Had my surgery this morning at 9:30am. After the surgery was over, while I was in recovery, they called my husband (was out of town working, so my Dad was with me) and told him everything went great. Then tonight when he got home, he told me they informed him they discovered a hernia while in there, which they apparently fixed. That is crazy! I can't believe no one said anything to me about that at the hospital.

Did anyone else experience this??? I responded to another post a minute ago (before I found out about the hernia), and was commenting that I was incredibly surprised at how much pain I'm experiencing, considering how so many people had such little pain after their surgery. The gas is absolutely the worst part, but perhaps it's actually the hernia!?

Ugh. Not feeling too good...

Hang in there, it gets better! I heard that people with a hernia repair have more gas pains. That was in deed the morst part!

They found a hernia in me too. I think having that repaired was the best thing ever! The doctor always asked me if I had trouble with acid reflux and I said no. I thought I had a normal amount. I never knew how much heartburn I actually had until they fixed that hernia... I haven't had a single episode in almost 5 months! crazy!

I had a hernia as well. I have to say I was pretty lucky regarding pain. I did not have perscription pain medication so I took liquid tylenol the first few days every 4 hours.

I also had a hernia repair at the time of my surgery. I had no idea before that I actually had a hernia. I always suffered with reflux and just thought it was a normal part of life. Since the hernia has been repaired I no longer have any trouble with reflux/heartburn. Hang in there the gas pains will go away. Try Gas X stripes, they worked well for me.

I also had a hiatal hernia repaired. At my consult with the surgeon he told me that many of his patients have them and that he just repairs them when doing the band surgery. He gave me an 8x10 glossy pic of the hernia...lol. I would have loved a pic of the band in place. I figured I had the hiatal hernia because I had very bad reflux for about a year before getting banded. Many obese people have them. Obesity does bad things to us all. I'm glad you had the repair and got banded!! Things will only get better for you as each day passes. I found that keeping an ice pack high up on my belly for longer than they told me helped a great deal. Ice/cold helps swelling go down. I was also told to stick with ice cold liquids for the first week. I wish you the best in healing and weightloss.

Hi Congrats on your surgery. I was banded on 1/11/11! I also had a hernia (apparently a huge one!) I never had heartburn before the surgery - but I had a persistent cough, that they thought might be caused by acid! I haven't coughed even once since the surgery. I do have some pain - managing it with the liquid vicatin (sp??) I feel so happy and positive about the surgery - I am on top of the world! Wish you all the best!

Thanks all for your help! I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one with the hernia issue. It's so weird, because I had no indications that I had one. But I'm glad it's fixed though. Now I'm just ready to feel better and start really concentrating on the band!

Hey girl,

I too had a hiatal hernia, apparently so did damn near everyone else in the hospital, cause I swear I heard the DR. tell everyone's relative that he had to repair one! I'm such a skeptic, I think it's just a way to milk the insurance companies!

I heard that pretty much everyone gets a hernia repair while surgery! You will also have left shoulder pain which is from the hernia repair.

Had my surgery this morning at 9:30am. After the surgery was over, while I was in recovery, they called my husband (was out of town working, so my Dad was with me) and told him everything went great. Then tonight when he got home, he told me they informed him they discovered a hernia while in there, which they apparently fixed. That is crazy! I can't believe no one said anything to me about that at the hospital.

Did anyone else experience this??? I responded to another post a minute ago (before I found out about the hernia), and was commenting that I was incredibly surprised at how much pain I'm experiencing, considering how so many people had such little pain after their surgery. The gas is absolutely the worst part, but perhaps it's actually the hernia!?

Ugh. Not feeling too good...

I am 32, have never really experienced heartburn or problems and I was told I had a hiatal hernia from my husband when I woke up from surgery. They repaired it at the same times as placing the band and it has been totally uncomfortable. I had heartburn for weeks (never had it before) and I was very short of breath and had terrible gas pains for over 2 weeks. I think all my discomfort was caused by the hernia repair (which was necessary) not the band. I didn't start feeling relief from the repair until almost 6 weeks. Hang in there it will get better.

Hey girl,

I too had a hiatal hernia, apparently so did damn near everyone else in the hospital, cause I swear I heard the DR. tell everyone's relative that he had to repair one! I'm such a skeptic, I think it's just a way to milk the insurance companies!

Maybe that's why they gave me a picture of mine. (a before and after pic) I have no insurance and the cost of the surgery was the same no matter if they did a hernia repair or not.

Overall, the majority of WLS patients have a hiatal hernia diagnosised and repaired at the time of surgery.

(? 98 - 99%)

I had a hiatal hernia repair, umbilicaql hernia repair, and a liver biopsy.

My average post op pain was: 6 out of 10...very well controlled with pain medications.

Good luck!!!

I had my band placed on January 10, 2011. They also had to repair my hiatal hernia. For years I have had pain in the left hand side of my stomach...never paid attention to it, although it was sort of a sharp pain. I figured it was just gas or something I'd eaten that was irritating my stomach. Just like everyone else that I've noticed posting here...I've had bad gas issues in my shoulders and chest. I was also having retching issues. I still can't lay down flat and not get nauseous. It was so bad that my doctor admitted me into the hospital...where I was kept for 24 plus hours and treated for severe dehydration.

I'm learning now that if I drink something warm (caffeine free tea...or even room temperature water) fifteen minutes prior to trying to consume anything...it makes things go down much easier. The PA at my doctors office tried removing some of the remnant Fluid in the band, via the port (two days after the surgery and the pressure made me retch like crazy.

The use the fluid to place the device during the surgery...and the doctor releases most of it during the placement procedure. According the PA...my stomach had swollen...and in connection with the trace amount of fluid inside me...was keeping anything from going down. (I dropped 9 pounds in two days.)

Once the fluid was removed...I was able to drink a tiny cup of Water...and for the first time since surgery...I felt the liquid go all the way down. It was such a relief.

I read on here where someone was saying that icy cold beverages were the best for them...they have the opposite effect on me.

I am not sure if I had a hiatal hernia or not. I had the surgery on December 15th and I have not seen my doctor since they put me under for the procedure. I have gone back to the drs office for check-ups but have not seen the doctor. i have 5 incisions (instead of 4) with one of them right between my breast bone. I was told by someone else who had the procedure don that if I had one there, then i may have had my gall bladder removed. I think this is something i will check into when I go back onthe 26th. They should have told me...

I am not sure if I had a hiatal hernia or not. I had the surgery on December 15th and I have not seen my doctor since they put me under for the procedure. I have gone back to the drs office for check-ups but have not seen the doctor. i have 5 incisions (instead of 4) with one of them right between my breast bone. I was told by someone else who had the procedure don that if I had one there, then i may have had my gall bladder removed. I think this is something i will check into when I go back onthe 26th. They should have told me...

I agree! I would never have known if they hadn't told my husband (who told me later that night). Even though it's common for them, they should remember that it's a big deal for us, and is probably something that would be good to know. I'm going to ask about it when I go in for my check-up. I'm curious to know how big it was, how they fixed it, etc.