Good morning! I'm glad you found your way here. I decided a few days ago to document my umbilical hernia surgery/repair through a blog. Leading up to my surgery, I was only able to find one or two blogs that explained what to expect. Granted, there are several websites out there, but only two of them related to being in fitness and getting back at it. I will link those down below.
First, what is an umbilical hernia?? When I would tell peopel that I had one, they automatically thought of the "normal" hernia you get from lifting heavy objects and straining. Nope. My hernia was where my intestines pushed through a small opening in my abdominal wall at my belly button.
Telling the story of how mine appeared is interesting enough! My husband and I both rode motorcycles. On a beautiful summer day in 2015, two of his brothers wanted to go for a ride. Since only one of them had a bike, Ben (my DH) let his oldest brother borrow his for the trip. This put me riding on the backseat of my own bike...(not a fan of being a passenger). Somehow during the trip, we got separated from the rest of them. They had pulled over to wait on us and we were cruising their way when we crossed a railroad track. This particular crossing was the devil!! You know how sometimes you can cross the tracks and not feel a thing, but other times it feels like you slammed into a wall? Well this one was the latter. When we crossed it, it jarred us so hard that I ended up in the front seat and Ben was sitting on the tank! It was by God's grace and mercy that we didn't lay the bike over. Ben likes to think it was his expert driving skills 😂.
Throughout the rest of the day, everytime we would hit even the smallest bump in the road, I would hurt. It wasn't until after church the next day that I felt a bump at my belly button. It was tender to touch and definitely something that had not been there before. Since I am a reigning Google Queen, I began my research immediately. (Be careful about researching ailments online, I was on my deathbed for most of my research) I called a local doctor for an appointment to confirm my suspicion.
Arriving at my appointment, I signed in and filled out the required paperwork. Dr. Gaw actually chuckled when I told her I thought I had an umbilical hernia. She said I didn't meet the criteria. Well darn, if I had known that, I wouldn't have gotten it...After explaining how it happened she began to poke around on stomach. Much to her shock, I was correct. She referred me to the surgical group for a consultation about my options.
A few weeks later, I had to go through the same conversation and skepticism with Dr. Harris. I was a 39 year-old bodybuilder and runner with children ages 16 and 18. I was once again reminded that I did not meet the criteria! Leave it to me to break the mold 😜 Apparently you aren't suppose to get an umbilical hernia unless you are an infant, over 45, overweight and/or unfit...who knew?? We decided not to do surgery since it was so small. He said I would spend more time under anesthesia than he would repairing it. He showed me how to push it in and told me to come back only if it began to hurt or bother me.
For the most part, it didn't bother me. Every so often, I couldn't push it back in unless I put a heating pad on it and laid in the fetal position. (Not very convenient if you're at work, by the way) Fast forward to September 2017. Pushing my hernia back in became an every day all day occurrence. There were many days I had to go straight home instead of working out because I hurt. I made another appointment with Dr. Harris in November and we scheduled my surgery for December 26th. Merry Christmas to me!!
Relentless Forward Commotion
Mitch Fournier
First, what is an umbilical hernia?? When I would tell peopel that I had one, they automatically thought of the "normal" hernia you get from lifting heavy objects and straining. Nope. My hernia was where my intestines pushed through a small opening in my abdominal wall at my belly button.
Telling the story of how mine appeared is interesting enough! My husband and I both rode motorcycles. On a beautiful summer day in 2015, two of his brothers wanted to go for a ride. Since only one of them had a bike, Ben (my DH) let his oldest brother borrow his for the trip. This put me riding on the backseat of my own bike...(not a fan of being a passenger). Somehow during the trip, we got separated from the rest of them. They had pulled over to wait on us and we were cruising their way when we crossed a railroad track. This particular crossing was the devil!! You know how sometimes you can cross the tracks and not feel a thing, but other times it feels like you slammed into a wall? Well this one was the latter. When we crossed it, it jarred us so hard that I ended up in the front seat and Ben was sitting on the tank! It was by God's grace and mercy that we didn't lay the bike over. Ben likes to think it was his expert driving skills 😂.
Throughout the rest of the day, everytime we would hit even the smallest bump in the road, I would hurt. It wasn't until after church the next day that I felt a bump at my belly button. It was tender to touch and definitely something that had not been there before. Since I am a reigning Google Queen, I began my research immediately. (Be careful about researching ailments online, I was on my deathbed for most of my research) I called a local doctor for an appointment to confirm my suspicion.
Arriving at my appointment, I signed in and filled out the required paperwork. Dr. Gaw actually chuckled when I told her I thought I had an umbilical hernia. She said I didn't meet the criteria. Well darn, if I had known that, I wouldn't have gotten it...After explaining how it happened she began to poke around on stomach. Much to her shock, I was correct. She referred me to the surgical group for a consultation about my options.
A few weeks later, I had to go through the same conversation and skepticism with Dr. Harris. I was a 39 year-old bodybuilder and runner with children ages 16 and 18. I was once again reminded that I did not meet the criteria! Leave it to me to break the mold 😜 Apparently you aren't suppose to get an umbilical hernia unless you are an infant, over 45, overweight and/or unfit...who knew?? We decided not to do surgery since it was so small. He said I would spend more time under anesthesia than he would repairing it. He showed me how to push it in and told me to come back only if it began to hurt or bother me.
For the most part, it didn't bother me. Every so often, I couldn't push it back in unless I put a heating pad on it and laid in the fetal position. (Not very convenient if you're at work, by the way) Fast forward to September 2017. Pushing my hernia back in became an every day all day occurrence. There were many days I had to go straight home instead of working out because I hurt. I made another appointment with Dr. Harris in November and we scheduled my surgery for December 26th. Merry Christmas to me!!
Relentless Forward Commotion
Mitch Fournier
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