Hernia's on my incision from Esophagectomy

[yourhoneyb]

Hi I have two very noticeable hernia's on my 12 inch incision that are painful periodically. My surgeon told me to wear a corset but they are to uncomfortable. Anyone else in this group ever had this and do you have any suggestions rather than a corset? You would think they would repair it. I have lost 105 pounds since my surgery Oct 31, 2013. Going for my 8th stretch this coming Monday. I am now cancer free, but I worry about these hernia's

[spanner16]

I got a 15cm incisional hernia from my original oesophagetomy and had to have surgery to repair it. It was a pretty quick operation and they did what they call a mesh repair for it. I don't know if it was because mine was so big and sticking right out my front about the size of a small melon that they decided to give me surgery?

If they are giving you pain though they should surely give you the option of surgery to fix it?

[golfking]

Glad to hear you are now cancer free but that does not solve your hernia issue,I had the same after my operation but they told me they would not operate until the other operation had taken time to recover which was about a year and then they done a mesh repair opwhich was very successful,there is no reason why you cant get rid of that discomfort and return to some form of normality.

good luck'

Golfking

[Hidden]

My understanding is that these hernias can be repaired with a mesh, but it can be a pretty uncomfortable experience, and it may be that the surgeon is advising you to wear the support corset so that it gives you longer to regain full strength after the original surgery. I think it is the sort of thing that they would keep an eye on, and if it starts to get worse they would then operate because further delay might cause further problems and discomfort. There may be different sorts of corset, some of which may give you more comfortable support than others?

[yourhoneyb]

Thank you so much for your advise and comments. My surgery was 11 hours long and I ended up in Intensive Care for 10 days and was in hospital a total of 27 days mostly because I was very obese when I had the surgery. I think you are right in thinking they are waiting till I regain my strength and recover first. I started to swim laps for a half hour to an hour everyday to try to build my strength and muscle, and to keep on top of my weight issues. Hopefully that isn't what gave me the hernia's in the first place. I do go to see my surgeon again in September for a followup appointment.

[golfking in reply to yourhoneyb]

Maybe that would be the time to ask for some sort of procedure to repair your hernia,it is not a big op but is one that needs to be treated with caution as it can only be done once or twice especially if it requires a mesh,good for the future and I hope you have a speedy recovery...