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bluefinspirit Asked February 2020

Any experience with an inoperable inguinal hernia?

In addition to battling terminal mCRC and late(ish) stages of Alzheimer's, my mom has an inoperable inguinal hernia. She is relatively happy and active: goes to lunch with friends (even if she can't remember their names), goes to church (with the help of her wonderful congregation), is "mostly" pain free (thank you, methadone), and still wants to be up and doing things that make her happy.


Her hernia has been mostly just a nuisance, but last night she required an ER trip because the hernia had become incarcerated and painful, and her belly was swollen/distended.


We've stopped chemo (because it was destroying her quality of life), so we know that her time is limited, but in the meantime we want her to have as happy and active a life as possible. It would suck if she had to spend her days lying down just so that her hernia didn't pop out. Not to mention the real possibility of more pressure sores.


The hernia belt she has been wearing for over a year helped up until now, and I may be grasping at straws here, but does anyone have a recommendation for a "magic" hernia belt or ???

cwillie Feb 2020
I imagine you've already searched the web as well as any of us could, other than common sense things like avoiding lifting and constipation all I've really found is snake oil or recommendations for surgery. It seems you are stuck between that proverbial rock and hard place and there are no good answers. What are the doctors telling you, have they nothing to offer? Is this likely to be a problem in her expected remaining time frame?

bluefinspirit Feb 2020
Alas, with her mCRC spreading throughout her omentum, my mom was not a good candidate for hernia surgery (laparoscopic or otherwise). :-(

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bicycler Feb 2020
bluefinspirit, while I don't have experience with an inoperable inguinal hernia, when my dad was 92 with late-stage Alzheimer's and metastasized prostate cancer, I took him to a VA medical center for an inguinal hernia repair. His surgery was short, successful, did not require a hospital stay, and later that day he did not remember having it done. The follow-up home care was pretty easy for me to do, although he was confused about why he had a bandage. If he had not had that surgery, then I think he would lived with more pain and not likely the 4.5 more years that he did. Best wishes.
bluefinspirit Feb 2020
Thanks, bicycler! I'm so glad it worked out for your dad. My mom has months not years left, so we don't want her to spend one of those months in surgery and recovery. We also don't want a stupid thing like a hernia to make her bedridden for the last few months of her life. But, then again, she's beat the odds so far, and maybe she has another 4.5 years left like your dad.

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