Has anyone else had Umbilical Hernia Surgery?

[King Devitt and the Woke Mob]

Next Friday I'm having: "LAPAROSCOPIC ROBOTIC UMBILICAL HERNIA REPAIR WITH MESH"

And I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience with it, and the recovery aspect of it?

Any advice? How do you sleep? Pain management? Anything you recommend picking up while I still have time to do so?

I'm typically a side sleeper, and I know that's a no-no, but for how long?
Can I sleep on my back? Should I get a reclining thing for the bed? Should I get a binder? Will they provide me with one? How long until I can drive?
What do you do if you have allergies like me and sneeze a lot? Cry and bear it?

Sorry for the hassle, kinda nervous, and just want it over with, and it's been very uncomfortable the last month or so.

Thanks for reading, and any advice anyone can give!

[bibboid]

I had that about seven years ago.
The surgery went smoothly with no complications.
I spent about a week afterwards lying on the couch with ice packs and the meds they prescribed.
Once it healed up the whole thing never bothered me again.

Side story 1:
Two days before my surgery, we had a major reorganization project in the warehouse.
I spent a full day shifting 60-80 pound boxes from shelf to shelf.
I ended up blowing my back out so the majority of my recovery pain came from that.

Side story 2:
They will need to shave you before surgery.
I was laying in the prep room when the nurse came in to do that.
And of course I knew her.
She is a family friend with kids that went to school with my kids.
She offered to get someone else to do it, but I said it was fine.
(She’s a nurse. She’s a professional. It shouldn’t bother her. It shouldn’t bother me)
The only time it caused trouble was six months later when our families got together at a picnic and the story got told and her husband could not look me in the eye for the rest of the day.