Well, not to over share, but I'm scheduled for hernia surgery in late November. It is a result of an appendectomy that I had over 10 years ago. Apparently, the area of the abdominal wall right next to the scar tissue (the surgery was done laparoscopically) is a point of weakness. Over time the tissue beneath the abdominal wall pushes through, often due to physical exertion, but it can also just happen because of every day life.
When the tear (that's essentially what the hernia is to my understanding) is repaired, they now add some sort of "mesh" over the new repair to strengthen the previously weakened area as well as the newly repaired area. I'm assuming they do that to help keep the problem from recurring. Post surgery, there's 6 weeks of limited activity, so I would assume that this is closer to an 8 to 10 week situation.