Hernia discovered during surgery!

[LL67 0]

Just wanted to see if anyone else has had or heard of anyone having this. While my doc was in there to do my band, he discovered a pretty large hiatal hernia that somehow did not show up on the BIRAGE of tests we had to do before surgery! He had to repair that first because my stomach was pushed up into my chest! Crazy. I have one incision that is about 2 inches long, and 4 others that are tiny. Pretty shocking, I had no symptoms.

[abingdongirl 0]

I had the same thing happen to me, but I didn't do any test to see if it was there prior, The only symptoms I would have is an occasional heart burn that would be so slight that I never paid any attention to it,

I am just glad they found it as a friend of mine's father who was of older age, died two weeks after having his repaired after suffering years of this and never knowing the cause...

[lotusflwr 0]

Wow glad your both okay!!!! Patty

[mommyx2 0]

i had a hernia repair while i was banded too...and a friend of mine was banded yesterday and they also repaired a hernia on her as well.. also my surg. told me that the reason why i might be extra sore was because of the repair.

[abbypoo 0]

I know it is pretty common. The packet of information my doctor gave me before my surgery pretty much said something to the effect of "if we find a hernia while we're doing the surgery we'll go ahead and repair it while we're in there." I think it's pretty common in overweight people, just like the whole fatty liver issue. Just another reason to be happy that you got the surgery, am I right?

[formerfatchick 1]

Ditto ! I had a small haitial hernia repaired also ! had no idea it was there and besides the very occasional and mild heartburn never really had any symptoms !!!

[slpcat 0]

I also had a HH repair and I had no idea I had one. Now that I know I had it, I can recognize the symptoms. I had acid reflux pretty bad and every now and then I would feel a "catch" in my chest. I used to think it might be my heart and I was worried. Now I realize it was my stomach catching on whatever it was herniated into??? (not sure what)

[rbca314 0]

I had a HH too. It was pretty big and the Dr repaired during surgery. I always thought it might be a possibility because of heartburn and diffuculty swallowing. I haven't had any heartburn since my surgery. I can definitely tell something is different - of course the band makes so much difference too.

[LL67 0]

Wow, that is amazing, I had no idea HH was that common. Guess being overweight contributes to it, like Abby said. Yes, thankfully we had the surgery and it was found! Its ALL good! Is anyone getting an appetite back? I suddenly am feeling hungry and of course am still on liquid diet....

[abbypoo 0]

LL67. I don't really have my appetite back, but I think I am suffering from "eyes are bigger than my stomach" disorder... i.e. I really want to eat a cheeseburger right now, but obviously I would probably not be able to get more than a bite or two down (not that I would try it at this point ladies). I get hungry when I see other people eating so I assume that it's just all mind games for me. So what are you doing to keep yourself from starving on that liquid diet? Lots of Soup? You know, I have never liked soup and I think after this experience I'm going to ban in altogether. Lol

[LL67 0]

I am just hungry, but like you said can't get much down. I'm so sick of cream Soup I can't even begin to think about it, and that was the one thing that was keeping me feel full and satisfied. The Protein Shakes are making me want to puke. I'm basically eating sugar free yogurt, ice pops and ummmm, hate to say it but thats about it! Starting tomorrow I can puree some foods....so...not sure what the heck would be good pureed! Thurs. I can eat "minced food" which is really something to look forward to! Pretty much anything, well you know, within reason, chopped up really small. Exciting! I am starving right now, I must say.

[abbypoo 0]

You are lucky that you are moving onto stages of real food. I don't even get Soup or yogurt until Thursday. I wonder what would be good pureed too? Can you puree a cheeseburger? Lol... yes, it's still on my mind. Can you eat cottage cheese? That is in my "soft foods" stage and I can't wait 'cause I love the stuff. I can't wait until I can start eating "real" meals again, though. I'm looking forward to week four of my diet because I can start eating soft fish! Yay Friday fish fry!

[LL67 0]

Last night i had to have something tasty, so I went to our local seafood restaurant and got a lobster bisque to go... I was so excited, thinking hey its creamy, no solids in it...Well I ate about 1/4 of it and then had excruciating pains in my stomach followed by an extended stay in the bathroom (sorry, gross). I was thinking, hey wait, they cook this stuff with sherry I believe, and I guess it was just too rich. Now I see why they say our little tummys need to learn to eat again normally...

[jackelfret 0]

I had a HH also that was fixed during surgery. Even though I had never been diagnosed with it I had been on prilosec for over 10 years for GERD. After reading about HH on this forum before surgery I suspected I had gotten a HH during my military years doing all those sit ups and crunches, which is also when my GERD symptoms started. Needless to say, the doctor told me after surgery that he did fix a large HH and that it should make a big difference in my quality of life. Every year I use to have episodes where I would get food or stomach acid going down my windpipe, which would cause mild cases of pnumonia. Not fun. I hope I averted any long term damage.

Anyway, the Dr. said no more prilosec needed after surgery. He was right. I haven't had to take any since and haven't had any symptoms. Saving 30 bucks a month on prilosec will be worth fixing the HH alone.

As you said, pretty common problem that nobody really knows about.