Wow, major bummer dude !!!! Hope the surgery goes well, give it ample time to heal afterwards !
I can definitely relate, and this can serve as a caution to others that have a hernia (or get one later) that it is NOT something to take lightly -
I got a hernia about a year or so before I was originally going to retire at 62 with SS, how ?
......I knew better, but being in a hurry I made the mistake of picking up some heavy sod lifting with my back instead of with my knees, I felt a burning sensation at the time but didn't think a lot about it, then later when I knew something wasn't right when it would protrude out I got checked and found out I had a hernia, they said it wasn't real bad, that surgery was not urgent right away, that as long as I could push it back in when it protruded it was okay, but that if it ever got to where it couldn't be pushed back in it would need immediate surgery. (I think that clinic should had told me to take it more seriously, but maybe they thought I would have had it repaired much sooner)
My next mistake was thinking I could hold off getting the surgery till I retired since every time it protruded out I was able to easily push it back in.
Then roughly about 4 months before retirement it pushed out and I couldn't push it back in, it was late at night, my wife was working a night shift and I made another mistake of trying to hold out hoping I could push it back in.
That next day, still the same and in a lot of extreme pain, I went to the emergency room and the doctor said I should have had surgery 2 hours ago it was that serious, so they rushed me for immediate surgery, it had turned into a strangulated double hernia, but I thank God so much that after the surgery they said amazingly no damage was done and they were able to fix things well.
They did have to use mesh, which has it's risks of scar tissue forming but I have not had any problems from the mesh that I can tell.
Understandingly it took a while to get back to normal and I had to recuperate for a few months VERY gradually being able to do more and lift more, but my wife told me, no sense you going back to work you are retiring NOW because by the time you would be released to go back to work it would only have been about another month before your retirement anyhow.
If you get digestive problems (I had some from when I had to take antibiotics to get rid of Lyme disease from a tick bite, as antibiotics can also destroy the good bacteria your digestive system needs) I took both prescription probiotics as well as OTC probiotics and yogurt, it took a while but my digestive system returned to normal.
Since you are getting surgery before it got strangulated hopefully your recovery will be quicker, but do NOT rush the recovery as I know someone who "felt" okay to lift heavier objects and ended up having to have repeat surgery which they said was a lot more painful the second time and wished they would have been more patient and waited longer to lift heavier stuff again.
Bottom lines:
Lift with your knees - NOT with your back !
IF anyone else has a hernia (or gets one) do NOT try to tough it out - get it repaired ASAP - you can thereby avoid it getting much worse and being serious.