Hernia is a structural problem. I'm not sure about hiatal hernia though.
2 years ago, I had a right inguinal hernia. Improper lifting while hot, tired, sweaty, and stupid. What happens is that the muscle tears. The intestine has an opportunity to punch through that tear/hole. This is dangerous; as the intestine can be strangled; resulting in an immediate emergency room visit.
The operation is simple and takes about 40 minutes. My hospital stay was about 3 hours. In the USA, the popular procedure is to cut the area by about 4 inches, insert a flexible web, sew it to the muscle (like patching your clothes), close the wound.
The pain is not fun at all for about 2 days. Getting in and out of bed took about 20 minutes each (I had no help around the house). It will help that your husband has you to help pull him up. The muscles, at my inguinal hernia site right above the leg joint, are used for very many things. Getting out of a chair was difficult too. Pain medication is essential unfortunately. There was no problem walking, sitting, standing. Just the maneuvering up and down from a relaxed position to an active one. It was only the transition time from relaxed to active that was extremely painful.
Don't mess around with this.