I also have a hernia. I recently wrote the post "is it a hernia or something else?" cuz i wasn't sure what i had. But on Friday i got my suspicions confirmed that it was indeed a parastomal hernia. I've been referred to a surgeon & am waiting for an appt to see what my options are. I don't know alot about hernias, but from what i've read, it seems quite common for ostomates (especially colostomates) to get them. And the preferred method to fix them is by using mesh. Here is what i found on another website:
Under local anaesthesia, a small incision is made over the site of the hernia. The peritoneal bulge is returned to where it belongs, as before, but the repair is achieved by placing a piece of fine (inert and sterile) mesh at the opening in the tissue. This is firmly held in place and the outer incision closed. The whole operation takes minutes to perform. Unlike other techniques, even those now using mesh, our approach does not require any stitching together of the muscle tissue at all, thus eliminating the tension induced by other methods. The healing process starts to take place immediately in that - sensing the presence of the fine mesh - the muscle and tendon send out fibrous tissue which grows around and through the mesh, incorporating it in a way similar to the placing of the steelwork inside reinforced concrete. It is not a 'patch' stuck on the outside, but a total, tension-free reinforcement inside the abdominal wall.
http://www.hernia.org/methodsafter.html
The rate of reoccurance seems very low with this method (although you could always develop another in a different spot, i suppose). I probably shouldn't be going on about this since i've never even talked to my surgeon yet about it. But i, myself, needed some reassurance about this, so i hope it did the same for you.
Suzie