pretty hot compared to the rest of my body. Is that normal? I even asked the doctor if my intestines could actually spring forth through my belly button and he said no, due to the skin.
Oddly, the same surgeon did my appendectomy in 2008, and the laparoscopic procedure had them taking my appendix out through the umbilical canal, and I’ve had an “outie” belly button ever since. But this is insanely big, and a little scary.
Yes the gall bladder surgery my husband had was thru the belly button and 3 other holes they poked. I think it’s pretty common for laparoscopic surgeries to cause hernias. They need to quit poking through the belly button. It won’t burst through the skin, but it can strangulate and perhaps make you real sick. He’s wearing a girdle thing now because he has a shoulder thing they want to sort out first. When things start falling apart it just piles on, man.
IIRC, FGIE has kids, so I interpreted that as meaning his parents will be filling in as childminders for the night, staying at his house. Might be wrong.
I hope it all goes well!
My husband has one of these, and he does have an overlarge belly due to alcoholism. However, he refuses to see a doctor, and I’m afraid that it’s all going to go south on him at any time.
Umbilical hernia surgery isn’t that big a deal nowadays, is it?
It’s easy if it is not strangulated.
Just a large abdomen doesn’t mean it’s a hernia.
With alcoholism the liver can have issues and be painful, and may-be swell. One of the doctors here could answer that.
Well…no surgery today. My distended abdomen showed the return of ascites, so now I need to get that drained, plus consult with liver surgeons at UC Hospital to see how we do this going forward. I’m actually pretty disappointed.
Yeah. The thing is that while I have fluid present in my abdomen, my surgeon doesn’t want to operate because it will continually flood through the fresh sutures, likely causing infection, along with me needing a bag of some kind to collect it.
He’s even worried about performing the hernia surgery immediately after a periconteses, (sp?) because he said if my liver isn’t happy, then it will still cause some fluid to be present in the abdominal cavity, threatening the healing process of the incisions.
Hence, I am being told I have to visit with some liver surgeon specialists out of the University of Cincinnati hospital for a consultation, which is weird because my GI doc wanted them to perform the hernia surgery to begin with and they refused because they don’t accept my Indiana Medicaid, so I don’t know how this is all supposed to work.
Meanwhile, I weighed in at 233lbs, when I should be about 180lbs, and my abdomen is distended and causing me severe back pain because of all the fluid pressure. Getting it drained will at least provide some relief from that. But I look and feel like I swallowed an inflated basketball. I cannot sleep on my belly, and I can barely sleep on my side or my back. Back pain is limiting me to about five hours a night and I am foggy all day as a result.