I have been up and running after surgery. I went to see my doc about a week after surgery because of pain I was feeling. My doc was in awe that I "looked" so good after surgery. He rest assured that the pain I was feeling was from the sutures that was used to close up the muscle opened during surgery. He just mentioned to be cautious about hernias and not to lift anything too heavy. Now I am paranoid that discomfort I may be feeling could be just that.

For those who have had a hernia after WLS, how did you know? What set the light bulb off that something was wrong?

I have lifting restrictions for 6 weeks-nothing heavier than a gallon of milk. I found that when I did more housework then what I should have done or loading/unloading the dishwasher, I would have pain in the stomach. Just a reminder you had surgery. Just be aware of how much you are lifting and be careful. I did have a hiatal hernia repair during surgery but I am not concerned of getting a hernia afterwards as I am following my restrictions. Just listen to your body...if you are having pain, slow down on what you are doing. Remember you just had major surgery and it will take some time for the insides to heal.

If you had a laparoscopic procedure, your chances of developing an incisional hernia are quite small, it is one of the great advantages of the little incisions. People with open procedures have to worry about intra-abdominal pressure increases from lifting heavy objects or physically pulling the sutures by twisting or bending. Symptoms of an incisional hernia are a bulge under the skin, redness, tenderness, pain, and perhaps fever. As far as hiatal hernia goes, most obese persons have them simply because the fat in the abdomen raises the pressure in there and forces the stomach up through the hole in the diaphragm where your esophagus goes. Heartburn and reflux are the most common symptoms but you would need an upper GI X-ray or an endoscopy to definitively diagnose it. Some surgeons doing the sleeve look for the hernia while they are in the chest and repair it if they find one.

Thank you all. I have been experiencing some pain on my right side, which is a bummer since I seem to finally get over the suture pain. I hate to be a complainer. I have not been going to the bathroom regularly and it all is worrying. I feel like I took 2 steps backward. I am going to play it out and definitely take it easy. I pray this is not result of a hernia.

If you had a laparoscopic procedure, your chances of developing an incisional hernia are quite small, it is one of the great advantages of the little incisions. People with open procedures have to worry about intra-abdominal pressure increases from lifting heavy objects or physically pulling the sutures by twisting or bending. Symptoms of an incisional hernia are a bulge under the skin, redness, tenderness, pain, and perhaps fever. As far as hiatal hernia goes, most obese persons have them simply because the fat in the abdomen raises the pressure in there and forces the stomach up through the hole in the diaphragm where your esophagus goes. Heartburn and reflux are the most common symptoms but you would need an upper GI X-ray or an endoscopy to definitively diagnose it. Some surgeons doing the sleeve look for the hernia while they are in the chest and repair it if they find one.

so how did things end up?