hernia

belindahill · May 2011

Hi have not posted for a long time, 2mths after my husbands chemo has finished for stage 3c cc. Things are going well, have colonoscopy june 9th and another ct to follow. Still early days and keeping our fingers crossed for good results. My husband has developed a hernia near the site of surgery, what happens with this? Also his tummy is taking a long time to go down still seems quite swollen. I hope all of you are coping well, thinking of you at this difficult time of our lives.

John23 · May 2011

Belindahill -

Re:
"My husband has developed a hernia near the site of surgery, what happens with this? "

Hernias and/or" adhesions" are fairly common after intensive
abdominal surgery. When they "open you up", they cut through
major muscles that usually keep your insides inside, now those
muscles are damaged.

You can look into using a hernia belt, and that will bring back
some semblance of normal as far as looks go, but it won't
fix anything except the way one appears while one wears it.
There are companies that specialize in hernia belts for patients
with or without an ostomy.
(One is here: http://nu-hope.com/products.php)

There are surgical procedures that can be done, where the
surgeon adds a section of mesh under the skin to help
retain everything that was once retained normally, but doing
that usually results in more hernias and adhesions.

Ask the surgeon about it, then make some appointments with
other surgeons specializing in colorectal surgery for other
opinions. The "new" surgeon(s) should -not- be of the same group
or organization as your present one; go out of the area, if
you have to, to locate surgeons.

Hernias -do not- go away by themselves, and adhesions usually
don't rear their heads until about three or more years after surgery.

Most people that suffer from one, will suffer from both.

You may find all of that disturbing. but not knowing what to
expect and being blind-sided with the happenings can be worse.

Wishing you both better health,

John

abrub · May 2011

I had a hernia too
and lots of adhesions. Depending on the size of the hernia, he may or may not need surgery. I waited 1 1/2 years after being told I had a hernia, and could have waited longer, as it wasn't causing any problems. However, the mental weight of knowing I would eventually have the surgery was dragging me down, so I decided to have surgery before it became a problem.

However, for the year and a half, I wore support garments when I was active (bicycling, walking long distances, curling.) I still do, but just out of habit.

The concern is that the intestines not get caught in the hernia. My CT scans kept an eye on the hernia, and let drs know I was okay.

The best bet is to avoid unnecessary surgeries in the abdomen, as there is a limit to what the body will tolerate. I've now had 3 surgeries, and the adhesions have been described as being a tight webbing within. For the hernia surgery, my surgeon released some of the adhesions of my intestines to my belly wall, so that he could place the mesh. As my problems from adhesions are limited to some discomfort, but no real issues, he avoided cutting any more than absolutely necessary, thus avoiding setting me up for new adhesions. My dr also used the opportunity to check visually for more cancer (mine - appendix cancer - had been seeded throughout the peritoneal cavity - all outside the colon.) His "all clear" was a welcome report.

Hopefully, your husband will not need more surgery

belindahill · May 2011

abrub said:
I had a hernia too
and lots of adhesions. Depending on the size of the hernia, he may or may not need surgery. I waited 1 1/2 years after being told I had a hernia, and could have waited longer, as it wasn't causing any problems. However, the mental weight of knowing I would eventually have the surgery was dragging me down, so I decided to have surgery before it became a problem.

However, for the year and a half, I wore support garments when I was active (bicycling, walking long distances, curling.) I still do, but just out of habit.

The concern is that the intestines not get caught in the hernia. My CT scans kept an eye on the hernia, and let drs know I was okay.

The best bet is to avoid unnecessary surgeries in the abdomen, as there is a limit to what the body will tolerate. I've now had 3 surgeries, and the adhesions have been described as being a tight webbing within. For the hernia surgery, my surgeon released some of the adhesions of my intestines to my belly wall, so that he could place the mesh. As my problems from adhesions are limited to some discomfort, but no real issues, he avoided cutting any more than absolutely necessary, thus avoiding setting me up for new adhesions. My dr also used the opportunity to check visually for more cancer (mine - appendix cancer - had been seeded throughout the peritoneal cavity - all outside the colon.) His "all clear" was a welcome report.

Hopefully, your husband will not need more surgery

hernia.
thank you so much for the reply, it is another thing to worry about, but will definitely try the support first, as my hubby has started to play squash again. Thank you again so much.

belindahill · May 2011

John23 said:
Belindahill -

Re:
"My husband has developed a hernia near the site of surgery, what happens with this? "

Hernias and/or" adhesions" are fairly common after intensive
abdominal surgery. When they "open you up", they cut through
major muscles that usually keep your insides inside, now those
muscles are damaged.

You can look into using a hernia belt, and that will bring back
some semblance of normal as far as looks go, but it won't
fix anything except the way one appears while one wears it.
There are companies that specialize in hernia belts for patients
with or without an ostomy.
(One is here: http://nu-hope.com/products.php)

There are surgical procedures that can be done, where the
surgeon adds a section of mesh under the skin to help
retain everything that was once retained normally, but doing
that usually results in more hernias and adhesions.

Ask the surgeon about it, then make some appointments with
other surgeons specializing in colorectal surgery for other
opinions. The "new" surgeon(s) should -not- be of the same group
or organization as your present one; go out of the area, if
you have to, to locate surgeons.

Hernias -do not- go away by themselves, and adhesions usually
don't rear their heads until about three or more years after surgery.

Most people that suffer from one, will suffer from both.

You may find all of that disturbing. but not knowing what to
expect and being blind-sided with the happenings can be worse.

Wishing you both better health,

John

thank you
Thank you John, your reply has helped us both. It is another disturbing thing to cope with, but being dx with cc stage 3c was earth shattering, we feel as we can cope with most thinks now. All the best to you and take care.

westie66 · May 2011

belindahill said:
hernia.
thank you so much for the reply, it is another thing to worry about, but will definitely try the support first, as my hubby has started to play squash again. Thank you again so much.

Incisional Hernias
Yup, incisional hernias seem to come with the territory of abdominal surgeries. I have one, too, but they won't fix it just yet as I'm still on chemo. The one thing they should check for is to see how large the split is - mine is 10 cm. Small tears are more problematic as the intestines can get stuck, cut off, and strangulate. That is a definite emergency situation requiring immediate treatment. I wear a hernia belt - its about 12 inches wide, elastic, and does the job of holding it all in. I wear it all the time. No pain, just uncomfortable, especially since I'm also wearing a 5FU pump. Good luck with that!
Cheryl

westie66 · May 2011

abrub said:
I had a hernia too
and lots of adhesions. Depending on the size of the hernia, he may or may not need surgery. I waited 1 1/2 years after being told I had a hernia, and could have waited longer, as it wasn't causing any problems. However, the mental weight of knowing I would eventually have the surgery was dragging me down, so I decided to have surgery before it became a problem.

However, for the year and a half, I wore support garments when I was active (bicycling, walking long distances, curling.) I still do, but just out of habit.

The concern is that the intestines not get caught in the hernia. My CT scans kept an eye on the hernia, and let drs know I was okay.

The best bet is to avoid unnecessary surgeries in the abdomen, as there is a limit to what the body will tolerate. I've now had 3 surgeries, and the adhesions have been described as being a tight webbing within. For the hernia surgery, my surgeon released some of the adhesions of my intestines to my belly wall, so that he could place the mesh. As my problems from adhesions are limited to some discomfort, but no real issues, he avoided cutting any more than absolutely necessary, thus avoiding setting me up for new adhesions. My dr also used the opportunity to check visually for more cancer (mine - appendix cancer - had been seeded throughout the peritoneal cavity - all outside the colon.) His "all clear" was a welcome report.

Hopefully, your husband will not need more surgery

Peritoneal cancers
HI: We've "talked" before. I've now started the folfiri treatment (oxaliplatin, irenotecan, leuco....., 5fu to treat the peritoneal nodules following gallbladder cancer. So, just so I understand it - the treatment worked for your peritoneal seeding? I did read in the literature that came with the oxaliplatin that it has been sort of successful for metatasis from colon cancer to the peritoneum. That's why we're trying it.
Cheryl

hernia

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