I had parastomal hernia repair surgery by Dr. Cima on April 10 of this year. I am 76 years old; I have an ileostomy; my total proctocolectomy was in September 2023; my hernia developed about six months after my colon was removed.
Some things I experienced:
• It is a major surgery – 4 to 5 hours on the table.
• I was in the hospital at Mayo for 8 days. It took a while for my digestive system to begin working again. I ate almost nothing (Dr.’s orders) while waiting for my system to kick in. It did and I was able to avoid the nasal-gastric tube.
• Patients must wear an elastic hernia belt all day (not at night) for 6 weeks after the surgery.
• No lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk for 6 weeks.
• Ten weeks before resuming previous exercise routines (Pilates, light weightlifting, etc.)
• Two weeks to resume driving.
• While he was in there, Dr. Cima did a stoma revision. (Before the surgery he advised me that he might do so.) This has sent me on a journey to identify new pouching products. I’m getting there.
• I had an infection adjacent to the stoma several weeks into my recovery. They said it was probably an infected stitch. It cleared up with some modified pouching and antibiotics.

I’m glad I had the surgery. I was concerned that the hernia would grow and due to my age, I did not want to have a major elective surgery 5 or 10 years from now.