Question:
Has anyone post-op had a hernia?

i'm about 10 months post-op and i have lost a lot of weight (135) quickly...i was diagnosed with a hernia nad this makes me upset...i do not have to have anything done now since the hernia is so deep but i was wondering if this has happened to anyone else    — michelle N. (posted on April 1, 1999)

April 1, 1999
I am 14 months post-op and also have a hernia. It is not an uncommon thing. Any surgery that cuts through the stomach muscles will obviously weaken those muscles and allow a hernia to form. I have no pain associated with mine, but many people do. I am waiting to have my hernia surgery.
   — Karen B.

April 1, 1999
Actually this is quite common. Look at it as a blessing in disguise..why? Because now you can have a tummy tuck when he fixes the hernia...:-) Carole in oK
   — Ben R.

April 1, 1999
my friend and I had surgery one year ago and he has had problems ever since with a very large hernia, he was told that this problem is fairly rare but they do happen. and he now is looking at corrective surgery in the very near future. this is just one of the problem that can come post op.
   — [Anonymous]

April 25, 1999
Before my RNY, I was told that the two most common side effects of weight loss surgery were hernias and gall bladder problems. I was diagnosed with a hernia about five months after my RNY. It was fixed a few months after that, when I had lost about 100 pounds. Then, seven months after that, they said I had another hernia. I decided to wait to fix this one so that I could have a tummy tuck at the same time. Six months later (still waiting to fix the second hernia) I had an acute gall bladder attack. They removed my gall bladder, and now my hernia and tummy tuck is scheduled for July '99. I am going to have them remove my upper arm skin while they are doing the tummy tuck. Even with all of these surgeries, I would do it all again. I couldn't do much in life when I weighed almost 400 pounds. I am now around 194 pounds, and still losing almost two years later. I am curious....didn't your surgeon tell you that hernias were a fairly common occurrance?
   — Laura M.

May 17, 1999
The incidence of incisional hernia is 20-25% in most reported series. Unless the hernia is causing a lot of pain or becomes incarcerated/strangulated, wait 12 months, lose most of your weight and then get it repaired, maybe with a tummy tuck. A hernia is not normally a big deal after WLS.
   — Elliot G.