Hernia?

Blah. I'm not sure if I'm overreacting. I feel like my abdomen at the stoma site is kind of bulgey. I mean, it's bulgey all the time since I had the stoma installed, but I've also gained back about 15-20 lbs of the weight I lost right before my surgery, most of it in the abdominal area (since I am a woman in my 40s after all).

Anyway, I wonder if I should be concerned that I'm kind of noticing it more now? The stoma is fine, not sore or irritated, the output is fine, no pain or cramping or weirdness. I'm probably having the pouch surgery in a few weeks. Should I worry about this?

Hmm...My husband has a moderate parastomal hernia that he has to "pop" back in every fews days, otherwise he gets plugged up. He has a "roundness" like a gently sloping half-orange/grapefruit around his stoma area. Yours (if it's a hernia) doesn't sound too problematic at this point, and if you're having surgery soon, it'll probably be OK til then.

Good luck!

Thank you, that is very reassuring :)

UCwhat? said...
I have been having similar concerns, and trying to not let myself get too worked up about it. My surgery was 8 weeks ago and have recently noticed that the area around my stoma looks different. Not sure how to describe it...maybe a bit more rounded, like it's up on a small hill...or kind of poochy? I'd imagine this is typical to some extent, and I have been gaining weight since my surgery, over 20 pounds so far, with about 20 more to go to get back to my pre-sickness weight. There is no pain, but I guess hernias aren't always painful. What is the area like around your stomas?

My situation is pretty much exactly as you describe. Abdomen slightly rounded and "hilly," maybe a little bit hard (I don't want to palpate it too hard), just kind of sticking out a little more than it has in the past few months. However, it also seems to come and go, so maybe it kind of rises and falls depending how "full" I am at any given time? I don't know. Like I said, I'm probably having surgery #2 soon so I'm not too fussed about it.