Boyzone tour gave me life-threatening hernia, reveals Keith Duffy

19th July 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1200547/Boyzone-tour-gave-life-threatening-hernia-reveals-Keith-Duffy.html

At the age of 34, Keith Duffy could be forgiven for feeling daunted at the prospect of a reunion tour with the boyband that made his name almost two decades ago.

'Dancing around without your shirt in front of an audience of screaming girls is all very well in your teens and early 20s,' he says. 'But it's a different matter when you've got two kids and can't spend every moment working on your six-pack.'

After notching up a remarkable six No1 UK singles, four No1 albums and 20million record sales, Boyzone disbanded in 2000. Now a father of two, he was also known more recently as ladies man Ciaran McCarthy in Coronation Street. He admits: 'I had let myself go a bit.'

The turning point came when the group did a photoshoot last year to announce their comeback, only to face uncharitable comments about how time had not been so kind to them.

'That really hurt,' says Keith. 'But when I saw the pictures, I had to agree. During the band years, I trained a lot. But after the split, I relaxed. I was content and had a bit too much of the good life.

'You don't realise the weight going on, it happens so gradually. But to be brutally honest, I had gone from a 32in waist to a 38in.'

So, before heading back out on the road, along with bandmates Ronan Keating, Stephen Gately, Mikey Graham and Shane Lynch, Keith hit the gym - but, as he was to discover to his cost, a little too hard.

The singer, who lives in Dublin with his wife Lisa, 38, son Jordan, 13, and daughter Mia, nine, first noticed something was wrong while he was running the Flora London Marathon in April to raise money for the National Autistic Society.

The charity has been close to his heart since Mia was diagnosed with the learning disability, which can affect speech, behaviour, motor and social skills, in 2002.

'In hindsight, along with the all the weight training I was doing to get back in shape, I was asking for trouble. But I am the type of person who really goes for it when it comes to exercise,' he says.
He was 16 miles into the 26.5-mile race when he felt an agonising pain to the left of his groin.
'I had just taken off my sunglasses and tucked them into the waistband of my shorts when it happened and at first I thought I'd stabbed myself with the arm of the glasses.

'I was almost doubled over, but I told myself I'd just pulled a muscle. Somehow I carried on running through gritted teeth. I knew if I stopped I wouldn't be able to start again.

'The pain dissipated into a dull ache in my lower stomach - it felt a bit like I'd been kicked where it hurts.'

Astonishingly, despite this, Keith completed the race in three hours and 52 minutes. 'I was elated to finish and sure the discomfort was just a muscle strain that would disappear. Besides, everywhere ached.'

But over the following days of rehearsals with Boyzone back in Dublin, the pain got worse.

'I was doing my best during the dance routines but the guys could see I was wincing with agony. There was the constant dull aching and a sharp stabbing pain on the left side and a slight twinge on the right, too, every time I tried to sit or stand. In the end, Ronan forced me to go to A&E.'

Keith was immediately taken for an ultrasound scan, which revealed he was suffering from not one but two inguinal hernias.

'I was shocked,' he says. 'I thought it was something only old men got.'

Hernia is the catch-all name given to a protrusion of body tissue or part of an organ through the surrounding muscles by which it is normally contained. Most develop in the abdomen, when fatty tissue or abdominal organs are able to push through a natural weakness in the abdominal wall.

It is not known exactly why they happen but experts believe they occur because of a weakness in the muscles that exists from birth.

They can be triggered by increased pressure on the abdominal muscles due to anything from heavy lifting, exercise, or even a coughing fit. They may also develop through the diaphragm, the oesophagus - known as a hiatus hernia - the spine, and even the brain.

Inguinal hernias specifically occur through a sheet of muscle in the lower abdomen that supports the reproductive organs, known as the inguinal canal, and about 27 per cent of men will suffer from one at some point (only three per cent of women, whose inguinal muscles are smaller, will suffer a hernia in this place).

'The doctors told me it had been brought on because I had been training too heavily for the tour,' says Keith. 'I was in the gym most days, as well as jogging every day to prepare for the marathon. I'd been pushing myself too hard.

'In hindsight I'd felt twinges of pain for months and during the marathon the hernia fully ruptured, which was why I felt such pain.'

Hernias often cause a visible or palpable lump. In some cases, there are other symptoms resulting from pressure on an organ or an obstruction caused by the hernia.

'Apparently, lumps can disappear and reappear as the tissue slips back into place and then protrudes again, so I never felt a lump,' says Keith.

If left untreated, complications can arise if they become ' strangulated', meaning blood supply to the organ becomes restricted, leading to gangrene, organ failure and even death.

The doctors decided Keith needed an emergency operation to repair the hernias.

During surgery, a small incision is made near the site. The escaping tissue is then pushed back and the weakness in muscle tissue mended. The hour-long keyhole operation is called
herniorrhaphy. About 100,000 are performed each year and it is the most common surgical procedure in the world.

The muscle used to be pulled together and stitched under tension - but 20 per cent of these hernias recurred through the same site.

Now, three incisions are made - one in the navel, one an inch below and another an inch below that, through which the camera and surgical instruments are inserted. Modern techniques also involve a fine plastic mesh prosthesis placed over, or under, the defect.

'It's similar to the way your mum would patch the knee of your trousers rather than pulling the edges together,' says surgeon Martin Kurzer, an expert in hernia repairs.

Unless a hernia has already caused complications that make it a medical emergency, as it did in Keith's case, a repair operation is considered elective (non-urgent) surgery. Patients should expect to wait six to eight weeks for surgery on the NHS.

Desperate to get back to rehearsals, and against his doctors' advice, after two days in hospital Keith discharged himself.

'I was sore in my tummy around where the incisions had been and I felt an odd tugging-like tension at the site of the hernias,' he says.

Three days after his operation, Keith was back at rehearsals.

'At first, I just sat with my feet up on the sofa watching the boys do the routines. After a week, I felt able to walk through some of the numbers.

'I was speaking to my doctor all the time. He told me to just listen to my body and not do anything that hurt. Of six weeks of rehearsal, I managed about three.

'By the opening night, I still felt some tension down there but to the naked eye I think it looked like I was completely fit.'

He was also able to take his top off with complete confidence. 'My trainer devised a programme that didn't cause any further damage.

'Sit-ups are out of the question because of the strain they put on the lower abdomen. But today I think I'm in better shape than I was in my 20s.

'Now the tour is over, we'll continue working on our new album, due out in 2010.'

Having had hernias, it is not unlikely that Keith might suffer another one. Less than five per cent of patients experience a hernia in the same place, but about one in five suffer a recurrence in a different place.

He also discovered that it wasn't the first time he'd suffered from one. 'When I called my mum to tell her she said, "Oh, that's happened to you before". When I was a baby, I'd had an operation to fix the exact same thing. So I was predisposed to it happening again.'

About five per cent of male infants will suffer from an inguinal hernia.

'Still today I can feel a bit of tension down there but no pain. I think because I worked so hard straight after the operation, I slowed down the healing process,' says Keith.

Today, his health is paramount and he has left the rock 'n' roll lifestyle behind him.

Mia, one of an estimated 500,000 UK autism sufferers, is also a source of inspiration. Having attended a special school for children with learning disabilities, she is now in mainstream education.

'She has come on in leaps and bounds, considering she didn't speak until she was five,' he says. 'I want to be my best for her.'

He sticks to a diet low in saturated fats, fried food and refined carbohydrates (such as white bread and pasta). 'I do love my steak and chips, and Mexican food, though. And I have a weakness for Jelly Babies,' he admits.

Keith, who is currently on holiday with the family in Florida, says: 'I'm 35 this year. I can't party like I used to. If I stay up until 5am, my performance the next day will suffer. And to be honest, I want to be able to spend all my spare time with my wife and children, not recovering in bed.

'I'm in the best shape of my life. I feel great, and I want to stay that way now. I might even try another marathon next year - if I can forget just how painful the last one was.'