Incisional Hernia, Open Surgery Question

 When I had my bypass reversed in August it was done open.  I haven't had any issues with the incision until recently.  I was picking up my daughter the other day and I felt a terrible burning/sharp pain at the top of my incision.  I figured I just pulled a muscle, but the next day I had a small bulge on my incision.  It's about an inch long and 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch wide.  You can see it more when I stand up.  It's gotten worse over the past few days.  I'm not sure if this is even worth mentioning to my doctor or not.  I googled hernias shortly after I noticed the bulge and it is nowhere near the size of the ones I saw pictures of.  

Those of you that have had hernias.  Were they small at all?  All I know is this sucker hurts like hell and I want it fixed no matter what it is.

I had the same thing only mine didn't hurt at all, it just bulged.  It was very small, too.
The surgery was very easy.  I typically get in a lot of protein and the incision was already healing by the time I was in the recovery room.  By the next day I forgot I had surgery.
But, it looks like the damn thing is back.  I don't know if it wasn't repaired correctly but I sure don't want another surgery.  I heard that these types of hernias do have a greater chance of recurring.
It was very small the first time but now it looks a lot larger.  Could be because they didn't use mesh to repair it so if I have to have it done again I will be sure they use mesh.

 Mine hurts like hell.  It seems like my vomitting has gotten worse since it happened as well.  Before I would get sick maybe once a day.  Now I'm getting sick every time I eat.........again.  Did your RNY surgeon take care of it or did you have a general surgeon do it?  I really don't want my RNY surgeon touching me ever again, but I'm afraid no one else will even be willing to mess with it.  I'm glad to hear the surgery for it was easy.  How did they repair it without mesh?  I thought mesh was used for all hernias?

Hernias can become incarcerated (trapped). If you can't reduce if (pu**** back it) and have nausea and vomiting that is getting worse, it could be a sign of a bowel obstruction and is very serious business.... Get it checked ASAP, please!

I think mine was so small that they just pulled the muscle together.  Probably should have used mesh all things considered.
My bariatric surgeon is a general surgeon so he repaired it, as well as doing my panni 8 years ago.  Take my advice, don't have a general surgeon do your panni if you have a choice.  It looks ok now but for a long time it looked like I was related to Frankenstein.
Look around, I am sure you will find someone to help you.  Do you have a university medical school near you?  They are usually pretty good about working with people who need it.
Try and get seen as soon as possible.  You shouldn't be throwing up like that and you don't want (or need) any more complications.

Be warned that mesh is not always a good thing.  They used a 6x6 inch poece of mesh when they repaired my large incisional hernia from my open RNY and, after suffering with severe intermittent (and increasing) abdominal pain for 18 months, when they finally did exploratory surgery they surgeon found that scar tissue had cause my intestine to become bound to -- and was actually growing INTO -- the underside of the mesh used for my hernia repair.  The surgeon had to remove a bunch of scar tissue to release the intestine and then remove the mesh to keep it from happening again. 

There are a number of possible similar complications from mesh, all requiring surgery to fix, which is why they don't use it for smaller hernias.

Lora

No, for small hernias, they do exactly what they do for tummy tucks... they just sew the muscle up tightly.  There are complications taht canb arise from using mesh, so they generally reserve that for large hernias where the chance of recurrence is higher.

I had to have my mesh removed after it caused problems. (See other response.)

Lora

I had a 15 lb cancerous ovarian "cyst" removed last summer.  The incision was from the base of my rib cage to my pubic bone, just to the side of my belly button.  I was lifting some pavers this summer before my RNY, and felt a hot, sharp, burning pain.  The pain did not last, so I thought it was a muscle.  In the shower I noticed a small, hard bulge to the left of my belly button.  I was not careful about lifting things, and it got worse.  I had an ultrasound (and my surgeon confirmed during surgery) and was told I have a large incisional hernia.  He did not repair it during surgery due to its size.  He said it would likely get bigger during my weight loss, and it should be repaired once my weight stabilizes.  I was told by 2 different doctors that bigger is better in this case, because intestines are much less likely to get strangulated in a large hole.  In other words, if there's a small hole, your intestines can get pushed into it, and blood supply can be cut off to the intestines, causing them to die.  This can be dangerous.  I was told if I ever feel severe pain from my hernia, I should call and go to the emergency room pronto.  On the other hand, I was told by these same doctors that some people just walk around through life for years without getting them repaired.

So, to err on the side of caution, you should maybe get it checked out to make sure nothing is getting caught in there.  If you have severe pain, then DEFINITELY get that checked out immediately.