Exactly what I DIDN'T want to hear...

[Oscarsjava]

So it's official - I have an umbilical hernia. I've actually had it for over 3 months, but the doctors at school never picked up on it. Apparently it's pretty deep, but very small, which is why it was hard to find, but they finally found it. The problem is, I don't have insurance, so I'm gonna have to wait to get surgery done, but in the meantime the doctor said I shouldn't lift anything over 20lbs. I CAN still run, which is good, but weightlifting is out of the picture for the forseeable future :( Anywho, I guess it's better to have caught it now than to have overdone it at the gym one too many times and be doubled over in pain and have to go in for emergency surgery.

A big thank you to Jynkxxie for the help and insight.

[chewy]

good luck with that... my wife thinks I have one too but I'm not about to go to the doctor and have them poke around in my button!!

[sparty]

I just had surgery to repair my umbilical hernia last week. Now I have a nice three inch scar on my stomach and one messed up belly button.:eek: In addition to avoiding heavy lifting I would avoid watching or doing anything that makes you laugh. I never thought it could hurt so much to laugh and thanks to some of the recent threads on here (especially the hat threads) I've been laughing a lot lately. Good thing the doc gave me a good supply of pain meds.:D What really sucks is being not much more than a couch potato while I wait to heal.

[sparty]

good luck with that... my wife thinks I have one too but I'm not about to go to the doctor and have them poke around in my button!!

Chewy, give me a call and we can compare symptoms.

[Oscarsjava]

A 3 inch scar?!? Geez, I'm not looking forward to that - were you in the hospital long? The doctor told me I'm able to run, and I'm not sure if I can swim or not...what did your doctor say? I don't want to turn into a couch potato, I've worked hard to get to where I am.

[sparty]

A 3 inch scar?!? Geez, I'm not looking forward to that - were you in the hospital long? The doctor told me I'm able to run, and I'm not sure if I can swim or not...what did your doctor say? I don't want to turn into a couch potato, I've worked hard to get to where I am.

It was outpatient surgery. I was on my way home in about four hours. The doc said most people can return to work in about 7-10 days provided they have a desk type job without much physical activity. He said most people are fully healed and back to normal activity within 2-3 weeks. When I told him what I do for a living he said I would probably want the full three weeks to recover before returning to work. He gave me a note excusing me from work for four weeks just to be sure.

I know a couple of people who tried to come back too soon and it just caused problems and hindered their recovery. One even had to go back in for more surgery.

[Roger Dat]

Oscars sorry to hear that man you've been working so damn hard. Just do what you can and hopefully all will work out!

[Oscarsjava]

Thanks all - yeah, just gonna have to suck it up and get it fixed. Well that means a lot more running and miles on the exercise bike, so I might be able to drop some tonnage easier. I'm gonna speak to my trainer to see if I'm able to do light weights to maintain my muscle gains for the month or two I'm out of commission.

[Upandatem]

So I guess it's just bench bressing the bar for you huh? :D j/k

I really shouldn't laugh, I'm in a similar prediciment with the headaches I get when I'm work out. I'll won't be pressing any heavy weight either until I get it checked out.

[JakeLock]

It's the aliens Oscar, they got to you!! I'm kidding, just be careful, I'd hate to hear that you'd hurt yourself. Get it fixed and keep up the work. It appears to me that you've made some generous leaps and bounds in your progress (judging by your signature) !!!

[chewy]

It was outpatient surgery. I was on my way home in about four hours. The doc said most people can return to work in about 7-10 days provided they have a desk type job without much physical activity. He said most people are fully healed and back to normal activity within 2-3 weeks. When I told him what I do for a living he said I would probably want the full three weeks to recover before returning to work. He gave me a note excusing me from work for four weeks just to be sure.

I know a couple of people who tried to come back too soon and it just caused problems and hindered their recovery. One even had to go back in for more surgery.

So basically I could go back to work the next day being that I don't actually do anything all day and even if I wanted to I'm strongly discouraged from doing so :D I could just get a light duty slip and then I could do my regular Rails duties but wouldn't have to wear the 20lbs of gun gear!

[matt87]

What were your symptoms, and how do you think you did it?

[Oscarsjava]

Well, I'm almost certain it was from the gym - about 3, 3 1/2 months ago I felt a sharp pain right above my belly button. About 4-5 days later I had a red, mucousy discharge. I also had some pus bumps around the ridge of my belly button. The area was very tender. I went to the doctor, who did a swab and said it was a fungal infection. She gave me 1 cycle of Keflex and some Lamisil. The visible symptoms went away, as did the discharge and the majority of the pain. I still had a dull sensation there, but nothing major.

About a month after that, at the gym, I felt another sharp pain. 4 days later, more discharge. Went back to the doctor, another swab, a different infection. More Keflex, and this time I was given Neosporin. I was also given alcohol swabs and told to clean it with that every day, which I have religiously. About a week ago, I was at the gym doing sit-ups, and felt a sharp pain. 3 days ago, I had more discharge. I went to the clinic here, and the doctor felt around my stomach, pushing VERY hard, and she found a small umbilical hernia above my belly button. She explained that when tissue would go through the hernia, it would get strangulated, die, and form an abcess, which would burst into my belly button after a while, creating the discharge.

She was very puzzled by it though, and continued to feel around (much to my chagrin, because man it hurt) because she figured that I'd have been in more pain from the hernia than I was, and she'd never seen it be so small for so long and not rupture. Yay strong stomach muscles?

Anyway, I have to apply for a charity surgery to get it done, or wait for a job with benefits. In either case, I have to get surgery.

What sucks is that the 2 doctors I went to before this felt around, but not as thoroughly (this doctor laid me down and put a lot of weight into what she was doing, the others had me sitting up) and this could have been diagnosed when I was still in school and HAD insurance. Oh well...

Jynkxxie had a hernia as well with similar symptoms. If YOU have these symptoms go see the doctor.

[Jynkxxie]

Jynkxxie had a hernia as well with similar symptoms. If YOU have these symptoms go see the doctor.

I am pretty anal when it comes to just about anything being wrong with me. LOL But I like to think I know a few things about my own body.

I thought for sure when I went to the doctor this time complaining about my belly button oozing and heartburn like pain when I would run that he would look at me like, "Oh God, here goes the hypocondriac (sp) again." :rolleyes: But he didn't.

He told me that it was rare that someone like me would have one. Apparently these things are reserved for the more homely (sp), but that it was not that uncommon.

He told me though that some people just tend to have a weakness there. My abdominal wall was fine. He said to give it a month's rest, let it heal and come together on its own and take it day by day from there.

He gave me an antibiotic cream to keep it from getting infected. (That is what I was more worried about in your case Oscar.) Infection can lead to a whole ****load of health problems and even more costly health bills. It sucked being a couch potato for a while, but I am back to my garden variety...running, tennis, bowling, and karate now.

I just have to keep an eye on it. If it comes back I can seek to have it sewn up. The thing with getting it sewn though is that there is no guarantee it will never open again.

At any rate, I am glad you took my advice. Give your body a break. It is talking to you.