Mom’s massive hernia too dangerous to operate on

By Imogen Howse

A mom living with "the biggest hernia doctors have ever seen" says she is sick of being housebound - but has been told she will die if she has surgery.

Samantha Jackson, 56, first developed a hernia - when an internal part of the body protrudes through a weakness in the muscle or surrounding tissue wall - 17 years ago.

Initially, doctors simply "pushed" the hernia "back in" - but the condition soon returned.

Over the years, the hernia got bigger and bigger - but Samantha was denied surgery because she was overweight and her blood pressure was too high.

The mom-of-one, from Hinckley, Leics., struggled with mental health issues and lost the energy to keep chasing GPs for follow-ups - but eventually secured an appointment with a surgeon in 2021.

However, the surgeon said the hernia was "too big" to operate on - and referred her elsewhere.

Samantha saw two other surgeons and has now been told if the hernia is operated on it will kill her.

She said: "I just feel so lost. I don't know what to do with my life. I've become housebound and I feel like I am just sitting here and waiting and going crazy.

"I want to work, I want to have things to do. My mind is so active. But I can't.

"I don't see a future. It's all an absolute nightmare."

When Samantha first developed a hernia in 2008, she visited the GP and thought it had been dealt with.

She said: "I had a lot of pain in my stomach. It was really bad - I remember I couldn't even push a shopping trolley.

"I went to the GP and they said I had a hernia. It was much smaller then - and the doctor was able to just push it back in with his fingers.

"But after that it just gradually kept getting bigger over the years. I went back-and-forth with appointments and in 2011 I had an appointment to have surgery.

"But they told me I was overweight and my blood pressure was too high - and so they couldn't operate.

"I was put on medication to bring my blood pressure down but after that I started suffering very badly mentally and I didn't have the energy to chase follow-up appointments all the time.

"I stopped leaving the house and became housebound. Then, I had carers sent in, but still nothing happened.

"It wasn't until 2021 that I had another appointment for an operation but the surgeon told me he couldn't operate on a hernia of that size.

"He referred me to someone else, who said he could operate on the hernia, but said I'd also have to have weight loss surgery - which he didn't do.

"So he referred me to another surgeon. I saw that one this January and he said it was too late.

"He said if he operated now it would kill me - because the hernia has forced my organs down."

Samantha says she feels "let down" by doctors - and feels that if she had had the operation back in 2011 none of this would have happened.

She said: "I just feel really let down.

"If they had operated at the first chance, I would have been 39, and everything would have been a lot safer.

"Now I'm heavier than I've ever been and I'm getting more and more immobile.

"It's much more dangerous.

"Three surgeons have told me this is the biggest hernia they have ever seen."

Samantha is also struggling with not being able to work. She is on disability benefits as a result of her hernia.

She said: "I'm 56. My mind is so active. I'm desperate to work - I've taught myself how to build a website and set up a company - but I just can't do anything.

"I struggle to get dressed. I can't go to a restaurant because the hernia is too big for me to sit at the table.

"Nowadays, it's more uncomfortable than painful. But the painful thing is that I just don't know what to do with my life.

"My mom lived in Spain and I couldn't even travel to see her before she died.

"All I do is sit here and see a carer. There's nothing in my life.

"I just want to have a life."