Umbilical Hernia Surgery Friday

Hey all, I am not as active here as I used to be, but have a couple of questions for you. I am having surgery on Friday to repair an umbilical hernia and I have no idea what to expect. Not about the surgery itself, I have been under the knife before, but the recovery. All I have read is about inigual hernias, nothing about umbilical. Doc says no lifting over 10 pounds for 6 weeks! I am thinking about a 6-week forearm and grip specialization workout - just call me Popeye! I am hoping for a quicker recovery than 6 weeks though. The Doc is against the use of steel mesh, because he has had to remove it from other patients so many times. So I am having a 3" cut above my belly button, the hernia pushed back in and my abs sewn shut. Pretty straight forward it seems, but I wonder if anyone has gone through this and has any advice. I searched the forums and read all your previous posts already, nothing about umbilical hernias. Also, since I will be basically out of commission, what are your ideas for supplementation to try to keep some muscle? I am thinking about this week’s special and buying some Myostat and getting the free Methoxy 7! I could stand to lean out a bit - 235 and 18% is too fat! (I blame my 18-month-old son there; I was 215 and 12% before he was born!) Any ideas, advice, prayers, whatever would be appreciated. In faith - Matt

Good luck with the surgery Matt. In your situation I would probably go with something like 4-AD-EC for the six or so weeks it would take to get back into the swing of things. Question: how exactly did you get the hernia (push it out, I guess), and how did you get it diagnosed? I ask because I have had a terrible pain in my lower abdomen for a week or so now (believe I got it from heavy decline sit ups), and am not sure what to think about it…

Steve, I don’t know what I did actually. The Dr. says I probably have had a defect there since I was born and now it finally ruptured. I know that I pulled my low abs one day while doing heavy KB swings. Of course a little ab strain didn’t slow me down any. Then one day I felt a lump above my belly button the size of a grape. The family practice Dr. said not to worry about it unless it hurt or I just didn’t want it there. So I trained about a week more and then got a cold from my son (daycare is full of viruses and bacteria!) All the coughing and sneezing worsened the pain and size of the lump. I called and got an appointment with a surgeon. The surgeon told me it was an easy repair, but I was overweight and at risk for it to recur. He told me I should weigh 165. I told him I would have to lose 35 pounds of muscle to weigh 165 and it wasn?t going to happen. He said ?overweight? patients have a higher rate of recurrence. My guess is because obese people?s linea alba is overstretched from the protruding belly and muscular overweight people continue to train, but I believe I will heal up stronger than ever.
As far as your pain, I would get it checked out; the cost of a Dr.?s visit is worth the peace of mind!
In faith - Matt

I had the exact same hernia as you about 5 years ago. It slowely got bigger and more painfull, so I had it repaired. I dont think he used the mesh but just stappled my stomach back together. I’ve never had a problem with it since - but I took about 3 months off (went to Australia). I was about 8-9%bf at the time and the doc did say it was a good thing I was so lean.

Thanks Chief. It is unfortunate that I let myself get so fat. It is my own fault really. I will get lean again as soon as possible!

In faith,
Matt