Should I go through with the surgery?

[blondielenore]

For many years, my upper stomach has been growing larger and larger. Although I am a bit overweight, I knew that this was not normal. Finally a diagnosis.. I have an epigastric hernia so I have surgery and fix it right? Well, my surgery is scheduled for THIS FRIDAY (two days from today) and now I am reading all of the forums and all of the bad news from patients that are sorry they went through with the surgery. ARE THERE ANY GOOD AFTER SURGERY REPORTS OUT THERE? I don't know if I will make an already bad situation worse or if there is hope for me. Please help. Thanks so much!

[blondielenore]

I just wanted to follow up and say I had the surgery on Friday... today is Wednesday and I feel GREAT! Almost no pain left and the whole experience was good. First few days were rough but that is to be expected. I'm back to work and will continue to be very careful with lifting, strain,etc... but all in all, I'm very glad I went through with it. Thanks!

[blondielenore]

Thank you for your feedback doubleaaaron... I will take it into consideration.

[blondielenore]

Thank you Dr. Watters. That does make me a bit more confident. If you search epigastric hernia on this site, you will see all of the horror stories I refer to. They talk about very bad pain, burning, excessive bloating, re-tearing of the wound, mesh difficulties, etc.

I am going to call my surgeon's office when they open and see if I can get some statistics on success rate. If they are anything like yours, I will go foward. Thanks again!  

[Christopher R Watters, MD]

As a surgeon repairing an epigastric hernia is one of the simplest things that I do. The complication rate is exceedingly low and the success rate extremely high (i.e. about a 1% recurrence rate). It is hard for me to image anyone with significant post op issues. I have repaired hundreds and haven't seen any major complaints. What are these horror stories that you refer to?

[doubleaaaron]

I can't say for everyone, but my aunt and ex girlfriend both had this surgery. They both did really well with no complications. My aunt is overweight as well but my ex was not. So it really depends on the person. I would say for a hernia it's never a bad idea to have them fixed in most cases. I have had a couple althought they were not in the same area as yours I had them repaired and did fine. Another thing depends on the surgeon. Is there any way to possibly check online to see if anyone has posted about him doing a hernia repair? You should be able to search his name and find some reviews. good luck with it!