Laparoscopic inguinal hernia surgery.

Got a letter from the consultant yesterday which was a copy of his letter to my doctor in which he related all the risks of the op as told to me. It involved bleeding, blood clots, pain etc etc etc. I could however keep it monitored as only a small percentage of people have strangulated hernias.
I have made up my mind I will be saying I want the op. I am Nearly eighty and would sooner get it over with. It’s your replies that decided me. So thank you. Don’t know when I will have it but will get back to you kind folk.

Lovetopaint037

Thank you Blinko that is a real help. Also thank you Fennel sorry to hear about your painful time but feel so much better about the keyhole surgery.

Let us know how it goes.

Thank you Blinko that is a real help. Also thank you Fennel sorry to hear about your painful time but feel so much better about the keyhole surgery.

When I said it was getting worse - after every meal the lumps became hard as my body tried to process the food. Became painful until at last I could push the lumps back into their slot.
It got so that I hardly dare eat.
As Blinko says, no problems with the keyhole surgery.
One of mine was a recurrence of a repair I had done almost 50 years before with the other method.

Is it the keyhole aspect that worries you? I've had keyhole gall bladder removal with no ill effects, if that's any reassurance. In hospital for one night then home the following day. No problems at all.

When I saidI would be asking for it I meant I would be asking for the operation and not the keyhole surgery as it was that I wasn’t sure about. However that is the only type of hernia op they are doing.

Thank you Fennel. Was it keyhole surgery? I will be asking for it when the consultant rings me in April. He suggested he would ring me and for me to make a decision then. He said at the beginning that my hernia could stay the same if left alone but from your experience I can see that is not always the case.
Thank you again.

I had this operation 2 years ago - 2 hernias on the left and one on the right. In and out in one day, and yes it was a general anaesthetic. What a relief!
I was a bit worried beacause I believe these mesh repairs don't work so well for gynae. repairs, but they have a greater weight to support.
Definitely go for it if you're offered the chance - I had to wait ages for mine, the problem getting worse and worse.

Thank you so much everyone to take the trouble to answer. You have reassured me. B9exchange you were really up against it and so sorry you and your dd had all that. My goodness your dh was able to take a brisk walk after a general anaesthetic, no wonder he was feint! silverlining48 so pleased to hear your dh was also done at Benenden and was okay.NotAGran you are a heroine. That having only just got over an appendectomy! The size of the mesh and the screws that sounds horrendous. I was deliberating and put off by reading the internet and the consultant saying it was possible to leave hernias for years (1 will be 80 in July) but I am concerned that I will need my 16 year old hip renewed in a year or two (same side) and my father was at deaths door after having a hip replacement which caused a hernia to become strangulated. The reason he couldn’t eat, pass a motion and was breathless wasn’t considered relevant when we questioned the ward. He was sent home and a week later he was in intensive care and they were fighting for his life. This is my main consideration in wanting to get my hernia repaired in order for it to be well healed before my wonderful hip starts to complain and needs to be replaced. Thank you again.

I had a keyhole hernia repair 10 years ago , 6 months after an appendectomy.

I have a mesh repair in my right side that measures 10cm x 20cm held in place by 42 screws.

The pain was unbearable for the first 48 hours and impossible to stand up straight . Unable to walk out of the hospital , wheeled out . Threw up in the car on the way home.

Tramadol for 2 weeks and then fine and back to work.

No problems ever since .

My dh had that done also at benenden some years ago. He was fine and recovered well.

DH had it done 9 years ago, very straightforward, he would have been home the same day if he hadn't taken a brisk walk down the corridor immediately afterwards, against all recommendations, and came over a bit faint. I didn't want him home as DD had just given birth with her (now ex) husband walking out on her halfway through the labour, so my priorities were elsewhere, and I persuaded them to keep him in overnight!