Parastomal hernia operation

Hi Kim,

I don't have any advice I'm afraid, I just want to say good luck and I also would be interested in any advice! I have a large Parastomal Hernia that I'm hoping they'll decide to repair soon,

Hope everything goes well Kim,

Moira x

Thanks Moira. I hope you get your repair soon. I'll let you know haw it goes.

Kim

Hi blackstuff Kim

No experience to share I’m afraid, as I’ve not had a parastomal hernia, but wanted to wish you all the best with your surgery.

I’m sure your experience will be very useful when you can report back to the group, as it’s a topic that does come up from time to time. One of my friends is waiting for a repair at the moment and is quite apprehensive so I’ll check back to see how it goes for you.

Sarah xx

Thank you Sarah. I'm hoping it will go ahead as I was supposed to go in on 5th February but it was cancelled. I guess I just feel a bit apprehensive as I live alone. I'll definitely report back with my experience if I can help anyone else. I have my pre-op assessment tomorrow, which hasn't been cancelled so I'll take it as a good sign.

Kim xx

Hi Kim,

I came home from hospital last night after having surgery for an open component hernia repair. I had 4 hernias - 3 ‘moderate’ incisional hernias and a large parastomal hernia. So long story short, my surgery turned out being a little bit more extensive than first thought as they needed to take the mesh much further around my left flank than originally anticipated.

I was up and out of bed after about 8 hrs as no catheter was fitted and I needed the loo!! On day 2 the physio (or torturer as I liked to called him!) made an appearance. Had physio on day 3 too. I was in hospital for 6 days and each day I was encouraged to walk at least 150 metres yards, with the aim of building up my strength. I’m a walker so I asked about distance and was just told that I need to listen to my body - if you experience a pulling feeling, then you need to stop.

I have hubby at home but sent him back to work today (before we kill each other!). I’ve been fine all day. I did come home with a bottle of Oramorph but paracetamol is working for me at the morning. The thing I’m currently struggling with is the abdominal drain that I came home with - I keep getting it caught on the kitchen door handles. Hopefully it will be removed Weds/Thurs before I accidentally pull it out.

The kettle was mentioned to me too. I bought a 500ml thermos flask prior to surgery and it’s worked a treat today - only needed to use the kettle once. I also bought a couple of 1L milk cartoons too so you don’t need to lift any heavy milk jugs etc.

For me, surgery hasn’t been too painful (hope I’ve not tempted fate there!). The only thing that I’m disappointed with is that my stoma had completely changed. The size hasn’t changed, just the location and appearance. My stoma used to sit proudly on my left side, I could easily see it and never had a leak in the 3 yrs that it was formed. My abdomen now looks like I’ve had a tummy tuck and my stoma appears to be more concave. My stoma nurse is coming out next week to review my prescription, so I might need to change my bag type. Just hope things have calmed down by then as it’s been all go today on the bag changing front! 

Sending you all the luck in the world with your surgery, Kim. Hope it goes well for you.

Liz x

Hi Liz.

• Thanks for your reply. It sounds like you had quite a challenging time of it! It's good to hear you're doing well. You seem like a glass half full person. I like to think I am too. Good idea about the 1 litre milk cartons. I  have on of those Breville hot cup water dispensers rather than a kettle, so once full I only have to put my mug under and press the button. My sister is coming in to feed my cats while I'm in hospital so I'll ask her to fill it for me. I've been batch cooking and have a good selection of easy meals in the freezer and am going to do a big shop tomorrow, so I won't need to bother my sister too much. She doesn't mind but she has my disabled mother living with her, and works full time from home. I think I have quite a high pain threshold, so I hope my recovery will be good. Your experience has been very valuable, although I probably won't have the same as you did. I hope you continue to recover well and soon get back to normal. 
• Kimxx

I hope it all goes well Kim.I live on my own too but had my sister’s help for the first few days post op ( bladder removal) She left the non perishable food out where I could easily reach it without bending and that was helpful.Jane x

Thanks Jane.

I hope you're feeling well now. That's a good idea. I'll go through my freezer tomorrow and put the prepared meals in the top drawers to reduce the need to bend too much. I just want to get it over and get back to normal. 

Kim x

I’m ok thanks.I hope you will manage well.My fridge is low down which was trickier to manage post op.I ended up sort of sliding down and back up to use it.x

Damn, I wish I’d thought of getting a Breville hot water dispenser, what a great idea. By the time I left hospital on Sunday, I’d brainwashed myself into thinking that I needed a special Quooker tap after watching so many adverts about it whilst I was in there!

Anyway I just wanted to share something funny with you that happened today. I came downstairs this morning to find that hubby had left the litter picker out in the hall (we’re part of the local Wombles group that helps keep our little village tidy). When he got in last night, he spent about 5 mins picking up everything I’d dropped throughout the day (I’ve lost a small amount of grip after having chemo). I’ve got to say, the litter picker has been a godsend today as my slipper got stuck under the table and I needed to flick it out!!

Thank you so much for your kind words re, my recovery, Kim. I’ve outlived my sell by date by 2 yrs, so I’m definitely a half glass kinda girl (with a high pain threshold too as I’ve had so much done over the yrs lol). It certainly helps build resilience I’ll say that. 

Sending you lots of luck for tomorrow.

Liz xx