I am living proof…
https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/4f5a7ad66bb3f7b161000069-320-478.jpg
Guinness is hernia medicine! I feel wonderful! 
I’ve only just seen this Floydy and I’m really sorry you are going through this. I’m really disgusted with your employer’s policy concerning sick leave. I am sure there must be some employment law they are breaking but I don’t know enough about the loopholes. Your union should be aware of the rules.
I know you need the money but your health is more important than the job. Your health is the priority.
My dad had a hernia, I think it was the same kind you have and it happened in his fifties. He was very strong and always lifting more than he should. He categorically refused to have an operation, hated the medical profession and didn’t trust surgeons. He wore a hernia belt and that seemed to manage it. He was still very active. In fact he continued to lift things with the belt holding it all in (not recommended!).
Perhaps you should take it easy until you know exactly what is going on down there.
Has your doctor said swimming is unsafe? Cycling must be ok because my dad used to cycle a lot.
Hope you get sorted soon Floydy…it sounds so painful 
My last hernia was in the lower abdomen so a belt was no use so I got a contraption that was supposed to keep it in but that only increased the discomfort. I was self employed so had to work through it for a few weeks. My only relief was to lie down on my back every so often and let it pop back in. One of the dangers you have to look out for is strangulation which can be serious. Due to the heavy nature of my job I was off work for 10 weeks after the operation.
Thanks Summer, Annie. Very much appreciated. I’ll get back to good health eventually! 
Annie - Yes, I didn’t actually do an update on here since I spoke with the Ops Manager on Friday, except in a PM to someone. I forgot to add it to this thread.
Without having to type it all out again, the gist of it is that my boss (or the one who we answer to who works days) is now fully supportive of my situation. He understands that there is absolutely nothing I can do about this problem until I get the operation done and the subsequent recover time. Only then will I be able to return to work.
He’s satisfied (and furthermore, concerned about me) that if i keep submitting updated absence notes, that will be fine.
I went to doctors on Friday afternoon and they are organising a new one for a further month off work which I can ask a colleague to take in for me on Monday night.
They do allow up 26 days off with pay apparently, so all being well everything will be sorted by then.
I sincerely hope so because although it’s great not to be at work (and on nights at that), I’m already beginning to look at a few walls which may need to be climbed with my extended fingertips!
Yesterday my usual “Saturday Gang” actually came out to my neck of the woods and we had two or three beers in my local pub, somewhere only me and my wife go to for meals. Also, I “won’t be seen” by anyone from work in there! My wife joined us later and we had a nice afternoon meal.
It’s good when you have friends like that who will go out of their way to see how things are with you 
I managed three pints of Guinness, drank each pint very slowly and I had no real after effects except for feeling a bit bloated - and when that happens it pushes the hernia out again which causes all the pain. I don’t normally drink Guinness but it’s nice and smooth for my stomach area at the moment, so I’ll stay with that on the rare occasions I may be able to venture out. I was feeling very tired afterwards and relaxed watching a horror TV series at home.
Exactly my problem with it too, Scot (your name sounds familiar btw - have I seen you on an exercise forum in the past at all? I would have had a different username though).
Yes, it’s not worth shelling out the money for something that wouldn’t be comfortable or even work properly. As you rightly say, the inguinal groin hernia I have (and you also had) tends to move around a bit, unlike a stomach-based one and the contraption wouldn’t be suitable.
I’ll just carry on carefully pushing the thing back in when it rears it’s ugly head! 
Not me Floydy. I have never been on an exercise forum.
Lol thanks bud. Thinking about it, I think it was “Scot44”
Great Scot! 
My best wishes Floydy. Hope you get sorted soon mate.
Ta buddy Until then I’ll carry on going nuts around the house.
This must be what it feels like to be retired
Don’t tell me you d rather be going to work?
Hell no, Lion Queen! It’s just a bit strange not being there. I rarely take time off sick and can’t remember ever going to be off this long. The only times I’ve been in hospital apart from being born was when I had my tonsils out at 5, got knocked off my bike at 16 and had my appendix removed at 23.
It feels really bizarre.
Floydy I am really pleased that your boss is fully supportive and that you can just get on with getting better. It’s also good that you saw your friends and had a break from the cabin fever.
Evening Floydy. Thanks for your post. I had a hernia operation in my late 20’s. The interesting thing that I learnt was that the slow damage is actually being done when it’s not sore. I know…work that one out. The point where it gets sore is when the hole is large enough for one cavity squeezing into the next. Sorry I didn’t mean to be gross but essentially that’s what is happening. The pain I had was a pain in my testicle, which I am sure you will agree is extremely unpleasant. I spoke to my sister who is a nurse and she called it immediately.
I went in for an operation and they sewed up the hole and placed a mesh in the spot that was vulnerable so that it added extra support. I haven’t had a problem since. I thought it had come back a few years ago but nothing came of that.
I say go for an operation dude. Hopefully you get it sorted and you are back rockin and rolling
Yeah man being around the house so much can be a real nightmare. Try and do as much as you can without straining yourself. Even little walks can help or try a new hobbie that you never thought you’d try. You might surprise yourself. The next Van Gogh!
Hi mate, pleased to meet you btw. Enjoy the forum etc
Yes, they tell me that is what will be done, sealing it up with some mesh. Can I ask: how long did it take after the operation before you went back to work? I realise everyone is a different case, various trades etc, but just to give me some idea? 
Meanwhile, yes I’m finding things to do with my time. The worst thing is going out for a walk somewhere or being in a supermarket and the thing pops out again. I have to try to discreetly squeeze it back into place!
Be careful, Floydy. Hernias can ‘strangulate’ and cause even more serious problems. Don’t become impatient and overdo things!
I’m well aware of that Tabby, thanks. That’s why I’m taking it steady and only exercising areas which are unconnected with the hernia. But as with yesterday at the gym, if I get the slightest niggle I stop that particular exercise immediately
If we get no exercise whatsoever we end up with a bucketful of far worse problems.
I had one repaired a few years ago. I think the original tear happened many years before but it wasn’t a worry until then when it occasionally became painful.
Went to a specialist, he prodded it for a few seconds, said, “I will patch that” gave me a brochure and told me to wait for a phone call.
A couple of weeks later I was told to get myself into hospital and it was done with keyhole surgery where he apparently looked through one tiny hole and fed a mesh piece in the other. The mesh was put behind the muscle wall, the whole operation took only minutes and I went home that afternoon.
A few days later a nurse visited me at home to take out the stitches. The specialist told me don’t worry about straining because the more I strain the stomach wall the more the mesh is pushed against the muscle wall. It has been perfect ever since.
When I went into the hospital every trainee doctor arrived to have a prod at it, I have only had more attention when I had a detached retina because then not only all the trainee doctors wanted a look but so did all the registrars. I guess that was my 15 minutes of fame done and dusted.
I vaguely remember my now deceased cousin having a strangulated hernia when he was a teenager and being rushed into hospital for an emergency operation. That would have been in the 1950s I think today it is much easier operation.
This is excellent info thanks Bruce I was kinda wondering what happens in and after the operation. Just waiting for the letter to get me in now