It will be out-patient surgery if they do it laproscopically. It will most likely be the mesh and titanium staples procedure.
His surgeon should have thoroughly explained the surgical technique he is going to use to your friend, and what to expect after the surgery.
He calls me Tuesday evening, about 4 hours after he came to. He was home, was driven home. He was standing, feeling pretty OK, coherent, and we talked for nearly an hour.
The surgeon didn't tell him anything. He was told that they wouldn't know until they got in there. I don't know if they even took any scans, he didn't say so. They gave him an Rx for Vicodin (he said it was hydrocordone/acetameniphen), and I looked at the vicodin I got for some procedure and that's what it says. He said he filled the Rx on the way home! He was not yet in pain when I talked to him (I believe he'd taken one vicodin, the Rx saying one every 6 hours), didn't feel a thing on his back where they took out a ~3" "lipoma" and he didn't feel much in his belly yet. He said he'd call me last night but that didn't happen, so I called him and his answering machine was off and he wasn't answering the phone. I assume he's uncomfortable.
They hadn't yet told him anything, if and when they'd remove stitches, change bandages. He figured he'd call them next day (i.e. yesterday). I told him he should ask to have the surgeon call him and explain what happened, what he should do, what he could expect and hope for.
They told him before the operations that his blood pressure was remarkably low considering he was about to have these surgeries and he told them he'd turned his mind off the last couple of days, just didn't allow himself to get worked up about anything.
He was real nervous about pain because he'd had his wisdom teeth extracted some years ago (they were impacted) and the experience was excruciating. I had my wisdom teeth taken out, 2 at a time and it was nothing, but mine weren't impacted, it was something else entirely. I think I barely needed the Vicodin I had for it, if I took it at all.
They told him afterward they put in mesh, that's about all I know. It was done on Valentine's Day, and he asked them to make the incision in the shape of a heart! He had no idea if they complied with that request. He was going to eat a small meal (thin slice of pizza) and smoke a bowl.