sleeve with hernia repair, simultaneously? anyone??

[bv33 1]

I have been informed by my surgeon after my egd scope that I will need to have a hiatal hernia repair and she wants to go ahead and do it at the same time as the sleeve surgery. This probably has contributed to my worry and fear more than the sleeve itself. My sister works on that recovery floor and sees this everyday, she has told me that I will experience more pain and possibly longer recovery time than patients who have only sleeve surgery. My question is did anyone else have this surgery at the same time as the sleeve??? If so, please share your experiences, such as your healing time and if it made eating/swallowing harder? etc. Thanks for any helpful hints.

[SeaShells82 96]

I had a large hernia repaired during my sleeve surgery on 2/7/17 - the upper GI I did preop showed no evidence of a hernia so it was a bit of a surprise for everyone involved after they got in there!

With regards to recovery, I'm only 3 weeks out and I don't know how much of what I experienced is just typical with the sleeve or how much of it was related to the hernia but I'll share what I experienced.

For the first week, I had real difficulty getting liquids down. No matter how small a sip I took, every sip felt like it was momentarily "stuck", right at the level of the hernia, before being able to pass. It was a very strange and uncomfortable feeling but not painful. I learned that warm liquids went down easier than cold or room temperature fluids so I pretty much just lived on broth. I came home on a Thursday and was off pain meds by Friday morning. I still had pain but it was bearable to me and I was able to manage it with a heating pad and movement. After the first week, the "stuck" feeling went away and I can now tolerate liquids and mushy foods without difficulty.

All in all, not a bad journey so far. I don't think it's possible to do a sleeve while leaving a hiatal hernia in place so if your options are to repair the hernia, then go back for a second surgery to be sleeved vs just getting them both done at the same time, I'd go with option B. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!

[janedoe92 260]

I have been informed by my surgeon after my egd scope that I will need to have a hiatal hernia repair and she wants to go ahead and do it at the same time as the sleeve surgery. This probably has contributed to my worry and fear more than the sleeve itself. My sister works on that recovery floor and sees this everyday, she has told me that I will experience more pain and possibly longer recovery time than patients who have only sleeve surgery. My question is did anyone else have this surgery at the same time as the sleeve??? If so, please share your experiences, such as your healing time and if it made eating/swallowing harder? etc. Thanks for any helpful hints.

I got the switch (the sleeve is a component) and a hernia repair. Most my pain the doctor said will be from the hernia repair, but that I could have a good recovery because I'm young (24). The first day pain was bad (not too memorable now) so I was on meds all day the second day wasn't that bad, still in some pain but bearable. I didn't need the pain meds past the 2nd day. My recovery was pretty smooth for the most part, but everyone is different. Hope this helps!

[hermione53 157]

I had an unexpected hiatal hernia repair done at the time of my sleeve surgery. I was up and moving around right away, but I found that the pain was more than I expected. I've heard people say that sleeve surgery is easier than gallbladder surgery. In my experience they were pretty similar pain-wise. I stayed on pain meds (Oxycodone) for almost three weeks, I think. However, I did miss doses when I had to drive to an appointment and I just took Aleve. My doctor said that there were a mess of stitches she had to deal with from my second lap-band surgery so maybe I had added pain because of that. Or maybe it's just because I'm older now (47).

[llindsey833 0]

I had hernia repair at the same time as the sleeve, no problems, doing great. Did not impact my recovery time

[bv33 1]

my surgeon only gives liquid tylenol 3. i wonder if thats because she lives to torture me. haha