Hernia Forum - Weight gain & post-hernia repair complications?

Hi,

I had a successful laproscopic abdominal (ventral) hernia repair in November of 2004 a few months after my son was born. Other than some discomfort following a bout of food poisoning in 2005, I've had no complications or difficulties with the repair...until recently.

My son has special needs and I have been under constant stress for the last three years. And between getting him to his therapies and trying to work to make sure we have enough income to pay for his therapies, exercising went out the window for me. Additionally, to cope with the stress, having quit smoking 5 years ago, I turned to chocolate chip cookies. Being aware of my ever-increasing weight, I tried to go for lower calorie versions, smaller cookies, etc. But what I found was that they were ridiculously unsatisfying and I'd eat the whole box, whereas at least when I was eating the rich, high-fat ones, I'd feel guilty (and satisfied) after 9 or 10 of them (which, sadly, is like 1,000 calories) and stop. Anyway, while I was about 50 pounds overweight at the time of the surgery, I'm nearly 100 pounds overweight today.

About a month ago, I started having twinges right above my navel, where my hernia was. It scared me into action - or at least as much action as can be done in a household where we've all been sick with every illness known to preschoolers since last August. (Honestly, despite taking a great regimen of supplements, getting plenty of rest and eating lots of fruits and vegetables, we have been sick 18 of the last 24 weeks.) So, even with my newfound fear and resolve, working out has been a challenge.

Last week, we all caught yet another cold. And this one came with a wicked cough. It's the first cold with a bad cough that I've had since I was pregnant. And after three days of coughing, last night, I coughed and felt a shot of excruciating pain in my lower left abdomen - right around where some of my mesh ends. The pain persisted for about 30 minutes, and intensified every time I had to cough. I started trying to hold my stomach in place while coughing. It finally got a bit better, but then today, the pain moved to directly on top of my belly button. And it's a strange pain - I don't know if it's my imagination conjuring up the worst, but I'd swear it feels like every time I cough, a little pocket of fat is forcefully popping itself right under the edge of the mesh or through the mesh right there.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced anything like this? I had initially thought that maybe it was like after the food poisoning - that all the coughing is causing the tack to scrape against my insides - but, the pain I'm experiencing this time is different, less painful and less focused than the pain I had then (after the food poisoning, I could actually feel every tack again, like just after the surgery. Of course, I've got a lot more fat there now, so maybe that's dulling the sensation?) Aside from pregnancy, does anyone have experience with how an abdominal mesh repair has held up with weight gain? What about with weight loss? I had originally been thinking that if I lost weight, it would help, because then the mesh wouldn't be stretched so tight, but, now I've come across some accounts of weight loss causing a different set of problems because the mesh no long has adequate tension. I'd hate to think that I'd have to stop my weight loss right at my immediate post-pregnancy weight. My goal is to lose the full 100 pounds - but...not if it's going to cause more hernia problems. Does anyone have any input?

Thanks!