WOW! You have a lot going on too. I am going to guess by your name that you're 17, if I am wrong, sorry. I had my hernia for 2 years before surgery. I could push the lump back in the hole, girlfriends thought that was gross and hilarious. I played softball and beach football with the hernia. Good thing to do, maybe not, but I didn't want to be left out and my parents didn't know! lol. My inguinal hernia was 49 years ago, I am 65 now. In the "olden days ", you got hospitalized for 3+- days and at 16, I had zero tolerance to pain, but back then they gave strong pain medication, narcotics, fentanyl,etc were known to be addictive or even abused. The worst part of it all, was visiting friends and family thought it was their job to make you laugh to take your mind off any pain.... hence my comment about the PILLOW, it truly is mandatory...lol
But surgery for inguinal hernias have advanced a lot. In 1980, my baby girl twins had double hernia surgery, we arrived at 6am, home by 8pm. We would have been home earlier but one daughter decided she liked being knocked out and while I was panicking over it, she finally woke up. My baby son had double hernia surgery too, but he was three, and wanted to get back to his normal playful, translated, no fears play, and 6 months later he's back in surgery for a repair. Then my hubby had hernia surgery at the ripe old age of 55, it was outpatient surgery, in @ 7am, home by 1pm. The "tight" that you refer to, is not something I ever heard at any of the surgeries. You will be sensitive and tender, eat very light, drink lots , wear sweats or pjs. Gentle, slow walking will help you not get stiff, also helps with pooping. They generally put a piece of mesh over the hole, as reinforcement, after pushing back into place, whatever piece of your body was out of place. I kept to light eating and lounging around for a week or so, I milked up the time to not have to do any chores at home. The weak stomach lining is what seemed to run in our family. I was told to expect to have hernias again, if I had children. Oh, well, not that I could do anything about that. But at age 20, 8 months pregnant, following the first 4 months of pregnancy vomiting 🤮 10-20x a day, I get told "oh, gosh, you are having twins ". I had lost then gained weight, I was 185 lbs. I had labor for 10 hrs, not too painful cuz the twins were stuck, both heads down, emergency c-section. My son was a normal birth. I am telling you all this, to show you that you really don't have to be scared. I defied all of the odds against me and never had another inguinal hernia. Knowing what I know now about any abdominal surgery, it hurts to strain and straining to poop is a painful and could lead to the hernia repair to fail. I would recommend that you prepare your bowels as if you were having a colonoscopy, in other words, get your bowels EMPTY EMPTY the few days before surgery, then follow the drs instructions for afterwards, probably jello, water, water, add some electrolytes, broth, etc.
Your impaction, I am dying to know how your PCP thinks they could feel 💩 in your stomach? Add that you are having new cramping, with your other symptoms, should be paid attention to. !! Even with my 3 partial small bowel blockages, no dr ever even touched my stomach. 2 of the 3 small bowel problems cleared on their own with lots of miralax and very little solid foods for a week +-. The 3rd one landed me in the ER, it was the cramping that made my hubby call the ambulance. I had CT SCAN and it showed a SBO- small bowel obstruction was forming and still it could not be seen or felt on the outside. The doctor placed a nasal gastric tube up my nose and down my throat to my abdomen. YUCK! I don't ever want one of those things ever again. It sucked air out, so my bowel would untwist, while I got some nutrients through a IV, 3 days later I was home. Ever since I have kept my bowels loose on purpose. This hard mass in your stomach, have you had it X-rayed? if it were me or my children I'd demand a standing and laying down X-ray...that will tell you if your large colon/bowel has fecal matter in it. Very simple, don't wear anything with metal on it and you won't even have to wear a hospital gown. I have had X-rays every 2-4 months for 7+ years, at my polite request, turned not so polite if my GI gave me any sort of guff. I have only had a normal amount of fecal matter in my colon 1x, all of the other times I had/have moderate to severe "fecal load".
When is your hernia surgery scheduled? Is there a medical plan to deal with the mass, fecal impaction and cramping PRIOR to surgery?
I am here, I will answer any questions and fears you have regarding surgery or impaction. I will watch for your reply.
The hernia surgery will be 👍
The potential impaction, mass and cramping is what needs to be addressed, now. Shelley