Hernia operation - when is the best time?

[Psippsina]

I've had a small umbilical hernia since ds2 was born, he's now 7 and it got worse with ds3, who is now 2. I'm nervous about having it repaired, and nervous about not doing so!

What's worrying me partly is that I think you're not allowed to carry heavy things for a while afterwards, and obviously, ds3 is a toddler and needs to be carried quite frequently. I don't want a failed procedure situation but then, if I wait till he is bigger, say 4, I'll be back at work and may not have time to get it done anyway. (thinking I won't have the sort of job where you get sick leave)

Has anyone had this repair and if so what was it like - did it take long to recover, could you cope with small children without help?

Also worried about the anaesthetic and wouldn't want a general, so if anyone has had this op with just a local I'd be interested to know. When I saw the surgeon before, he said they could 'give it a try' which didn't sound very encouraging!

Thanks

I had an incisional hernia repair done a few years ago. It was the result of two sections and was an open repair under General anaesthetic. It was a similar scar but took me longer to get over probably because I didn't have a baby to make me get up and on with it! My kids were about 14/17 at the time! I was off work for 4 weeks.

Oh crikey that's a long time to be off, sounds traumatic. Poor you. Thanks for sharing - at least I'll be prepared!

I was hoping it would be a few days recovery and then avoiding lifting things/small people for a few weeks.

Mind you perhaps with a section there are more layers to repair? I'm not sure how it works tbh.

I wish I had stuck with one baby sometimes