>I am 64 years old and have always been a healthy and vigorous person. In
>February of this year I underwent a complete abdominal hysterectomy
>because of a very large, benign ovarian cyst that I never even knew was
>there. I felt really good about 2 weeks following surgery and returned
>to my normal routine despite all advice that at least 4-6 weeks of light
>activity was required to recuperate. I strained myself and wound up
>with a rather large incisional hernia which began to show itself on my
>lower left abdomen about 6 weeks after surgery. I was referred to a
>surgeon who specializes in hernia repairs, both open and laparoscopic.
>The herniation was in the lower part of the incision, almost to the
>pubic bone. Surgery was performed on July 18th.....he tried the
>laparoscopic way first, but there were too many adhesions from the
>hysterectomy and the hernia itself, so he had to open the prior incision
>to make the repair. When he came to see me in the recovery room, he
>told me it was an "excellent repair" and that I had wonderful tissue to
>work with.
>
>Unfortunately, an ileus (intestinal paralysis) developed the day after
>surgery while I was still in the hospital which caused me to violently
>wretch and throw up continuously. A nasogastric tube was inserted to
>relieve this condition and after 4 days the ileus resolved and the tube
>was removed. I spent 8 days in the hospital. My doctor checked me
>daily and I could see that he was not happy when he checked my abdomen.
>He sent me for a CT scan which revealed that the repair had failed, most
>likely due to the violent heaving I experienced. He said it only takes
>"one stitch" to unravel the whole thing. In addition to this failure, I
>also wound up with an enormous hematoma at the site of the laparoscopic
>incision. It is still oozing heavily and I have to change the dressing
>twice daily. A repeat hernia repair will have to be performed, but my
>doctor says this can't be done for a few months as everything inside
>must settle down. Now, I've started to experience terrible pain, not
>just from the hernia and the hematoma, but if I cough, sneeze or laugh
>hard I get this excruciating pain across my mid-section (at the level of
>my belly button). If I don't wear the abdominal binder, I can't walk
>for more than a couple of minutes without pain. I notice that when I
>place my hand under my hernia (size of a cantaloupe) and lift up my
>entire belly, the pain goes away somewhat.
>
>It seems that everything that can go wrong with a hernia repair did go
>wrong. Now I'm wondering about this terrible mid-section pain....could
>this be adhesions, especially since my intestines are now bulging out
>again? I am seeing the surgeon on Thursday (he sees me every 2 weeks)
>and I will, of course, consult him about this pain, but I'm wondering if
>anyone else has had a similar experience. Thanks.
>
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>