Hey Jan,
A quick question..I am 10 days post op from the hernia repair and I am starting to get a spreading numbness all across the right side of the area and spreading down my right thigh..I started to really notice it last night but it is still here today...the surface of the thigh is now numb halfway down to the middle...
What is going on?
Could it be the nerve that is swollen? Do they touch the nerves when they attach the mesh support?
Sharon
PS...I am still extremely swollen and bloated and reacting to everything that I eat...could it be related?

Jan posted yesterday that she was going to be gone for a few days. Maybe you should call your surgeon and ask, it sounds kind of strange. Good Luck

Tried to convince myself that it was the heprin shots in the thigh that are the culprit but the other one is fine and the inguinal area on the right is numb too...really very wierd...
Sharon

Could well be nerve trauma. It is typical for there to be numbness around the surgical site, but the fact that it is spreading well beyond your abdomen is something to take notice. Did you by chance have any spinal or epidural anesthesia or pain relief? Could be related to that.

Also, you don't happen to be diabetic are you? That could also contribute to peripheral neuropathy.

In any event, keep track of it. Notify your doctor about it. And hopefully, this will resolve in 4-6 weeks.

Jan

Thanks Jan,
No spinal anesthsia...or pain relief...numbness still there...suface numbness and not deep tissue...but still there..down to mid-thigh..frontal...
no relief yet...will call dr...and ask...
hopefully it will go away...
(all my other surgeries have led to permanent numbness post-op..calves after gracillis flaps..etc)
Sharon

Skn,

I was reading this post from last and am wondering if what the outcome has been. Seeking to get a hernia fixed myself soon and starting to doubt my initiative. The colo-rectal surgeons are against it. since they say it doesn't cause enough problems and they're assuming one day I'll have my pouch removed (my rufusal to do so has me labeled as non-compliant). The general surgeon agreed instantly it should be done.

I'd just really appreciate hearing your outcome.
-sara

Sara -- it may not "cause enough problems" now, but that doesn't mean it's not uncomfortable for you, and certainly doesn't mean that it can't cause problems later. I'm guessing they want your pouchitis/cuffitis to get under control and become certain you plan on keeping your pouch before doing the hernia repair -- which I can kind of understand. There are probalby reasons they feel the way they do -- so I'd get a second opinion from another colorectal surgeon with significant pouch experience to see if he/she will corroborate with your colorectal surgeon and advise against the surgery, or side with your general surgeon and say go for it.

That said, I had an incisional hernia repair in February, three months post take down, and have been doing very, very well. My colorectal surgeon who did all my pouch surgeries did it for me, gladly. The primary reason he wanted to move forward is I'm trying to get pregnant now, and he didn't want me having any complications related to the hernia that would require emergency surgery during pregnancy.

Good luck with your decision.

Becky

Sara,
The hernia repair w/mesh is one yr old this week... and so far so good...I think...am carrying too much, bending, stretching and climbing stairs and hills etc...so yes, it does work...it doesn't mean that I do not pay attention to my limits anymore but I am so pleased to not see my guts popping out...
If the hernia bothers you either physically or emotionally (causes fear/stress) or is really painful then you should push it a bit..my surgeon is a specialist in them and it took 3 tries to get it right...he does not believe in waiting too long..he believes that it gets worse with both time and age...
Follow your gut feeling (pun intended!)
Sharon

Thanks for the advice Sharon and Becky. I'm just trying to make sure (as best I can) that things will get better not worse, and Sharon's story/question to Jan hit on some of my worries.

I do have another question though. One of the reasons I want it fixed is because of the pain carrying my bike around (apartment/subway living) and during rides. Have you two experienced a change in pain during physical activity since the repair? Also, does the mes itself cause pain? I read that people can feel the mesh digging in; is this true?
-sara