Just got home.
Surgery was at 9:30 am. It was under a 1hr procedure. The remaining time was spent in surgery recovery room.
Immediately after waking up I thought "that wasn't so bad."
But then they had me sit upright.
They had me switch from my bed to a wheelchair. And helped me get dressed. Wow this is when all the pain set it and I realized how limited my range of motion now is.
They then gave me a percocet at the surgery center. I took that with the glass of water they wanted me to drink, And a couple crackers.
After taking the meds I got a big hot flash, started sweating and was on the verge of vomiting. This is because I haven't taken pain meds in so long my tolerance was super low.
So I asked for a wet cold rag.
Placed wet rag on head, neck & face. To help drop temp of the hot flash. Which in turn removed the intense nausea. (There is no way in hell I'm gonna let my self throw up right after surgery to my lower abdominal area)
Since getting home I now take only 1/2 a pill. This is to slowdown tolerance build up so these meds remain effective throughout the entire recovery. As well as reducing the chances of me getting nauseous.
I am now bed ridden for a couple days. Seems lying on my back or sitting straight up are my only (reasonably comfortable) positions.
My nuts hurt, my dick hurts, my stomach hurts, back hurts. Walking
And all this agony makes my brain hurt :hungover:.
Here is the educational surgery video on right side inguinal hernia laparoscopically repaired. Just remember if you watch it (if you can handle it) that I had both sides done.
My my initial hernia was small. But after I had acquired the hernia. I ended up catching a cold from my wife. And all the hacking and sneezing and blowing my nose. Made the hernia much larger. The surgeon was telling me that it was a big one, compared to when I went in for the consult.
So there ya have it. These things can tear and become large even after a week or 2 of almost doing nothing. Can't imagine what a person staying active with their hernias would look like after long periods of time have passed (this means fix your shit sooner rather than later
@thunderfudge, we care about you here on the farm )
I'm glad I rushed to get it fixed before it potentially got any worse.
But now I'm in large amounts of pain for days :nailbiting:. The percocet takes the edge off, but does not mask it all.
I can't wait for a couple weeks to pass.
That way I can look back on this whole experience and be glad it's over.
Right now its the tough stuff making me wish it was over. Like going pee
or poop. I'm hoping if my diet is liquids enough. That I can hold off on pooping for the first day or 2. Gotta let my sutures, stitches, tacks have a bit of healing before I attempt to stress them. I haven't eaten since 8 last night. That way I could empty my intestines before surgery. I knew it would be painful if I hadn't. It bought me at least 1-3 days of pooping-pain-freedom.
I'm gonna stick to protein shakes, soups, smoothies for the first week or so. Then move onto more solid items after things get back in working order.
The surgery itself is over and I have survived which is a huge psychological relief.
But now I'm onto the hardest part of it all which is the recovery portion.
They estimate back to work in 6-8 weeks. That far along the healing process should put the mesh close to it's rated load supporting capacity.
This recovery length is to allow the site to heal: stitches, sutures, allowing new tissue to form over the new mesh creating a new wall.
Once fully established it is rated for %100 the amount of force your lower abdominal area would see from day to day activities (jumping, coughing, etc). But I think full heal is between 1-3 years. 6-8 weeks puts my abdominal wall around %80 it's load capacity.