A couple of health questions (yes I have already spoken with the docs)

If you know what a sitz bath and rubber band ligation is, you know the first thing so I'll leave it at that. Happens in a week.

The big one is I have an umbilical hernia as well (yay for being violently sick with food poisoning) being overweight doesn't help.

From what I've read the hernia surgery is pretty routine, not a big deal, etc. At 42 I've never had any surgery and anesthesia freaks me out a bit. My dad, so this might put some of my stuff in perspective, since he's had two liver cancer surgeries and a bunch of other stuff:

"Don't worry, you'll wake up. And if you don't, you won't know anyway."

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No clue, but damn good thoughts from the Northeast. Good luck brother.

I had inguinal mesh hernia surgery around 8 years ago, but I assume the procedure for umbilical is pretty much the same.  It was uneventful, I was in and out of the hospital in a few hours.  Because of the anesthesia they wouldn't let me drive myself home so even though I felt alert I had to have my brother bring me there and bring me home after (anesthesia a funny thing - they put a mask on you and tell you to count backwards from ten, and the next thing you know you're waking up in the recovery room.  I felt like I'd had a pretty restful nap.)  There was very little pain afterwards, more of a slight discomfort really, and I was a little stiff for a few days.  Outside of that I wasn't allowed to lift more than 5 pounds for a few days, and then everything was back to normal.

I had the same issue and had 2 rubber band procedures 2 years ago. You have 3 possible areas of issue and each of them can split, so a potential total of 6 of them. I was lucky and had all 6. Because it was toward the end of the year and I was changing insurance companies at the beginning of the year, I had the doctor tie off 3 at once. It was against his recommendation as he had only ever done 2 at a time, but I insisted and he agreed. I will tell you, having all 3 done at once was, to say in a nice way, UNPLEASANT! 2 weeks later I had the other 3 done and it was equally as UNPLEASANT! Discomfort, not pain, lasted a few days each time. 
 

About 11 years ago I has inguinal hernia mesh surgery. I had 2 tears and the surgery went very routinely. The recovery not so much. Because I was scheduled for early in the morning, I hadn't eaten anything beyond dinner the night before. My surgery then got postponed until mid-afternoon. When finally out of recovery, it was after 5pm. My sister-in-law runs the hospital where I had the surgery and visited me in the recovery room. She asked if I was hungry since it was late and then went and grabbed me a turkey club and fries at the cafeteria. The little bit I ate didn't agree with me, I blame the anesthesia because I have an iron stomach. Anyway, it came back up and with the heaving, they were worried that it may rip the mesh or stitches. They kept me overnight for observation just in case. 
 

Two items of advise. First one is don't read the interwebs about either procedure because you'll go down a rabbit hole of stories where things didn't go well. It really is an easy procedure, so don't worry, things will be fine. 
 

Second, start a regiment of stool softeners a few days beforehand. Trust me, this one is quite important! 
 

If I can be of any help, please feel red to reach out via email.

   Good Luck.

I had a pretty large umbilical hernia repaired about 20 years ago.  It was big enough that I had to hold my hand over my lower belly if I coughed, and often had to pop it back in anyway.

I had the mesh reinforcement, and the whole procedure was a 100% non-issue.  Minimal post-op pain, very minor scarring, no long-term issues at all.  If I put my thumb in my navel I can feel a small firm patch that's not quite as squishy as the rest of that area.  Honestly, within about 6 weeks, I never would have known I had either the hernia or the surgery.

Best of luck and medical science to you!

I'm a veteran of surgeries and anesthesia due to some significant injuries in my life.

They typically give you some Versed to get things started. It causes complete amnesia and removes any anxiety that you might have been having. Next, someone will be shaking you and telling you to wake up. The time between those two events will never exist in your memory.

As a side note, I was a paramedic for over 20 years. After having experienced first hand the wonders of strong sedatives, I was very quick to administer them to my patients. When people are having a real rough time or I'm about to perform an unpleasant procedure to them, I'd whack them with a benzodiazepine until they were high enough to hunts ducks with a rake so they didn't have to suffer any more than necessary. Modern medicine is the E36 M3.

In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :

Angel of mercy, better living through chemistry!

I had the mesh reinforcement about ten years ago. I also had them do a vasectomy at the same time. "While you're in there...." It all went smoothly and not a lot pain. I had far, far more pain from the Urolift prostate procedure a couple of months ago. 
 

I was also a little freaked out about the thought of being put under for the hernia surgery, because it was my first time, but it was anticlimactic. They put the gas mask on me and this masked face hovered into my field of view and said "Okay, start counting backwards fr..." and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.

I had a bilaterlal inguinal surgery earlier this year. Mine was a bit rougher but the anesthesia was a piece of cake, have a ride home start on miralax or equivalent before hand and stay on it a bit longer than you think you need to afterwards. Recovery took longer than I expected and I ended up needing to take it easy for a lot longer than I had hoped. Don't shortcut your down time, I work from home and took the week off, I ended up taking most of the second week off too. 

I was 49 and had never even had blood work done.  Then my neck broke and I had to have surgery.  The whole ordeal was pretty stressful, being an unknown adventure and all.  Regarding the anesthesia, a team of people swarmed around me when I was wheeled in to the OR.  Two of them put a thing over my mouth and nose and one said, "deep breath".  The first one smelled and tasted like lacquer thinner.  I didn't have time to think about the next breath.  Then I woke up some time later and somewhere else to someone asking me if I wanted a pillow.  It's scary, but they are professionals.

Your dad's comment is perfect.  Some have issues after surgery but they are temporary.  Have someone keep an eye on you for 6 hours after just in case.  I passed out walking to the toilet 4 hours later but that was the post op drugs.  The stool softener and an easy to pass diet for a few days before is excellent.  And stick to jello and rice until the pipes get back into action for a few days.

I've had gallbladder surgery and recently had my colonoscopy. Two different procedures but both cases the anesthesia was uneventful. 

In both cases the team in the OR introduced themselves, let me know when they were administering the anesthesia, and did their best to make me feel comfortable. I also had questions for them, nothing procedure related, but as a med device engineer I was curious about some of the equipment (like who made the scopes and laparoscopic instruments).

When they administered the anesthesia it took effect quickly and as much as I remember it was just like falling asleep. Recovery from the anesthesia was no worse than waking up from a nap. The gallbladder had a bit more grogginess, but cleared quickly.

I have had several surgeries, some for hernia repair with mesh and some where hernias were repaired during a prostetectomy.  I look forward to the anesthesia.   Tell you doctor and/or the anesthesiologist that you are very nervous.  They will give you midazolam before hand and will chill you out.  Next thing you know you will be waking up in recovery.  I have been pretty sore after each surgery.  Painkillers were prescribed, but not advised.    Every day was better than the day before.      

The last time I had surgery I got the whole slowly push the syringe that was in my IV and count to 10.  I never got to 1.  Next thing I know it is the early afternoon and I needed a glass of water really bad.  

My father had a hernia done 30 years ago, was back to unloading trucks fairly quickly and never had an issue with it. I've been under for surgery a few times and have always waken back up afterwards. I welcome the nap. 

I much prefer going under to being "twilighted". 

While I haven't had the hernia or the other thing, I've been under a few times and also sent to twilight a few times. Hernias being fairly common, I wouldn't be worried about it.

Under, best I can describe, is like drinking a little too much and blacking out. You won't remember anything, whether you were technically asleep or not. Mine have been IVs not gas, but there's an injection, arm gets a little cold, then you're walking up in recovery

Twilight, on the other hand, you are very much aware of what is going on, but you either high enough not to care, or gone enough to only feel tugging. Memory remains, and that's not the best. This was an iv sometimes, and other times a Xanax and nitrous mask. 

I've had teeth pulled under both, my port was placed under twilight, my last biopsy, and a septum repair were done out out. 

Both, because of the cocktail usually involved thanks opiates, usually come with some digestive issues for a few days after, so start a laxative of choice whenever you feel it's convenient. Also expect the steroids to mess with your sleeping, but I've only really experienced this with going under and coming back out. 

If I get bored later I'll dig through MyChart and screen shot the twilight vs under cocktail. 

In reply to RevRico :

My colonoscopy was allegedly done under twilight aenesthesia, but I was stone cold out and unaware.  I have no memory of the procedure at all.

Ditto my wisdom teeth removal 40 years ago.

Lets say there are like 6 levels of surgical pain management or sedation.

Levels 3-4 - Twilight Anesthesia (Anxiolysis) or "Monitored" is just another way of saying you're made sleepy. You could potentially wake up (most people dont), you have some control over your bowels, you can breath fine. Must be prescribed by Anesthesiologist. Most non-life-threatening "external" surgeries are done in this state of "mild" sedation. 

Levels 1-2 - Local Anesthesia you're not. You just can't feel that area. Can be applied by Non-Anesthesiologists. Unless it's like an epidural or nerve block, called Regional Anesthesia, then you need an Anesthesiologist. 

Levels 5-6 - It's my understanding that its when you get made unconscious and are intubated is when it gets serious. It was explained to me that the "General" in General Anesthesia is that it impacts everything ie your autonomic nervous system. Enough of the drugs and your body forget how to do stuff you never think about. This is because sometimes your body knows your being cut open/cut apart, and that'll impact your respiratory and heart rates. 

In talking with my friends in the medical fields they describe two levels of deeper sedation associated with General Anesthesia. One is for the more common surgical intervention, and another is for like...medically induced coma. Sometimes they'll use these because they don't trust (or have to stop) the body's ability to control a specific vital function on it's own, like breathing or pumping blood. 

There are also a lot more ways now that they can do critical stuff in the 3-4 levels. Laparoscopic and minimally invasive surgeries have really made a lot of serious surgeries less risky and therefore less necessary to introduce the risks of deeper levels of sedation.