My new belly button...yeah, not so much, but it's closer to this than before the umbilical hernia repair
I recently passed the 40th day since my open umbilical hernia repair with mesh surgery.
Thank you all for the comments and email about my first post: what to ask your doctor prior to an umbilical hernia repair.
For the benefit of the community, I’ve included a few of your messages below with your names redacted (please pop me an email if you’d rather I remove your messages altogether).
As I mentioned in my first post, I was very nervous about having this procedure done. Yes, my belly button was disfigured and slightly uncomfortable when touched, but really, was that such a big deal?
I was at the tail end of an intensive 3-month exercise program and was very much enjoying the unencumbered physical exertion: jumping jacks, ab crunches, push-ups, resistance training, stretching and yoga. A week prior to my scheduled surgery, I had cold feet.
That’s when I reached out to my doctor with a bunch of questions and wrote up the previous blog post. Today, I’m happy to say that the entire procedure and recovery went exceedingly well, better than I expected even. Throughout the day, I have no reminders of the surgery short of a nicer looking belly button.
I’ve had no lingering pain, no “tugging” that others reported and no restriction at all when exercising (even ab crunches). Here are some day-by-day details of my umbilical hernia recovery experience:
