My DH had it done in August. He was in and out in one day. He had about 6 weeks of recovery time. The absolute worst thing for him is that he had to be shaved. My DH was blessed with a lot of hair. As it comes back it is very itchy. For both of us. When he hugs me I can feel it. That may have been TMI. Anyway, he was sore for a few days but all in all feels much better! His was the same size as yours!

Trish

I had a repair...actually two of them were repaired during my surgery, right in the belly button, the other larger one above it.
I'd had both for years (carried twins) before they ever started bothering me.
No hospital stay, day surgery only.
The first few days were uncomfortable but not intolerable.
I found holding a small pillow against my surgery site while getting up and down helped a lot. Don't know why though lol! I think it felt better to have something "holding" everything in place.
Wishing you good luck and a speedy recovery :)

My husband had a double hernia repaired about a year ago. You will (or should) be checked before hand to see what shape your gall bladder is in. Apparently, if there's any problem at all with it, it will need to be removed prior to the hernia repair. If they don't do that, and your gall bladder causes problems in the future, the mesh used in the hernia repair can become seriously and life-threateningly infected. So if you still have your GB, be sure to have that checked out, as well, even if you aren't having problems. DH wasn't, but had a bunch of stones, so they first removed his GB and about a month later, repaired his hernia. All in all, he missed about 3 months of work between the 2 surgeries, but it was worth it, he feels so much better now.

I'd strongly recommend going to a really top-notch, surgeon. His was one with a really good reputation. We knew several people who had similar (hernia and GB) operations around the same time. DH's surgeon did things differently--much more cautiously--but it made a HUGE difference in DH's comfort and recouperation. He really did much better afterwards than the people who had surgeons who seemed more interesting in 'stream-lining' things.

The Hernia was repaired in a same-day surgery place. It was much more uncomfortable, and a longer recouperation than the GB, surprisingly. Don't expect to be doing anything at all for the first 24 hours (and you'll feel MUCH better if you can lie flat, if you're anything like DH) Be sure your driver has a car with good shocks, and try to have the procedure as close to home as possible--the ride home was pretty uncomfortable for DH, if I recall correctly. Try to schedule for as early in the day as possible, you don't want to be rushed out of the recovery room, if you have it at the end of the day (DH's was scheduled early, but got postponed till the end and he really wasn't ready to leave, but the place was closing for the day).

First few days were a little rough, especially since DH came down with a really bad cold the day he had the surgery (one with a horrible hacking cough, so that wasn't good, but he got through it).

My SIL had hernia surgery a few months after DH and she's also fine. You'll feel much better for having the problem fixed.