I keep reading about hernia repairs-what's that all about? Where is the hernia located and what exactly is being repaired? Why do so many Bandsters get them? Any insigts would be appreciated. Does it take longer to heal when you have a hernia repaired> Where there any indications prior to surgery that something needed repairing? Are most of us walking around with hernias that need repairing?

Many bandsters have hiatal hernias because obesity is a contributing factor. A hiatal hernia is when some of the stomach comes up through the space in the diaphragm that the esophagus goes through. Your surgeon will probably prescribe an upper GI series or an endoscopy to rule it out before surgery.

None of my pre-op testing showed my hiatal hernia, so I was surprised when I was out of surgery and told that my surgeon found and repaired one. When I spoke with him the next day, he said that of the 3 bands he placed that day, the other 2 patients also had hernias, but theirs showed on pre-op testing-- mine didn't, and mine was the biggest of the 3.

I do think it affects healing time and post-op pain, but not too much.

http://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/hiatal-hernia

It's a hiatal hernia that a lot of people have. It's a part of your stomach that pushes through your diaphragm up into your chest. It happens to a lot of people who are obese.

I didn't tell people about my WLS so those I had to tell I was having surgery I told them that I was having that repaired and no one questioned it, worked out well for me.

My Band was done about four years ago and since then I had some problems, I recently had a UGI done and found to have an enlarged esophagus, not eh first time either, last year I had one about the same time of year to thnk of it and I had a UGI done at that time too! Well I just was told I hae a hernia and it was found last year but no one mentioned it to me up until now. I have a few other problems pertaining the the Band itself and had to have the fill removed completely. My Dr. put in to my insurance agency a request for a revision to remove the band for I will continue to have the same problem over and over once I begin the fills. A Revision to RNY will be done. When I had the Band surgery no hernia was found, it there was a hernia the Dr. would have repaired it. I have no clue wht kind of hernia it is but maybe tomorrow I will find out. Could this have been brought on due to constant vomiting, over tightness of the band or what? Just trying to get some answers.

I keep reading about hernia repairs-what's that all about? Where is the hernia located and what exactly is being repaired? Why do so many Bandsters get them? Any insigts would be appreciated. Does it take longer to heal when you have a hernia repaired> Where there any indications prior to surgery that something needed repairing? Are most of us walking around with hernias that need repairing?

I had one that I was aware of but it was not giving me any probs. It was repaired during surgery and had no probs with it. I wouldn't even know it was done. Not a big deal

I had two hernias repaired during my surgery. One was a hiatal hernia they found during an endoscopy prior to surgery. The other was a ventral hernia I asked to have repaired during surgery. I figured as long as they were going to be under the hood, they may as well do a full tune-up.

I didn't understand what symptoms a hiatal hernia can exhibit, but learned after the fact that excess heartburn is one of the primary symptoms. Pre-op, I used to get heartburn regularly. After surgery, with the hiatal hernia repaired, I have had ZERO heartburn events, regardless of what I've eaten. It was like flipping a switch.

The ventral hernia was a different matter. That's also called an umbilical hernia, even though ventral hernia is the preferred term. It's where the abdominal wall tears, and part of your insides push through the opening, making a bump. Mine was right above my navel, and stuck out a fair amount. During surgery they cut the rest of the muscles, inserted a mesh across my abdomen, then stitched the muscles back into place, holding everything inside.

Combined with everything else I went through, the pain from the hernia repairs wasn't exceptional. But since my recovery was from banding and two hernia repairs, I can't say how bad any part of it would have been. I took three weeks off work to recover, mainly due to the ventral hernia repair, and I was glad I had that much time available.

Dave

Hi!

I had my surgery on 4-18-11 and I had my hiatal hernia repaired. It was discovered during my upper GI Endoscopy, but previous to that I had complained of severe heartburn and chest pain, which is a symptom of having a hiatal hernia. After my sugery, I dont think I was in any more pain than normal, so I dont think it would be any more painful just because you had your hernia repaired. I do know that I no longer have ANY heatburn or chest pain so it is worth it to have your hernai repaired during surgery. Good Luck!

I also had a hiatal hernia repaired when I had my lapband placed and afterwards no longer experienced heartburn/acid reflux. Recently I had pnuemonia though and since that acid reflux as well as food getting stuck more often has been occuring. I even had a week (well maybe about 5 days) where I couldn't get anything down. I am not sure of I re-ruptured that hernia or if the band slipped or what. I didn't realize so many others had hernia's as well so perhaps someone has some insight while I work on finding and getting into a Bariatric Surgeon?

This is really interesting. I had one repaired too and had no idea about it before hand. My surgeon just casually mentioned it to my wife while I was in recovery. I'm actually releaved to find out that it's pretty common.

I had my surgery yesterday. I knew I had a "small" hernia and I asked the doctor to repair it while she was there. She said she would look and repair if she found one. Well,,,she didn't have to look. She told me it was LARGE. I am hoping this helps with the reflux and chest pain that I have often. I can't say if it hurts more or less since this is the only way I have ever had lapband. I thought I was really miserable yesterday and all night, but I seem have turned a corner about 24 hours post op.

I had one too. After doing some research I realized I'd had all the symptoms but being how I usually am just ignored them. Heartburn and reflux not all the time, but since my surgery (besides like 10 days after I did have severe heartburn) I've not had any. Also the reflux is probably what caused my enamel on my teeth to be so bad. My dentis one time asked me if I vomit, my response was, do I look bulimic?!?

There are different types of hernias, I found out I had one and it was repaired during surgery. When showing them where I was having the most pain, they said that was where the hernia was repaired. So for me, I do believe it has caused a litlte more pain but once again everyone is different as to how they respond to pain. Day 1 wasn't too terrible, day 2 was HORRIBLE, day 3 is going okay. So hoping to just continue feeling better each day.