Question:
Please Help!!!

I think I have a LARGE hernia, my doc isn't going to see me until 1/30. Can any one tell how large they can get, what they feel like, do they hurt? Mine if it is one, is on the upper part of my belly and feels like a large softball is sitting there, It doesn't really hurt but I always feel a pulling where it sits. I am 7 months out and down 125lbs and would like to lose 100 more. Thanks, for any help-Sandi    — Sandra B. (posted on January 13, 2003)

January 13, 2003
My friend has one that is the size of a half basketball.
   — Sharon H.

January 13, 2003
Hi Sandra, No the ones in the upper tummy do not hurtunless they are strangling something. I have one just as big right now. I saw my doctor on the 7th and he said as long as I am careful I can go til my surgery date of March 24th. Call your docotr and ask them to give you a prescription for an abdonimal wall binder to hold it in place. Most insurance companies pay for these and you only have to pay your deductible. You ill probably get another one right above your belly button before you are done just to let you know. That is where my second one is. they just pop out from dropping weight s fast. I am ok with it... I get to get a tummy tuck at the same time they fix the hernia.s good luck you are doing an awesome job on the weight loss.
   — swtnsxy0219

January 14, 2003
Sandi, it sounds like a hernia to me. I have a hernia, but it is from a previous surgery. I had both my son and daughter by c-section and they used the same incision. The reason for a hernia is not because of the reapid weightloss like the previous poster said. It is an opening in the abdominal wall. The muscles in that area are weakened, causing them to pull apart. When you have surgery the incision area is weakened which is why many people end up with hernias. The softball sized lump you are feeling is probably your intestines pushing through that opening. It's like when you get a whole in a tire. The tube inside will often find that opening (weak spot) and push through. Same thing. My hernia started out very small, but is now about softball size. My surgeon said the more you weigh, the less likely it is that a hernia repair will be successful. It's just too much pressure pushing on the mesh that they fix the hernia with. Sometimes larger patients will require more than repair on the same hernia because it keeps coming back. Of course, if you experience pain it could mean that the hernia has tightened around the intestine and surgery can't wait. I was told as long as my hernia is not causing me pain, she would like to wait until I am ready for a tt before doing the repair.
   — Jenny S.