Hernia surgery and starting over...

[BALDNAZI]

Whatsup everybody, its been awhile but I do check in now and then. The board is doing great and its nice to see alot of knowledge being shared between the old vets and the new blood.

As some of you know, I had an umbilical hernia for quite awhile that I kept putting off fixing. It got bigger along with a second one 2 inches higher that became even larger. It affected my training a lot and deads and squats were out of the question. That being said I did hover between 290 and 300lbs for most of the past few years fairly solid without doing my 2 favorite excercises.

I bit the bullet and went to get myself repaired this past month and along with the 2 umbilicals my doc found a smaller inguinal(groin) hernia and I decided to get that done as well.

The first few days were pretty painful but nothing compared to what i went through with my liver surgery almost 5 years ago. Im doing pretty good now and I will be able to start light cardio next week and weights a couple weeks after that.

I know I could push it and start sooner but this layoff will do me good as I have been hitting it hard without any huge breaks since 2006. In the big scheme of things whats a couple of months off to clean the body out and heal up any nagging injuries? Dusty posted something similar on IM.

I took it easy with the weights and the diet for about a month prior to surgery and the day of weighed 275. Now I am holding at 265 and plan on getting to 275-285 much leaner then normal by summer.

Should be fun starting from scratch again and making some really nice clean gains. Just thought I would post it here and be able to hold myself to it for motivation.

So if any of you guys have a hernia or another medical issue, my advice is to get it over with. The gym will always be there in the end and the break is guaranteed to do you good...

 

[Dens228]

I was wondering where you've been. I had hernia surgery many years ago and bounced back pretty quick. OF course I was in my early 20's then!

Welcome back, I look forward to your posts.

 

[cecray3]

Hey BN, I too just had an umbilical hernia corrected via surgery. Mine was tiny (less than 2cm) but rather than let it get worse, I had it fixed promptly and am back lifting again. I lost a lot of size in my down-time (approx. 6 weeks). I guess in the grand scheme of things, we have nothing but time and sometimes life is all about taking two steps forward and one back!

 

[MightyJohn]

Welcome back BN...been a while since You've been on

 

[maldorf]

Be careful!

I too had 3 hernias pathced up, one umbilical and two inguinals, all in one surgery. I came back a little too fast I guess and I ended up blowing out my umbilical hernia again. Its much much smaller than it originally was though. Its been about 7 years now and it has not grown, so hopefully it wont tear any more. going in for surgery now for me is really dangerous since im on coumadin and my heart is worth shit now so I dont want to have to go under anesthesia if I dont have to.

the one I blew out is mesh too, so dont believe it when they tell you that it will be stronger than normal. I think I blew it out doing deads or squats.

 

[get it in ya]

get healthy big dog!! keep the head up and get after it when you heal completely

 

[BALDNAZI]

...

Thanks guys, its good to see some old names. MJ whatsup big man? Dens still doing DC?

cecray, you will be fine. I think your alot younger then me and that means a much easier bounceback. You will gain the weight back and then some.

Alfresco anything serious? Hopefully not brother

Maldorf, i have been following your heart issues closely and truly wish you the best. How fast was too fast until you got a hernia again? My doc says after 6 weeks its going to be as strong as its going to be but to ease back into it slowly obviously. I feel squats/deads should be possible by June without much trouble and everything else much sooner then that. Thoughts?

 

[Thor]

Welcome back BN

Hey good to hear your doing well man, I've got an umbilical hernia too and have had it for a couple years now but without ins. it's gonna have to wait. So are you as sick of shoveling snow as I am ?

 

[LEX]

has it been 5 years already! shit...

glad you got it done BN good to see you here again brother.

 

[dragonfire101]

Good to see your around BN.

I feel for you and all on this board with their share of medical issues. It gets discouraging especially when your over one and then something else creeps up right when progress is starting to be noticed.

Keep pushing through it my brothers as what don't kills us makes us stronger with the next day to learn and enjoy another whether it be great or somewhat crappy one its at least another.

Stay strong....

 

[Tom]

Hey Old Friend,
Heal quickly but take it slow coming back. Muscle memory will get you back to your previous numbers by summer. Stay a little leaner and get a good tan!!

Tom

 

[maldorf]

Maldorf, i have been following your heart issues closely and truly wish you the best. How fast was too fast until you got a hernia again? My doc says after 6 weeks its going to be as strong as its going to be but to ease back into it slowly obviously. I feel squats/deads should be possible by June without much trouble and everything else much sooner then that. Thoughts?

Well, its been about 7 years and to be honest I dont remember the time frame of my recovery. I do remember though that I had been doing deads and squats for awhile before it blew out. I think it was about 3-4 months after the surgery, when it should have been safe. I took it slow coming back too. I used all machines for the first 3 weeks back and then eased into free weights. Squats, deads, and bentover rows were the last lifts I added back in. IMO there isnt a whole lot you can do in the long run to avoid blowing it out again except for making sure you breathe right and dont hold your breath too much. Sometimes though,especially when youre pusing it, its hard not to do a valsalva manuever, hold your breathe.
I take it that you got mesh on all 3, right? My inguinals have been holding strong.

 

[BALDNAZI]

Yea Thor, I hate the fucking snow! Good thing now is I dont have to shovel the rest of the season, there is a blessing with the hernia surgery indeed! My family hates me haha.

Dragon,Tom, and Lex whatsup brothers!! Thanks for the words my old friends and getitinya as well.

Mesh for the umbilical as it was pretty bad. The inguinal was small but in a bad spot so the doc did it without mesh but the method he used has the same reoccurence rate as mesh. He felt very confident in the way he did it and has done many athletes and lifters before so we will see how it holds up.

In general he is not a mesh proponent for inguinals, as they have alot of issues with nerve problems, chronic pain and mesh migration. For example my friend who is a powerlifter had mesh put in his groin a few years back from a different doc and now it tore again and the mesh has moved. He needs to get the mesh taken out and have a full repair again. My doc is well known for what he does, so I trust him. Time will tell.

I do know for sure to take it slow, thats one thing I have no choice in for now. Its all part of the recovery.

 

[concreter]

What were your symptons?? starting last yr i've been getting abb cramps now and again { severe}..Quit doing lower abb exersizes for a while and it stopped..Then just monday did heavy legs and 1/2hr later lower abb locked up.. Lower left wall..Then did abb crunch machine for 100 reps with floor crunhes just yesterday and entire abb wall was spasiming hrs later..Happened twice yesterday,upper + lower abbs, both sides taking turns...Caant move until they settle down up to 5min..rite now there sore as f***. May even blow off chest day today!!!! Seem fimiliar????

 

[aussiebulldog]

good to see you back mate. and good to see that you are looking after yourself.
its amazing how we fear a couple of months off gym... and how good it does to our body.

 

[BigChef]

Hey BN good to see you back bro. Wishing you a speedy recovery mate. If there is anything you need, let me know.

 

[Dens228]

Thanks guys, its good to see some old names. MJ whatsup big man? Dens still doing DC?

I'm training under Phil and growing while my waist shrinks, even as a middle aged man!

 

[Big A]

How fast was too fast until you got a hernia again? My doc says after 6 weeks its going to be as strong as its going to be but to ease back into it slowly obviously. I feel squats/deads should be possible by June without much trouble and everything else much sooner then that. Thoughts?

I'll tell you this. I had an umbilical fixed normally and double inguinal with lapro. Both times it took a good 4 months until I was back 100%.

 

[Big A]

What were your symptons?? starting last yr i've been getting abb cramps now and again { severe}..Quit doing lower abb exersizes for a while and it stopped..Then just monday did heavy legs and 1/2hr later lower abb locked up.. Lower left wall..Then did abb crunch machine for 100 reps with floor crunhes just yesterday and entire abb wall was spasiming hrs later..Happened twice yesterday,upper + lower abbs, both sides taking turns...Caant move until they settle down up to 5min..rite now there sore as f***. May even blow off chest day today!!!! Seem fimiliar????

That's no hernia. Check your minerals.

 

[The Beast]

I blew my bellybutton out a couple of years ago and to have surgery to have it repaired. Really put a huge damper on my lifting B4 I had it fixed. Got to the point where I could barely even go to the gym . Took about 6 months after the surgery to really be able to hit it hard again. Now, I feel better than I have in years. Not to mention I can actualy train abbs again....