My Experience

I went for my first routine physical exam when I was 37 years old. I did not have any unusual symptoms and felt fine. Everything was OK until the doctor looked at my “groinal” area. He put his hand on a spot that no man had ever touched before and then told me that I had a hernia. He gave me a quick explanation of my condition and then suggested to plan on having the hernia surgically repaired at a time when I could miss work for five to seven days. It was not an urgent situation, but if left untreated, the hernia could lead to severe pain and other nasty stuff. I had never had surgery in a hospital where I needed to be sedated. I was looking forward to this like having a root canal.

I scheduled the hernia surgery around the holidays in December when my office was closed. This planning limited my down time at work. In the middle of November I started to feel some unusual pain just to the right of my groin. The pain became more annoying as time went on. In early December, a bulge appeared along with more intense pain a little above where the initial pain was coming from. At this point, the only way to relieve the pain was to use pressure to push the muscle back in place. This symptom became more common during the last two weeks before the surgery. At least I didn’t have to wait too long before the surgery.

I reported to the hospital in mid December at 7am. The procedure was performed under IV sedation and local anesthesia, which numbed my entire lower body. I wanted to be awake for the procedure, but the physician made me very groggy. I woke up in the recovery room and I was on my way home by 2 pm.

Prescription pain medication was only needed for two days. I could not allow my young children to jump on me and I stayed inside for a couple of days. The doctor said that I could resume normal activities as soon as I felt comfortable. I was back to work in about five days.