Yep it is a mesh. Dont get me wrong, I was happy going ahead with the op, but probably needed more or better advice on the recovery side. See how it goes after a few more easy days.
Thought I’d do an update on my last post, since I’m now feeling a lot better. From the time I started getting pain, I took a week off the bike completely but was still getting the discomfort every day - not constant but certain movements would trigger it, even kicking a ball with my toddler.
After a week I seen my surgeon, he checked it out and said everything looked great, but there’s a chance of the mesh or scar tissue rubbing against a nerve, or more likely a ligament. Said I should keep exercising but take it easy.
I jumped on the bike, done a 40min Z2 and haven’t looked back, it was as if I need a workout just to stretch it out a bit. I’ve only had the issue 2 or 3 times since. I kept doing easy rides for a week but felt so good that I just did a ramp test and moved onto SSBMV - so far so good, for now its just my legs I need to worry about.
1 Like
I’m 8 days post op for an umbilical hernia repair… wondering if anyone has experience recovery for this type of hernia?
It was an open incision with Mesh. I had a few positive referrals on the surgeon who performed the surgery.
I was told 6-8 week recovery before I’d be back to active rides. I’ve been getting 20 minutes walks in every other day since surgery. Today I did two walks and totaled about 6 miles. No pain walking… but any core activation still painful. Sneezing or coughing definitely not enjoyable.
Anyone else with an umbilical hernia recovery? Guessing similar to other types but don’t really know. Thanks
I found this thread really helpful to read so am reviving it to share my own experience. Op was Friday (30 September) and it’s now Thursday, so it’s day 7. Inguinal hernia right side - open with mesh - I wasn’t really offered a choice but I think it’s probably what I’d have chosen anyway.
Got diagnosed in June 2020 & there was no pain and almost no impact on daily life (other than not being allowed to strength train), so I was ranked about the lowest priority you can get in NHS Scotland. Completely understandable and no complaints from me, just glad to have the NHS! It took 27 months from first GP referral to surgery, and they ended up swapping me to a different surgeon than the one I had my consult with 9 months ago, so I’d never actually met my surgeon until the morning of the op - he did apologise for that and emphasise it wasn’t normal or desired but it was obviously a knock-on effect of trying to clear the covid backlog. I think it probably made me a lot more anxious about the surgery in the weeks leading up to it. It also made me too frightened to ask about his experience with these surgeries because I was short of options if I got an answer I didn’t like. All seems ok so far though!
- I tried to make up for the pre-surgery fast by drinking not just a glass of water or a cup of black coffee right before the cutoff as recommended, but 2 cups of coffee and a glass of water. I was first on the surgery schedule for the day but ended up getting bumped to second because of all the fluid I drank (I guess to make sure I didn’t pee myself during surgery?)
- I almost passed out when leaving hospital so had to sit down and drink some juice and eat some sweets whilst they waited for my blood pressure to come back up - turns out one sandwich post-surgery just isn’t enough fuel for an endurance athlete.
- My partner and I are living apart whilst we go through some counselling stuff together, so I had to decide how long to ask her to come stay and look after me. I settled on 3 nights based on what I read in this thread and that was about right. The other thing to consider if you live alone is the pre-surgery deep clean of the house - it’s a pretty huge task to get the place in the kind of shape that means you can go a month without cleaning or repairing anything!
- I did a good job with fiber the day(s) beforehand, but the co-codamol (codeine plus tylenol/paracetamol) made me constipated so I didn’t go until Sunday when I came off those drugs. Used them Sunday night to ensure good sleep but I don’t think I really needed them.
- I’m finding ibuprofen far more helpful than paracetamol, I think because the little shots of sharp pain I’m getting from certain movements are when something tugs on one of the internal stitches or the mesh, so bringing down swelling limits that? I’ve come off of painkillers entirely for fairly long chunks today and will probably try to go without them altogether soon. I think for a few days now I’ve been using them for comfort rather than out of necessity, but I do still wake up in the night when they wear off.
- Sounds like I’m being way more cautious in my movements/activities than others in this thread - I think I’m avoiding any movement/action that’s a bit painful not because I can’t handle the pain but because I’m frightened of damaging the repair. They said it’s strong enough to handle coughing, pushing on the toilet, etc. but those things all still scare me. The nurse at my pre-op assessment told me not to put more water in the electric kettle than is necessary so it’s not too heavy, but then my surgeon told me I can do pretty much any normal household activity that I feel up to, so there’s a bit of a disconnect there.
- Surgeon said 6 weeks before anything strenuous but was a bit vague about when to start spinning easy on the trainer again - just said take it easier than you think you need to, build up slowly, etc. but wouldn’t give a projected timeline or key indicator to watch for. I feel like I probably could jump on the bike in the next couple of days but that it wouldn’t be a great idea. I’m currently thinking I might try 15 minutes at 100w just shy of the 4 week mark, but will of course see how things are going nearer the time.
- Walked around the block today - took it really slow and easy. Long strides give me that sharp pain, but it does feel like my range of pain-free motion is getting a bit bigger every day. Tomorrow I’ll walk slightly further, etc. Surgeon really emphasised the importance of walking - he basically said to do as much walking as my body lets me.
I’m sure I’m capable of a lot more than I’m allowing myself to do just now, but I actually landed a pretty perfect surgery date so I’m happy to take my time with recovery and make sure it goes really well. I’m missing the last of the good autumn cycling weather, but I probably would have done a season re-set pretty soon anyway. I was going to try cyclocross for the first time this year but just for fun really, so that can wait. As it is, looks like I’ll probably be back to training in earnest from about the start of December which works out pretty well for main races in late April, early June, and mid July.
Now got to start working out a plan to bring strength training into my routine this winter!
3 Likes
Update 24 October (3 1/2 weeks post-op)
Infection
The day after my last post I got a good long-ish walk in - about a mile I think - and felt much freer movement. But the day after that (day 9) pain increased in a strange way, started finding blood on the bandage again, and I started to feel feverish, so ended up in out of hours care where they confirmed the incision was infected. They said it was pretty normal, put me on a 5 day course of the most basic antibiotics they’ve got, and that took care of it - symptoms all gone within about 24 hours, but definitely felt some extra fatigue until I finished the course of pills. Probably set me back a bit but not much. The unaffected portion of the wound was almost completely healed by this point. I kept walking a bit but definitely scaled back.
Driving
I think I drove for the first time on day 11 (counting the op as day 1 rather than 0). I was probably capable of doing so sooner, but that was about right in terms of comfort - I wouldn’t have wanted to do more than 15 minutes at a time. Manual transmission meant it was a definite advantage that my op was right side (gas/brakes rather than clutch leg, so all in the ankle really). I expect if it was a left side op and I drove an automatic I could have been behind the wheel significantly sooner.
Return to Work
The day after the 2 week-versary (day 16) I had a one-off freelance work engagement - basically a day of in-person meetings, so more than clerical but not exactly active. I was able to walk 5 minutes either side of a train commute (rather than having to take a taxi) & other than having to bow out of rearranging furniture I was able to do the job as-normal, but was pretty wiped out when I got home. By this point my main discomfort out in the world was from the pressure/stiffness of wearing jeans and a belt rather than pyjamas or joggers. I’d say from about that day onwards I’ve been able to do almost normal working hours as long as I’m at home in loungewear and can change chairs, lie down, etc. throughout the day.
Rehab
Day 19 I drove about 40 minutes to go for a walk in the woods - my first time out of the city, which I really needed. Walk was just less than 3 miles, mostly flat with a few small ups and downs and some uneven terrain. Took me about an hour and I only felt discomfort growing in the last 10 minutes or so.
Now approaching the 4 week mark I’m definitely getting restless. Recovered enough to have my energy back but not quite healed enough to do much with it yet. This week has also been the part where I’m most uncertain about what to attempt when since I didn’t have any concrete guidelines. I went searching for ‘hernia repair rehab protocol’ the other day and discovered this pdf which I found incredibly helpful, particularly this line:
“Pain should not go up more than 2 points on a 10 point pain scale with exercise or functional mobility”
It’s just what I needed - a specific but individualised guideline/limiter. There are also a lot of other helpful guidelines and key markers in there which gave me a lot of comfort/confidence in what I’m choosing to do and avoid and where my progress sits relative to the template.
Back to the Bike
This morning I sat on the trainer and turned 5 slow pedal strokes just to see what the range of motion feels like. So far so good, but it’s definitely new and I can feel it afterwards - though that might just be hyper-vigilance. Assuming I don’t feel sore tomorrow I might start making it a regular thing, with a goal of doing 10 minutes in ERG at 30-35% when I hit the 4 week mark at the end of this week.
I’m confident enough that I’ve now set up Plan Builder for next season’s events, beginning after the 8-week post-op mark. I’m thinking that will give me weeks 5-6 to make my way from 10min@35% to 60min@40-45%, then weeks 7-8 to progress into some z2-3 workouts and outdoor riding before starting the training plan. I’ve also started looking for a strength coach/physio to get me started on the right track with some lifting as and when appropriate.
NHS just sent me a follow-up appointment, but it’s not until 8 1/2 weeks post-op, so I guess it’s going to be more about making sure it’s all gone well rather than about guiding me during the rehab process.
1 Like
Ha, looks like we had our surgeries within a couple days of each other! I had laparoscopic and mesh. I had a lot of the same sensations you’re describing but was able to expand activity on a little quicker timeline.
1 Like
I had a right side iguinal repair done in June this year. (Open surgery, mesh repair as an emergency for “strangled” hernia. Surgery was planned for August.) Back riding now and free from any pain, discomfort so all good. I am finding that the balance of my legs has changed from being normally 50/50 or slightly biased to right leg, to 53 / 47 left leg bias. Anybody else had this experience?