Hi, as the title says, I have been diagnosed this week with this illness.
As far as they can say it is about 1cm, straight under the belly button.
I dont have much pain, and only occasionally.
The Unispital Basel recommends to have it done, my aunt which is a doctor recommends not to do it as of now, as in theory I can live with this even my whole life without worsening.
She has a lot of experience with surgeons and mentioned that they like to operate on people even when it is not an emergency, after all health has become a worthwhile industry.
Does anyone have experience with this illness and how it was treated?
BTW, in the paper I have to sign from the hospital, it says that the plastic net they put to stabilize is not known to cause cancer, but the surgeon in the Unispital said it is still experimental, which sounds for me like I am to become a test subject...
I'm not sure it's an 'illness' - it's a common condition, but I don't know if it causes any complications.
I have an inguinal hernia, and that needed to be repaired because otherwise there's a risk that part of the intestine can come through it and that would be an emergency.
Does it bother you that your belly button sticks right out ?
A friend of mine in Basel had this condition. She had it before she had her child and it came back after. She got the surgery in Basel last year (I think) and in her case, she'll have to do it again because it came back.
In her case, it is quite painful and it won't get better without surgery.
It won't get better on its own. If you don't get it treated there is a chance that it'll never bother you in your life. But on a risk analysis, the chance of it causing problems are low, and the consequences of it causing problem are high. Though I understand umbilical hernias are much less likely to cause problems than other kinds.
I had mesh inguinal hernia repair surgery last February at Bruderholz. Three cuts in my belly, none longer than 1cm - key hole surgery. Overnight stay, then home. Went back to work the following week. ( Signed off for three weeks, but I'm a freelancer ). No problems, no hassle. Four weeks later I was skiing.
The surgeon at Bruderholz has performed the surgery many times.
As an added bonus, I had a cricked neck when they put me to sleep, and when I woke up, it had gone.
Mesh surgery is most definitely not experimental. I'm very surprised that your doctor said it was. It's been around for years. The advantage over non-mesh is that it drastically reduces the chance of recurrence of the hernia.