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Hiatal Hernia Open Surgery
Has anyone had hiatal hernia surgery
( open surgery with mesh)that could not be done laparoscopically? I’m 71 and it is recommended but not mandatory to get. I can’t eat without having to throw up part of meal- mostly liquids. I take a pill daily. If I want better quality of life it was recommended to have surgery. At my age I am very active so don’t want to wait. Would like to know about the Open Surgery with mesh. How hard is it to recover? Thanks
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Hello @mbcarrei, Welcome to Connect. A better quality of life is important. I had similar concerns this past November when I had an open bilateral inguinal hernia surgery using mesh done. The left side was worse than the right and they originally wanted to do 2 surgeries with six week recovery in between but I talked with a different surgeon who agreed with me that it would be better for one recovery period. I had my surgery done at Rochester Mayo and was pretty much recovered in mid December. I too was hoping for laproscopic but the surgeon said it was too big to fix using laproscopic. I'm 79 and not terribly active but I do try to keep a daily exercise regime going to help with mobility. I have to be careful to stay away from constipation so that I don't undo the surgery which was the main concern with the mesh according to my surgeon.
There is an older discussion you might want to read through to learn what other members have shared:
-- Has anyone had surgery to repair hiatal hernia?:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/hiatal-hernia-sugery/
Here's some information I found on the topic:
"Because this is a major surgery, a full recovery can take 10 to 12 weeks. That being said, you can resume normal activities sooner than 10 to 12 weeks. For ..."
-- Hiatal Hernia Surgery: Recovery, Success Rate, and More:
https://www.healthline.com/health/hiatal-hernia-surgery
It sounds like you are in pretty good health and are active which I think would be a plus for having a good recovery. Have you talked with the surgeon or care team about recovery time and what to expect?