This post is a detailed log of my 2nd (yes 2nd, f*** me) inguinal hernia surgery and recovery.
I wrote my first log here, hoping it might help others by providing detailed information on my first inguinal hernia surgery and recovery. I never thought I’d be referring to it myself to help me prepare for a second surgery for a brand new hernia on the opposite side just 18 months later.
I recommend skipping this post entirely if you don’t want to read details about my hernia diagnosis, surgery and recovery. I wouldn’t be interested unless I suspected I had an inguinal hernia and wanted to read about another man’s surgery and recovery. For those who found this via an Internet search, both of my hernia surgeries were open surgeries without mesh performed by a general surgeon who does 300-400 of these a year.
Here are earlier posts about my second hernia:
Whining About My Second Hernia
Day Minus 30 – Called for consult with surgeon. Earliest appointment I could is in two weeks with a surgery scheduled for 4 weeks.
Day Minus 15 – Tomorrow I see the surgeon.
I am 99% certain he is going to say: Yes, it’s an inguinal hernia Yes. I can fix it.
Then I have two questions for him:
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- Can you give me the same long acting pain shot you gave me last time?
- Should I expect this to be a similar recovery experience as my first hernia surgery last year?
I’m anticipating he’ll say yes to the first question and yes (or, most likely) to the second. That’s all I have to ask him. I don’t need any other details. I’ve already been through through before. Then I’ll go out to the front desk, get my estimate, arrange for payment and confirm my surgery date later this month.
Update post doctor visit : I was right. Surgery in 2 weeks.
Day Minus 7
I am losing my mind with Dreadticipation. All I can think about everyday is my upcoming surgery and how it is going to impact my daily life. The pain. The swelling. The inability to workout. The frustration. The lack of mental stimulation. The long slow recovery process followed by months of reconditioning.
I knew the wait would be like this which was why I volunteered to be a last minute cancellation fill-in for any earlier appointments. Unfortunately, my timing is bad. The surgeon is on vacation so the first available spot had a month long waiting period.
I have only slight pulling pain from the hernia. Maybe…just maybe…this surgery and recovery will be better because I’m repairing this hernia earlier than the first one. We shall see.
My workouts are going great – despite the mental anguish, obsession with pre-rehearsing my recovery and my lack of focus on the present.
Day Minus 3
Here are the thoughts that swirl through my head. “I won’t be able to swim for 2-6 weeks.” “This is the last set of pull-ups I’ll be doing for months” “I hope I don’t get fat.” “Did my workouts cause this? AM I going to set myself for yet another hernia surgery by continuing to workout?” “A million hernia surgeries happen each year in the US, of course it’s not just me” “Why me?” “I wish my wife was alive to take care of me” “I wish I was dead” “I wish I didn’t’t have a hernia” “WTF!” “Can I just stop eating altogether and drop 10 lbs now before surgery to head off the inevitable weight gain for lack of activity?”
Day Minus 1
There was a last minute cancellation. My surgery has been moved up from early afternoon to first thing in the morning. That’s fine with me. The sooner I get cut open, the sooner my recovery begins. Being the first surgery means a delay is less likely. Last time, I laid in the pre-op prep room for 4 hours because of an emergency surgery that took precedence. My goal is to get in, get unconscious, get repaired and GTFO and home asap. I should be home by lunch time if all goes well.
Then again, if it all goes to sh!t, I hope I die on the table and never wake up. That would be perfectly fine too.
Day 0 – Waiting in registration to be called back for pre-op
The next time I post, I’ll be on the other side of my second hernia surgery.
It is an understatement to say I’m not looking forward to this.
The surgery will be fine I’m sure. I’ll have a headache and will be anxious and frustrated in preop waiting to get started while listening to all the beeping and commotion of the preop ward.
Then they’ll wheel me back and I’ll wake up an hour later in recovery with a burning, punched in the gut feeling.
That’s when the suck begins.
Actually, the suck began months ago when I accepted that I have a second hernia on the opposite side of the one I had repaired 18 months ago.
Now I’m in a place where obsessively thinking about the hernia, surgery and the recovery process is driving me f***ing crazy.
At least after tomorrow, I can stop anticipating it because I’ll be in it. The sooner I get cut open, the sooner I can begin to recover.
It’s been 10 months since I suspected I had another hernia. 4 months since I knew for certain. 3 months since I’ve had to push it back in dozens of times a day or more. 1 month since I decided to have surgery ASAP. 2 weeks since the surgeon confirmed and scheduled the surgery.
Meanwhile, the Covid-19 delta variant has surged across the US and my state for the past 30 days giving me even more concern that my surgery would be Covid delayed. So far, that hasn’t happened. Fingers crossed I’ll get in and out of the surgery without incident.
Here we go.
I am so done with this that it might be my last surgery ever. I might rather be dead than go through this again.
Day 0 – Post Op
Fantastic experience (for an unwanted surgical procedure). Everything went better than my expectations.
Here are some details:
Check-in process and pre-op pitchy putchky was fine. Nurses did H&P, started IV in hand with saline, got shaved down, spoke to surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, CRNA student and was prepped and ready to go early.
Wheeled into OR. Was feeling a slight headache from caffeine withdrawal, dehydration & stress combo for the past hour. They must have started the meds enroute. I remember wanting to ask the attractive Nurse anesthetist for her phone number but couldn’t’t get the words out.
I don’t remember being moved from the gurney to the OR table. I could feel them pull my arms into a crucifix position and strap them down and thought, “I don’t remember this from last time”. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room.
Nurse did a quick post-op follow up, removed my IV and I was able to dress myself. I asked for an ice pack even thought I had very minimal pain and no burning. It was <1 but I know ice for swelling post op makes a huge difference. I asked for an got a can of Diet Coke which I drank entirely.
Surgeon stopped by and said the surgery was very much like the first one.
Slight headache and defiantly a little loopy from anesthesia. I felt chatty and quite loving towards everyone. 🙂
Friend picked me up outside. On the way home I grilled him about his work because he’s a work from home real estate developer. I was able to stay awake, alert and communicative. This was different than my first surgery when I was very groggy and had to concentrate to follow a conversation on the ride home.
Got home around noon. Pet the dogs. Shuffled around a bit. Ate lunch. Drank a ton of iced tea and popped some excedrin and 2 colace.
I pretty much felt great all day. I spoke to my mom on the phone for at least an hour. I was definitely high from the meds because I had enthusiasm and was a happy Chatty Cathy.
I laid on the couch with an ice pack for a few hours and crashed around 2 PM. I went to bed and slept soundly for a few hours.
Woke and popped one Advil and 2 more colace. Ate a massive dinner and watched Netflix for hours. Couldn’t fall asleep and then had a somewhat restless night although not from pain – just from laying around all day with minimal activity I think.
Changed ice packs a few times in the night. Again, very little stiffness or pain ~1. No pain meds needed all night.
Day 1 – Recovery
Woke and definitely felt stiffer than yesterday. My recurrent shoulder and elbow pain also is returning, as expected. Still, getting out of bed was relatively easy. Feel more swelling at surgery site and a bit of bloating like I needed to poop. Got dressed, popped 2 excedrin, fed the dogs and walked Wiggles for a short 5 minute loop (slowly). Slight headache all night but overall I feel pretty good ~2 for pain.
Did a modified mobility warm up this am. I’m probably at 50% mobility. Leg lifts, hip circles and knee lifts/circles were < 25%.
I am doing much better than the first surgery. Who knows, maybe I’l recover faster this time.
I am going to try walking around the block every few hours today just to get my circulation going and get me away from sitting around.
Day 2 – Recovery
Rough night last night. By early evening I was really feeling it – stiffness, ache, and tenderness where I was sliced open. Woke several times throughout the night and had to take Advil alternating with Tylenol. The long acting pain shot must be wearing off.
Felt better once I woke at 3AM, popped some excedrin and got moving. I walked Wiggles for a good 20-30 minutes walk and then did my mobility warm up exercises. I’m more mobile than I expected at this point although I can only get about a 20% range of motion with leg lifting & leg circles.
Swelling isn’t bad. Stiffness is worse. I felt some burning too. Pain 3-4 through night and now back down to 2-3.
Day 3 – Recovery
Better night. I think I may have had my “fall off the cliff night” on Day 2. Stiff when I get up from bed or lay back down. I am alternating Tylenol with Advil several times a day and icing the area several hours a day. I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut and kicked in the balls. Walking is pretty good. I was able to walk the dog for two 30 minute walk today with minimal discomfort plus 2-3 short 10 minutes walks. I have no oomph or energy. Played the drums, wrote and watched Netflix.
Day 4 – Recovery
Headache from 9PM- midnight disrupting sleep. I was very tired today and napped several times. 3 long dog walks which felt great. Energy is still off. I’m starting to get irritated by the staples and want them out now! Mobility is about 65%. Worst pain is when rolling over onto stomach.
I’m really sick of the internet, reading online and watching Netflix. I have reached my saturation point for screen time.
Day 5 – Recovery
Pain 1~2. Some swelling yesterday and today right around the suture site. Smaller than hernia was but still noticeable. It is also pinkish. I hope it is not infected. Unless it gets redder, hotter or more swollen, I’ll wait untilI see the doctor in 3 days to remove the staples before I get worried.
Some site swelling is predictable and normal. Not much lumpiness in pelvis. I also have yellow bruising in my pelvis. A dreadful looking purple bruise has migrated to my my wingwang. That is common and mentioned in the post-op instructions. I had this much worse on my first surgery. At least this time it is not painful.
My recovery has been significantly less painful than the first surgery. This must have been a smaller hernia and/or incision. I will ask the Doctor when I see him in a few days. Although it’s unrealistic to expect him to remember specifics from my first surgery he might have the relative sizes in my chart.
I feel like I want to start working out next week but I fear that will be too soon. Perhaps I can start swimming then. I will try if the surgeon clears me.
Day 6 – Recovery
I am surprised at how physically easy this recovery has been. My mobility workouts are already at 75%+. My pain level is ~1-2. I haven’t needed to take a Percocet at all (although I would have benefited from one on that Day1/Day2 night) which was my worst night.
I will only update this log when something significant occurs going forward. Staples are due to come out in 2 days. I’ll ask the doctor about accelerating my recovery workouts then too. I am hoping to start swimming and some calisthenics next week on Day 15 instead of waiting until Day 21.
Day 8 – Recovery
Staples came out today! Woohoo. My doc said that the hernia was identical to the first one. This surprised me because I feel as if the surgery and recovery has been 30-50% easier. He said that is what most patients who have bilateral hernias report. One side is always better than the other even if from a surgical perspective they are identical.
I can swim in a week. No diving, jumping or vigorous activity for 3 more weeks. So, I can swim, but will need to take it easy.
I plan to start easing back into modified floor workouts on day 21 and will likely delay my harder strength stuff until day 28.
It’s going to be rough because I feel really good. Holding back will be a challenge. Plus I put on 4 lbs last week eating a super strict carnivore diet with no cheating. I simply cannot burn enough energy even with 3 hours of walking a day.
Day 10ish – Getting Antsy
I revamped my website and published 43 new posts since I’ve been on restricted activity while I recover from my hernia surgery.
I’m now taking long walks with Wiggles 4 times a day and short walks with both dogs another 3-4 times. I really enjoy walking, but can’t wait to get back to the pool and my normal routine.
My Netflix experiment last 8 days before I ran out of anything I was remotely interested in watching. I cancelled but still have 22 days left in case I get so bored that I’m willing to watch drek.
Other than that, our summer heat wave finally broke. Temps fall into the high 50s at night and rise to the mid 80s most afternoons. It’s absolutely lovely.
I’m looking forward to fall, to swimming and to working out like a madman again soon.
Day 14 – First Day Working Out and Swimming
The past 6 days I’ve had daily steady improvements. I feel like I am healing about a week ahead of schedule vs my first surgery. I have a ridge under the scar line which feels like a pencil is sewn just under the skin. The area directly above and below the suture still protrudes a bit (not like the hernia though). It is a little mountain with the scar being the ridge line. In the past 6 days I’ve mowed the lawn cautiously and have walked aggressively for miles 4 times a day.
Today I worked out for the first time since surgery. I am a bt afraid of doing too much to soon so I was cautious in what I did.
Without getting into the full nitty gritty of my workouts here’s a brief summary of how it went:
- Pullups/Chinups – I limited myself to about 50% here by standing on a ladder and using my legs to assist. Felt fine, just frustrating because I was strong and floating through the air doing 110 of these just two weeks ago. But I have to start easy because I don’t want to tear my stitches.
- Parallette work – Almost everything I did at 50%-75%. Used my feet to assist. No full extension work. Tucked legs on most holds. Felt pretty good and even did handstands and shoulder stands.
- TacFit – Cut reps and intensity here. Regular squats have limited ROM because deep squats give me an ache along the breakfast smile line. It will take some time to work up to full squats again. All pushup work was on knees.
- Yoga – Mediocre. Anything that involved cobra stretches, upward dogs, or high back arching had to be limited. Very limited because these caused acute, searing burning pain which stopped as soon as I dropped down. It may be a while until I am healed enough to do these at full extension. Deep lunge stretches had to have shorter ROM.
- Swimming – Surprisingly fantastic. I was tentative expecting pain on extension. The only time I felt any pulling/stretch was on breathstroke so I took it slower there. It felt wonderful to get a good cardio blow out of my lungs.
Post workout I feel fine. The scar site is tender to the touch, but was before working out too. I feel a bit of a pulled muscle feeling in my left hip crease.
I took an Advil before swimming because my right shoulder is still injured. I iced my hernia post swimming just in cas to address any potential swelling but I didn’t notice any difference.
Day 19 – I feel good.
I am still doing modified workouts with lower intensity. However, instead of feeling mediocre, I am performing at a level I’ll call Good. Swimming is back to pre-surgery levels almost. I feel a slight pull at the suture site when I’m fully extended during swimming.
During my regular workouts, my range of motion has improved as has my strength with no noticeable bad side effects at the suture site.
My hernia site is still “ridged” and is tender to the touch. Less tender than last week but not 100% yet.
I ice it every afternoon after swimming just in case to reduce any swelling, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference.
I am going to try real pullups tomorrow.
Yesterday after walking the dogs I thought, “I’m sick of being in pain all the time.” My hernia site pain is about a level one. I t feels more like skin level surface pain – like I have a wound that is constantly getting rubbed by my waistband. That actually is happening, but the scar is not the least bit irritated. The pain is from the deeper, under the skin sutures.
Based on my first surgery, I suspect this will last for months. But, I also know that after 10 weeks, I was performing at full intensity. My recovery seems to be about a week faster this time. If that continues, I’ll be at 100% around the end of October.
Day 21 – Real Pullups!
Yesterday I did real pullups for the first time since before my surgery. I broke up some of my higher rep sets to keep strict form because I was purposely avoiding strain.
There was no pain at my hernia site from the pullups.
Today, the day after, my upper body feels creaky. My shoulders, elbows and wrists are a little achy. My upper back is a little stiff. But that’s a OK with me.
I’m at about 85% intensity and volume with my workouts. I am still modifying certain exercises to minimize ab strain but if I keep progressing like this, I should be at 100% in another week or two.
The only real pain I feel is when I do Upward Dog type stretches. Then the incision burns and if I go too far, I get a lightening bolt of pain. I only went too far once – on the first day. Since then, I have very cautiously increased my range of motion each day, stopping at the first indication of pain.
Day 26 – 90% Recovered.
I can now do 90% of what I did pre-surgery. I don’t lift weights anymore so all of my exercised are limited to bodyweight. If I still did deadlifts and snatches and kettlebells, I would probably be going very light. In fact, I am still cautious about lifting anything over 20 lbs and I avoid straining.
I have almost no deep pain. When I touch the scar site, it is tender, but getting less so everyday. It feels like skin/surface pain more than deep pain.
This surgery and recovery has surpassed my expectations. I had girded myself for more pain and a slower, longer recovery based on the hernia repair I had on the other side last year.
It’s really a pleasure to be wrong in my predication this time.