> The only difference
>this time is that the pain is daily but it comes both out of the blue and
>when she lifts anything, i'm wondering if it could be a hernia, she has a
>slight bulge in the area of pain. I would love any insight that would help
>my daughter, thanks, cathy
Cathy,
I am not a terribly great help, but some things to consider. First, the bulge could be a hernia, or it could also be scar tissue from the surgery if it is at or right by the incision site. Scar tissue will be hard and it will not be painful to push on it. A hernia will be softer and may or may not be painful to push on. You will know for certain if it is a hernia if it is "reducible," meaning it can be pushed back in, making the lump go away. But some hernias are also not reducible, so it can be hard to tell.
I have experienced the same pain - it would make me curl up in a ball due to a pulling, very sharp pain. Unfortunately, I had this both with a hernia before I had every had abdominal surgery, and after umbilical hernia surgery. I suspect in my case that the hernia surgery resulted in adhesions which prevented the pain from resolving completely (although it is somewhat less frequent now, many years later.)
One thing you may want to try with your daughter is a *smooth muscle* relaxing drug like Levsinex. This is different from the usual "muscle relaxer" and it is prescribed for people with irritable bowel syndrome. So you may need to go to the doctor and suggest that your daughter has irritable bowel syndrome even if you think it is something else. However, if there is frequent diarrhea, it does seem like something to explore further.
Best wishes for your daughter, Bob