Having Surgery For 3 Abdominal Hernias. Has mesh improved over the years, or should I expect chronic pain?

It sounds as if you are having a hernia repair utilizing both a components separation procedure to release the muscles and bring them together with possible mesh reinforcement. I have used mesh for many abdominal wall repairs and on patients for massive hernias and breast reconstruction when we harvest the abdominal tissue and/or muscles.  Unfortunately, some patient's who share their experiences on line have difficulties with surgery in general or with mesh in particular (infection or chronic pain), fortunately I find these problems to be exceedingly rare.  As part of your consultation your surgeon should have discussed the procedure in detail, risks and alternatives. It is possible sometimes to forego the use of mesh and just use the muscles and fascia of your abdominal wall to repair the hernia. However, this depends on several factors including how the muscles come together at surgery. As part of the consent I typically discuss possible use of mesh in case there will be too much tension on the muscle closure at the time of the operation to decrease the risk of hernia recurrence.