Last June I was constipated and had to push hard to go. A day or so later noticed a bulge above and to my left of my navel (BTW I'm morbid obese). No pain or discomfort at that time. When I pushed on it, again no pain or discomfort. Went to hospital, doctor said it MIGHT be a hernia, but no tests run (no insurance). As time goes on, still no pain, but slight discomfort here and there. I used to wear my pants around my waist near the "hernia," but now I have to wear them lower. Odd thing is I sleep on my side and I try not to roll over onto stomach just to be careful, but I wake up a lot of the time on my stomach, but with no discomfort. I think I have a hernia but because I'm fat, the fat messes with the muscles to give me discomfort as time goes on. I know I should see the doctor, but with no insurance, I face the fact that if it continues to bother me, I might have to bite the bullet.
Is it possible for the doctor to fix this hernia even though I'm fat? Or must I lose a lot of weight first. It would most likely take me over a year to be of normal weight.
I am sure fixing the hernia is still possible, regardless of your weight, especially if you can feel/see the bump yourself. If you absolutely can not risk the high cost of surgery without insurance, I would suggest closely monitoring the possible hernia. My doctor told me that mine were not life-threatening or anything, but they always have the potential to become that way. I had two inguinal hernias that would flatten when I lay down and they were very small anyway. They told me that if they ever seem to become "stuck" that gives more risk. If they become stuck and have severe pain, then it's likely a strangulated hernia, and organs can get trapped, which becomes an emergency. Some people decide to wait and just watch out to make sure things don't get worse if they don't have any discomfort. I chose to get mine taken care of because I pulled a muscle while working out and noticed one hernia was slightly bulged more and became tender.
With insurance, my surgery was between $1,000 and $1,500 total. I got three separate billings- one from the hospital where they did the surgery, one from the surgeon themselves, and one for anesthesia. The hospital bill was the largest, surgeon bill second, then the anesthesia one the smallest. I did see that it would have been close to $10,000 without insurance. Is getting insurance in the near future an option? Some inexpensive plans out there have higher copays for doctor visits, but are very good for when it comes to big expenses like this.
If you do choose to lose weight for your health, it might put less pressure on the hernia as well, especially if you carry a lot of stomach weight. My doctor told me that the one thing that would risk ripping open my hernia repairs would be becoming pregnant and having a lot of belly weight.
