So I might have a hernia

I saw my GI today because I have been having a lot of issues lately. She looked at my tummy and felt around and found a nice lump in my upper right abdomen. I felt it yesterday and it just felt like a knot, but she thinks that it might be a hernia. If not my GI's think that I could be having another flare in my colon and duodenum. So pretty much I just had some of my ileum removed and it has moved around...good times. Has anyone else had a hernia and if so what did it feel like and how was it fixed?

 

Hi Crohnie8, it's hard to say what a hernia feels like just because they feel so different in different places! My GI told me that I might have a herniation of the small bowel into the mesentery (which is tissue that connects your intestine to the abdominal wall). I don't feel pain there unless they palpate it directly and then I go through the roof. That being said, if you have a lump, it could be a lot of things - even a lipoma! Or a cyst. Or about a gazillion other things. Including a hernia of the duodenum, which is right around there on the upper right side. Have you had any imaging studies recently?

I've had surgery on three hernias and now have mesh in my abdomen to keep things in place.  I don't remember having any pain with them.  The first one was off to one side and I was lopsided.  They fixed that during gall bladder surgery.  The second time I had two separate ones, one ventral, the other something else which I have forgotten.  They were both fixed at once.  A hiatal hernia is different; I have been told that most people get those by a certain age.  That one doesn't bother me as such, though now the GERD has moved into my esophagus, causing some hoarseness and choking on food.  Again, there is no pain with that, I am just disappointed that I can't sing any more, not that I ever could other than for my own pleasure, but I enjoyed it.  Anyway, I had no symptoms from my hernias, but since there's a chance of strangulation, which could cause a lot of trouble, they felt it best to repair them.  I hope you don't need surgery, but if you do, it might be easier now than it was back in the eighties when I had mine.  Good luck.