incisional hernia

I had open wls 4/5/04, and I am at goal. I have developed a small incisional hernia (sp?) - my incision is coming open??? Does anyone else have any info on this? Thanks a bunch. Terri

I would think you would have been healed up by now. I say go to the doctor. Darlene

Thanks Darlene, but it was my doctor who diagnosed this. He even asked me "How did you do that?". He submitted to my insurance company to fix it and do a tummy tuck at the same time, but the ins. co.(gotta love em) said I have to document 3 months of rashes before they will OK it. Meanwhile I have visions of my incision tearing open further - yikes! Any one ever hear of this kind of hernia before? Terri

Sorry, Terri! Incisional hernias are not super uncommon - they told us about them in my pre-op info class - along with death, no more pop, etc. - somehow the occasional hernias didn't seem like a big deal way back then. (Actually nothing did in my class until they told us about no more pop and then there was a collective gasp!!!! I was one of the gaspers - now I don't miss it a bit...but I digress.) You might try (or have the doc's office try or both!) being more aggressive with the insurance company. It's not at all unusual for them to just deny just about everything on the first go-round. Geez, it'd be cheaper for them to just pay one anesthesia fee, OR room fee (I mean compared to two separate procedures) etc. Obviously I'm NOT telling you to lie but being very nice AND very assertive can sometimes do the trick. Most times the individuals are quite nice to deal with - just the company policy can be a bit "trying". I've worked in health care since Florence Nightengale and I have seen how effective persistance can be. Including for myself! Best of luck to you! Bette

Terri, I had an incisional hernia that I just had repaired 2 weeks ago. I also had the tummy tuck at the same time. I guess it is normal to have an incisional hernia b/c the stomach muscles are so weak to begin with. How weird that your insurance wants 3 months of documentation. You have a hernia! My incision did not reopen if this makes you feel any better. Hugs, Bridget

Hi Terri I just had my Hernia fixed last week, I had emergency Gallbladder surgery last year and the Dr that did the surgery did it OPEN because he was not use to a gastric Bypass person and never seen one before. ( I live in a small area) So he did my surgery open and caused my hernia, not something I wanted since I already had my two plastic surgerys so I have this ugly scar. anyway when I told him about the hernia he said that he didnt feel as though he could fix it LAP and that I should go see my WLS Dr but he is in California and I live in NY. But I did and my Dr in LA did it LAP in one day surgery, it was a breeze and didnt hurt at all after day two and I jumped the plane home on Sunday and had the surgery on the Friday before so 1 1/2 days later I was back here in NY. It really is not or was not for me anyway a big deal and I went back to work on Monday 3 days later. Hope this helped in any way. LAP RNY DISTAL 02/19/03 420/200/DONE Dr Korman LA California Plastic Surgery 06/02/04 15-1/2lbs removed Dr Rockmore Albany NY Plastic Surgery 09/07/05 5-1/2lbs removed Dr Rockmore Albany NY LAP Incision Hernia Repair 02/03/26 Dr Korman LA California