So I know it is not that uncommon for obese people to have hernia's, sometimes we do not even know we have them. Do surgeons typically require us to have x-rays or whatever it is that they do to see if you have something like that? Do they still if you are self paying? Does it usually cost more than the basic surgery for the sleeve or do they just do it with the surgery in terms of money/charging you for it?

I'm just concerned on the possibility of having a hernia ( don't know if I have one but I've just been thinking about it for some reason ) and since I am self paying, what would happen if they found a hernia. I don't know if I can afford 2 surgeries. Just worrying here, but don't read much about hernia's other than people had them repaired at the same time as their WLS.

I was curious about this as well

I was a self-pay in Mexico and my surgeon looked for, and fixed, what the surgical report called "a wide hiatus with a Hiatal gastric hernia." It means I had a wide opening where my stomach had partially come up through the hole in the diaphragm where the esophagus connects to the stomach. He fixed it at no charge though it added about an hour to the surgical time.

Hmmm. Not sure what the difference would be doing it in U.S. though. They might not be so generous, lol

My roommate in the hospital had one. They found it during surgery and repaired it. No x-ray before.

Do you know if they had to charge her extra for it or anything?

No extra charge but it's Kaiser so it might be different.

Im a self pay here in California and my surgeon said that he will fix it while he is in there- no extra charge.

Ask your surgeon specificly.

For what its worth... The millions of pages of informed consent i signed for the surgeon detailed the hernia repair info- no charge.

He did end up finding and repairing hernia.... No extra bills!

I was self pay in Dallas, and I already knew I had a hernia from a few years ago. He repaired it at no cost to me, but since i have other medical coverage, he billed them to see if they'd pay anything. He said if they didn't, it still would not cost me any extra. All I paid for was the sleeve surgery itself and the hospital.

Wow! I am definitely going to put this on my list of questions to ask at my consult! Thank you guys so much. What exactly is entailed in hernia repair?

Well, I can't explain it entirely with any medical accuracy, but i know he used a piece of mesh to help with the repair that is absorbing over time. That mesh and the repair in general was probably the most painful part of healing. I had to use ALL of my prescribed pain meds for it (two weeks worth). That said...it wasn't THAT bad. I've been in worse pain before. Google it and find a picture. I think that helps me more than anything is seeing a picture. I'll try to attach one....

I think that opening where the stomach is popping through the muscle is sewn up and made smaller...

I had mine repaired when I was under for the VSG. Apparently, they can't do the VSG and not repair your hernia so you get a freebie at no extra charge. My doctor's philosophy was if it needed to be biopsied, removed or repaired, while he was in there he'd do it. I just love efficiency!

I had the X-ray before but no one said they saw anything.

The thing is, I had been complaining for years about an ambiguous pain "in my stomach"... no one knew what it was. It would come and go, often prevented me from functioning or going to work, and since surgery - and the repair - no more debilitating pain. Who knew?

Recovery from surgery was a breeze. I was off my pain meds within 24 hours of leaving the hospital.

Good luck!

I had a chat with someone today on the phone at the surgeon's office and I did get a chance to ask about this, and they said it was a good question to ask but quite often females who are over weight end up having hiatal hernia's and they will go ahead and fix those up if they see any at no extra cost.