Well, I guess you all are stuck with me. 2 days out from surgery.

[underpants]

Hernia surgery on Groundhog Day.
The most pain I’ve had is after surgery not from the hernia.

All in all it was a good experience. We noticed the lump on the 13th, contacted my PCP on Saturday the 15th (VCU Health portal), consult evaluation with the surgeon on the 25th, choice of surgery dates 31st Feb 2 or Feb 9. I chose the second so I could wrap up stuff at work and get Short term disability going - no distinct answer yet but I took a week off anyway.

To give some insight into how a major hospital system works this is the board. It flipped over three times so about 60 surgeries that day. The guy who shaved me told me this was a slow day. They usually do 80-90 each day.

Don’t worry about HIPAA these are assigned numbers I’d guess due to HIPAA.



When I finally (2hours) got back to the prep room I told my wife “I’m good. Go get some lunch”. While she was at the Panera’s she saw and heard two parents meeting. One parent had to tell the other that their kid had committed suicide. My wife told me about it on the way home. Crushing.

The Doc, another department head Doc, gas guy, resident, and head RN all came in to introduce themselves and made sure they had my wife’s phone number and reassure us. Top notch.

18 days from finding it to going under the knife. Not bad.

[malaise]

1. Heal quickly

[Solly Mack]

2. Rest! Relax! Heal! Stay funny!

[Baitball Blogger]

3. Hernia surgery on Ground Hog day!

You dodged two bullets! Glad it went well.

[underpants]

6. We joked if THIS was my Groundhog Day...this would suck

[Retired Engineer Bob]

33. May you have a speedy and complete recovery

Yeah, going through daily surgery would suck. Perhaps next year you and your wife should take a tropical vacation on Groundhog Day, you know, just in case.

[BeckyDem]

4. Feel better and best wishes for a full recovery.

[Emile]

5. Snowed in anyways. Hopefully you're going to

heal fast.

[Emile]

24. Well I take that back. The farmer down the road

with his big John Deere tractor just plowed my long driveway. Now I can get my little John Deere with its bucket loader and get it even better. 15 inches with deep drifts would have taken all day with my little tractor.

[Diamond_Dog]

7. Thanks for sharing your experience underpants!

Hope you feel better soon and heal fast!

They had a board up on the wall like the one in your photo when my husband had his throat scoped. Sitting in the huge waiting room and watching the board made me feel like I was in an airport. There was even a coffee shop there and if you were accompanying a patient they gave you a free coffee and pastry. This was 2 months ago.

[FakeNoose]

8. Glad to hear you got through it OK

[underpants]

9. 😆

😁

[babylonsister]

10. Did your hernia hurt?

I've been carrying one around since last March; it developed after a hysterectomy. I was told it was elective surgery, it doesn't hurt, so I elected to stay away from any chance of catching the rona.

The bulge does nothing for my limited fashion sense though. I need to get on it.

Glad you're doing so well!

[LoisB]

11. Hope you heal 100% very quickly.

[Karadeniz]

12. Good news!!! Thanks for the update!!!

[csziggy]

13. Great news! I'm happy you will be around for a long time to come.

"18 days from finding it to going under the knife."

Wow! I was diagnosed with a hernia in June last year. But I had to get cleared by my cardiologist (having a pig aortic valve makes them a little cautious) and that took until nearly the end of August. Then Covid stopped all in patient surgeries. (Because of my history of vasovagal syncopes they wanted me in the hospital overnight.) So my surgery didn't happen until mid November.

Most painful surgery recovery I've had - and I've had a lot of surgeries. I spent the first several weeks in the lift recliner I got from my mother's house. It made it so much easier to stand without stressing the stitches.

Take care of yourself so you can be here forever!

[gab13by13]

14. I had a double hernia operation last year,

2 weeks after my surgery I had my visit with the surgeon. We talked high school and college wrestling, then he looked at my tiny incisions and said get out of here. My discharge instructions said not to lift anything over 20 pounds so I decided to head to the golf course where my 89 year old buddy would be getting ready to tee off. I later told my surgeon that my golf clubs weren't 20 pounds, he just shook his head.

I did move up to the senior tees for just 1 week to enable me to swing easier.

[spanone]

15. ...K&R...

[Tommy Carcetti]

16. Just want to wish you good luck. We're all counting on you.

[Sucha NastyWoman]

17. My husband has a hernia

Called the doc back in October and couldnt get an appt until later this month.

[niyad]

18. Sending vibes for a speedy and complete recovery. We are not stuck with you. You do not

have, nor will you be given, permission to leave.

Seriously, glad it went well. Take care of yourself.

[panader0]

19. I had one last year. 40 years of laying block and brick didn't cause it.

It happened a few years after I retired, I guess from exercising to try and stay in shape.
The first time I had ever been knocked out (fentanyl). It was easy, quick, and the only
thing afterwards was abdominal swelling. I wore sweat pants for a while, then when I went
back to bluejeans, I found they no longer fit. So I bought some with a bigger waist and guess
what? I gradually gained a bit of weight and still wear the larger size.
I blame it on the hernia and not my diet. (kidding). I went from 195 to 205 and can't seem
to lose it. I used to have a six pack belly, now it's an eighteen pack.

[mountain grammy]

20. Glad you're on the mend.. stay well.

[gademocrat7]

21. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Take care.

[Nevilledog]

22. Well crap.

I didn't think you were coming back, so I moved into your cubicle. Took down all your boy band posters, dumped the dead plants.

I'll be out by noon.


Do I have to give the dog back?




Glad you're feeling better!

[underpants]

36. I will hunt that ficus plant DOWN!!

Very funny. ❤️ nevilledog

[gratuitous]

40. Yeah, well I wasted $6.50 on a voodoo doll

Come to think of it, that Creole woman looked an awful lot like M.T. Greene.

[calimary]

61. ROFL!

Glad for the good news, underpants!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

42. LOL

[Sympthsical]

23. Who tells a parent that at a Panera?

I imagine they're exes, but I'm not sure "Pick Two" is the best setting for that conversation.

It's always interesting to watch co-parents in public. I saw one couple at a Starbucks. Both had ipads out with extensive calendars about their child's school, activities, and plans. My schedule doesn't look like that, and I work and go to school full time. Kid was going to grow up to be either president or a Bond villain.

Still, a Panera for that news. I'd never be able to eat soup again. Poor parents.

Glad your surgery went well, though.

[lark]

25. Hope you heal fast & get back in the swing of things quickly.

Not all hospitals are so compliant, when I had an EGD last year the board had our last names, not numbers.

[pandr32]

26. Wishing you a speedy recovery

Home is much better than the hospital. Rest up and stay in touch with us!

[iluvtennis]

27. Wow, 18 days from finding the hernia to removal. Speedy recovery to you. n/t

[Hekate]

28. Heal fast! Take care of yourself, and thanks for checking in.

[blue sky at night]

29. I have had it twice...

in my opinion it is best to make it hurt...walk up and down the steps, etc, it will speed your recovery. Oh, and the ice bag was my friend for sure, and once you are healed you will be good as new! PS, don't take the pain meds they really mess up your system, I used Motrin.

[greatauntoftriplets]

30. Get well soon.

It's good to be stuck with you.

[MyOwnPeace]

31. "Well, I guess you all are stuck with me."

Gee, I haven't heard that since Trump's inauguration.....

I hope your return goes better than THAT did!



Glad you're back - get "up-'n-at-'em" soon!

[cate94]

32. I hope you heal quickly!

[Pobeka]

34. It's ok. I've dealt with underpants my entire life

Heal well and quickly!

[underpants]

35. 😆

❤️

[Skittles]

37. that's the second child suicide I have read about today on DU

[Luciferous]

55. My husband told me earlier that someone he works with had a brother who committed suicide today.

He was 22 years old- devastating.

[Skittles]

57. I feel like I am hearing about more suicides with quite young folk

I'm thinking maybe the stresses of the pandemic added to depression is having a devastating effect on some people. Certainly I know I can handle isolation and social distancing much easier now than I would have "back in the day".

[Luciferous]

59. I think that's a big part of it. Kids these days already had higher rates of depression because of

social media, and then you throw in a pandemic where they are further isolated, and it makes things even worse.

[PlanetBev]

38. You and me both, Underpants

I had surgery on Groundhog Day, as well. I’m very lucky, it was a very small, non-invasive, stage 0 breast carcinoma. I’m still a little sleepy and lethargic from the anesthesia and have some pain, but everything went perfectly. Waiting for the pathology report, but they’re confident they got it all.

Ladies, stay vigilant and never miss your mammograms. That’s how they caught mine so early. The radiology places have been backed up because so many women skipped mammograms in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid. Glad I didn’t skip mine. If you blow it off, a stage 0 can go to stage 2 in less than two years.

Gentlemen, take care of yourselves, too!

[hippywife]

39. Glad all went so smoothly.

I spend too much time worrying one of us may need to go anywhere even near a hospital right now, with the fear of being exposed to COVID while there or left laying in a hallway for days. Been listening to a lot of nurse talk.

Wishing you a quick and speedy recovery.

[PlanetBev]

44. I'm just a little north of Los Angeles county

In Thousand Oaks. The hospital was not overrun with Covid cases, so the medical staff trains ran right on time. I was also outpatient. I’m sure in LA the hospitals are a little more crowded.

[hippywife]

45. We're not so fortunate.

We're in OK where it's not surprising it was the state with the highest COVID deaths in 2021. It's so surprising when we make our weekly run into town to see anyone wearing masks.

[PlanetBev]

46. That's maddening, isn't it?

People are so inconsiderate of others. We should have all been in this together from the start. People who won’t wear masks think they’re good Americans. Nah, they’re just lousy citizens.

Now, for some levity. My radiologist, doctor, anesthesiologist and all the nurses were women. As they wheeled me into the operating room, I burst into “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” We all laughed.

I have to admit, it wasn’t a whole lot of fun at the time.

[hippywife]

47. It's very maddening.

I just can't fathom the thought process, just knowing that their inaction is leading to the disability or death of others, yet they do nothing. They're the ones that need to be forced into isolation, not the rest of us who are and have been doing what we're supposed to do. They've yet to figure out that they're the root of the problem, the reason this just keeps going on and on and on.

That is pretty funny, great way to lighten the mood. I follow Cyndi on IG and was just looking at some of her posts.

[Hortensis]

41. Great! Enjoy your week and wishing you some nice short-term disability.

[brer cat]

43. I'm glad it went well.

I'm also glad they didn't cut out your funny bone.

[Demovictory9]

48. I'm glad it went well for you

[PlanetBev]

49. Thanks!

👋 Glad 2-2-22 is behind me.

[magicarpet]

50. Did you get arthroscopic surgery ? Where they enter just below the navel then wander around the....

.... outer layer of your digestive/intestinal track looking for the muscle tear then stuff a ball of netting through the abdominal wall hole after they push everything back inside to obviate the bulge. The "netting ball" they stuff in the hole is like an onion bag rolled up into a tight ball. They stuff it into the abdominal wall tear and the muscle grows into the netting which causes the hernia to repair. The netting is left there and kinda acts as re-bar, as the muscle grows into the netting the net acts as support, to reinforce, and strengthen the tear area so it is less inclined to tear again or allow a repeat hernia to that weakened spot..

That is the less invasive arthroscopic procedure that is mentioned above.

The old standby is to make a sizable incision at the hernia area just above the tear. Stuff the guts back behind the abdominal wall to eliminate the unsightly and sometimes sensitive or painful bulge, then suture the tear closed, then close the entry incision.

Which one did you experience ?

This is like Gray's Anatomy Medical School.

[magicarpet]

51. Ment to mention,..

Be Well,

Quick healing,

Thanks for sharing you personal episode with us here.

Nice dialog/ nice conversations/ informative.

[underpants]

52. They cut me open. Small scar 4" maybe.

I have mesh inside me now.

[magicarpet]

53. Yours was kinda like an appendectomy,...

I had the arthroscopic with the one inch entry incision just below the bellybutton. Arthroscopic tools inserted down to the groin, push all the guts back into the abdominal cavity, stuff the (onion bag)/mesh into the hole/tear, then close the entry incision. Back in action in two days.

The doctor said it was kind of like trying to unlock a car door with the keys locked inside while trying to use a bent metal coat hanger to get the door unlocked as you stood outside the car fiddling with the wire trying to unlock the car door inside the car. He said it is sometimes frustrating and annoying to manipulate the arthroscopic instruments to get them to go where you need them to do the job. But he swore by the less invasive and quick healing results of arthroscopic surgery.

It did heal quickly and the painful bulge subsided and swelling eventually disappeared.

Hope all goes well with your healing process.

[ARPad95]

54. Hope all heals well and you're up and about soon!

My dh went in for single hernia surgery and came out with a double hernia surgery last year. Surgery was on a Friday and next day he took himself for a 2-mile round trip walk. The worst part of healing for him was the nasty skin reaction he had to the adhesive on the steri strips covering the 4 or 5 puncture wounds on his abdomen.

[Luciferous]

56. Those poor parents :(

[SergeStorms]

58. Welcome back, underpants!

I'm glad everything went alright. Surgical incisions are very painful for awhile. I should know, I've had enough of them. The human body wasn't meant to be lopped open like that. Little by little the pain will subside, and soon you'll be regular old underpants again. 😁

You always leave us in stitches. Your turn. 😉

[ProfessorGAC]

60. Heal Quickly, Pal!

Glad things are "so far, so good".
The pain is a drag, though.