First of all, good health to you all. Rather than starting my own post I decided to search for the topic "Hernia". So here is my little story. I knew I had a hernia, one of my doctors told me so a couple of years ago, he also told me that it was not a big deal and to just be careful and report any sudden changes. Over the last year I have experience abdominal discomfort but it usually goes away in a day or so. For the last couple of weeks I have been feeling pressure in my abdomen and also a lot of itching in the area. Because our water heater broke and was leaking water all over our garage, I had to move a lot of the boxes and items on one side of the garage in order to get to the water heater, I ended up working like a field horse all day. I am freakishly strong, so it is not a big deal to lift heavy objects without even thinking about it. Well, I really damage myself this time! The next day we got the appliance fixed and then I was totally sore all over and exhausted, then the trouble really began, bouts of abdominal discomfort and pain and a lot of itching around the abdominal area of my belly button. I kept my partner up to date on the situation and was getting ready to make an appointment with my doctor. Sunday came around and I could not wait to see my doctor on Monday because I was feeling terrible. I spent the whole day Sunday, with terrible abdominal pain, the itching got worse and when I took a shower in the evening I noticed that I had a red spot on my belly button, upon further examination I noticed that my belly button was all read and puffy, I showed my partner and he agreed that I should go to the doctor first thing Monday. We went to bed, but I was not well. I awoke around 4:00 am and could no longer tolerate the pain and discomfort. So my partner took me to the emergency room at the local hospital, not my idea of a good time.
They gave me some pain medications through and I.V., took blood and urine samples and I also had a "cat scan". Several hours later the doctor came in with a diagnosis; I had aggravated the hernia and now it started to trap fat cells, who in the process got a terrible infection causing the redness and itching around my abdomen. I was then given a heavy dose of antibiotics, more pain medications and also an ointment for my itchy belly. I was also made to promise that I would call a surgeon as soon as possible to have a consultation and eventually surgery as soon as it can be done.
So, that is where I am at right now. Going to the surgeon on Monday taking a lot of medications and unable to do anything, because any activity could, very possibly, make the hernia grow and the infection spread. Tomorrow is my partner's birthday, so I am breaking out of the house while he is at work, shhhhsh.... Got to get him at least one present, will probably not be able to go the fancy dinner I had planned for him or have several martinis to celebrate and furthermore I will not be getting any sex anytime soon.
I am posting this mostly to vent, but in hopes that some of you will be able to learn from my experience, especially those of you who have that "let's wait and see what it is attitude". Shit does happen and when it does, it is always better to be safe than sorry, I am feeling stupid, frustrated and quite lame at the moment. It will probably be a couple of months till I can resume my normal activities. Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck!