Hiatal Heria

I just had my labs today and the tech told me I have a hiatal hernia.  He says it is small and will not prevent my surgery, but will be fixed at the time of surgery.  Has anyone else had one of these?  Does it make my recovery longer?  I only planned on taking a couple of days off work plus a weekend. HELP!!!!!

About 90% of us have hiatal hernias. It's a fairly common defect. The surgeon decided whether to fix it or not usually when he is eyeball to eyeball with it. I had one and I had GERD when I was full sized. So, the fat pushed the stomach up thru the hernia once I ate any food. Blech.

They did not repair mine, but once I lost the wt (even a few lbs!), the stomach didn't push up thru the hole, so today, the hernia remains but I don't have any symptoms. There was no need to repair it, since it just sort of sits there once the obesity is gone.

Many are too small to fix, and some are so large that they don't fix them. (???). But if the doc thinks it needs fixing, you'll wake up fixed. And since it is internal (not like an incisional hernia, bulging out), it won't add to your recovery time. Might add a few minutes to your surgery time, but not that you'd notice, since you'll be snoozin'.

Thanks, I really appreciate the input.  They said it was small, so I won't worry about it.

Dr. Oh repaired my Hiatal Hernia during my RNY surgery . I don't think it affected my recovery at all . Kathy