Laparoscopic Hernia Repair - 4 days after
July 4, 2008 The surgery was Monday (earlier post). Today is Friday. Independence Day here in the USA. And I am feeling a bit more independence. On Monday, I was taking 2 vicodin every 4 hours (actually a generic substitute - Hydrocodone/APAP). I did not want to be on this med for very long, so on Tuesday I cut that down to 1 tablet every 4 hours. On Wednesday it was 1/2 a tablet every 4 hours or so. Yesterday I took a couple of Advil a few times. Today is med-free.
I was told that vicodin can make it hard to poop. Understatement. They should tell folks that taking vicodin is like filling your colon with concrete. On Wednesday, I drank about a cup of prune juice an hour, eventually consuming 3 pints of the stuff, and finally that evening things seemed back to normal. Not like I'd downed a ton of colon-blow or something, mind you ...just back to normal! Wow.
I've been sleeping in the family room on a recliner, since that makes it easier to get up and down. Tonight I plan to go back to the real bed and see about getting a decent night's sleep.
The exercise plan is starting to take shape. Today's rigorous workout was a gentle stroll around the block. I may go out again this evening for a stroll. That beats the 'laps' I was doing yesterday through the house to try to get more movement. I'm hoping that by sometime next week I can be back to doing 3 miles a day ...even though it will be via very easy walking, no running at an incline on the treadmill :)
So the pain is quite bearable, the insides seem to be working, the body is getting back to burning a few calories (I think I burned 37 calories today), and the gut-bloat (from being 'inflated' for the procedure) is almost gone. The followup appointment is a week from today (11th July), at which time the stitches will be removed from the 4 small incisions. And at that time I'll again ask the doc about resumption of real workouts. He's advising to pretty much take all of July off from working out. That is hard! But going through this again would be worse, so I'll follow his advice.
Health
Reader Comments (4)
http://www.jibjab.com/view/127794
A bit too much information. Glad I'm not a doctor. It must be frustrating to put things on hold when your used to keeping so busy. Too bad they took the IV out - otherwise you could use it for espresso! Just got back from small-town fireworks. Five minutes to drive there, ten minutes back due to traffic. What fun! God bless you with a swift recovery.
Mike
I underwent a ventral hernia repair on Monday, June 30th. Today is Sunday, July 6th. I'm feeling much better. I've been off pain meds since Friday. Starting to feel like myself. Having the urge to pick up and clean my house. Scary thing is, I think I feel the same bulge in lower abdomin that I did BEFORE the surgery. Please, someone tell me that either I'm imagining it OR it's fluid of some sort that I read may need to be drained. My surgery was not done with mesh. Can anyone tell me if the hernia could be back so soon or is it most likely fluid that needs to be aspirated.