Under The Knife...

About mid-way through my pregnancy with Eden, I developed two small lumps, one on either side of my lower abdomen. After giving birth, the lump on the right seemed to disappear, but the one on the left only got bigger. I learned that this lump was an inguinal hernia...

"A hernia is a defect in the abdominal wall, in which the inside layers of the abdominal muscle have weakened resulting in a bulge or tear. In the same way that an inner tube pushes through a damaged tire, the inner lining of the abdomen pushes through the weakened area of the abdominal wall to form a small bubble or balloon-like sac. When a loop of intestine or abdominal tissue pushes into the sac, severe pain and other potentially serious complications can result."

In my case, the lump was mostly just annoying, looked odd in a swimsuit, and only occasionally became painful. I finally got around to seeing a surgeon about repairing the weak spot. Yesterday morning, I checked in at the Lake Regional hospital and prepared for laparoscopic surgery....

"In laparoscopic hernia surgery, a telescope attached to a camera is inserted through a small incision that is made under the patient's belly button. Two other small cuts are made (each no larger than the diameter of pencil eraser) in the lower abdomen. The hernia defect is reinforced with a 'mesh' (synthetic material made from the same material that stitches are made from) and secured in position with stitches/staples/titanium tacks or tissue glue, depending on the preference of your individual surgeon."

When I went into the hospital, I thought I was only having one hernia repaired. Once under general anaesthesia, however, my surgeon re-discovered the second lump I had felt during pregnancy. It turned out that this too was indeed a second hernia. So, I now have two mesh patches on my insides.

I was nervous about my first experience with general anaesthesia, telescope cameras in my abdomen, and mesh patches being tacked on my stomach lining. All went well, however, and I was able to return home the same day as the surgery. I'm still pretty sore at this point, but Justin has been taking great care of me, cleaning the house, entertaining the kids, and due to doctor's orders, Justin hasn't even let me pick up my baby since yesterday morning!!! (No lifting anything over 20 lbs.)

I thought you might enjoy seeing some photos taken by that telescope camera that was in my abdomen during the surgery.