New thread for those having/had posterior or anterior repairs, TVT, rectocele and all the other down below stitchups

[MissingMySleep]

Hello ladies, I hope you find this, I don't want to lose my pre-op and post-op buddies!!

Wow, so many posts to read this morning. I am always feeling behind because ! am, 7 hours in fact. An interesting thing I was reminded by Missing's post about fibromyalgia. Right after my surgery and for 4 days to follow, I had aches all over my body. The aches were more like when I touched any place on my body I felt bruised, but there was nothing there. I asked my dr about it and he said, it must be your fibromyalgia, as it can cause strange sensations in some people after surgery. Missing did you have anything like this? You are also right about doing too much and then feeling no so good. I woke up this morning very tired, very sore and kind of sickly feeling. I am committing myself to rest today.
You ladies are right about the sexual arousal, I didn't want to mention it, but because someone else did, I can talk about it now. phew! My husband was just rubbing my stomach and trying ot make me feel relaxed the day I got home from the hospital, but it aroused me and then, I said,"STOP!!!" it is hurting me, he didn't get what I was saying at first, then I explained it to him. He just read these posts with me and kind of laughed. I told him no more touching me for 6 weeks.
I am taking an antibiotic called ciproflaxacin,no side affects, but am waiting for the yeast infection to show up. I am eating yogurt for now, but we'll see.
Yes my friend Tuck was very brave and I see what got him through all his days and that was humour, so if we can laugh at ourselves, perhaps we can feel a bit better about things. Tuck was so funny that he was practiacally stand up comic material. He made all of us comfortable with the fact that he had cancer, by cracking a joke about it and opening up the subject. I think nobody really wants to talk about cancer as much as they don't want to talk about rectoceles, cystoceles and all those kinds of things we are meant to feel embarrassed about. Thank god for this site. TTYL

Em, thanks for that - lean lean lean. Will stash the script away, and just stick to choc and MN.

Oh no Footle, really...? Clouds? Rain? Heating....argh!! We are almost as south as we can get and its a right shock to the system driving up to the northeast in tshirts and shorts and needing our jumpers by the time we get there. We haven't had rain here for months, I have to water my plants, and the grass is going brown. We have rain forecast and the clouds sometimes come along, but they float over and don't water my garden boo. I have packed summer clothes with a couple of jumpers, guess I had better thrown in more jumpers, hey maybe gloves and scarves too while I am at it, we softy southerners will struggle with that fresh air. Mind you, that northern cooking yum yum..

Rect re the phantom bruises all over, that's what I feel like in the mornings when I am not taking care of myself, I feel like I have been run over in the night. After the surgery I was too drugged up to notice for the first week or so, in fact I felt great cos I am not used to taking painkillers, so I was spinning TBH. But yes after dumping the painkillers I am back to aching, but not all the time. Foolishly went in the pool yesterday (they have a 2 kids per adult rule so I was needed as the 2nd adult) and tried not to do much but by 7.30 I was in bed, aching, feeling sick to my stomach and running a fever. Fab. I thought I was being clever by swimming arms only, ie letting my legs float and just using arms. Guess not. That is me (Mrs Pot) telling you (Mrs Kettle) to take it easy knowing that I did that yesterday har har

Night night ladies, thanks for all being so lovely x

SWIMMING??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bloody Hell Fire Woman!!!!

Hi Everyone, :)
Not sure really where to start but I'm so glad I've found you all.
I've been having trouble " down below" for years, never really knowing what the problem was, just thinking its one of those things we women have to put up with. Finally on a visit to the GP on a minor matter I mentioned in passing that I have trouble with my bowel movements, feel very uncomfortable and "not quite right". A quick exam later he decides that I need to visit a gyni consultant to get things sorted out as he thinks I have a rectocele.
My appointment is next wed and I'm starting to stress over it big time, my last experience hospital wise was for a hysterectomy 14yrs ago in a German hospital, translators, enema's and a general feeling of embarrassement.
I know I have to get this resolved and on the whole I'm pleased the process has started but I'm filled with such dread. Can i ask did/does anyone feel the same and how did you deal with it?

Emily yes I know. am ashamed. What a div. Saying that dont forget I am 9 weeks post op, I thought it might be ok...? it wasnt.

Footle, no DH is driving, he won't let me drive since I got pregnant and my attention span shrank significantly. that was 9 years ago. Now I take my pillow and am in charge of the bag of food - much better. 300 miles boo hiss I hate that drive.

Stardrops, yes everyone was full of trauma and worry beforehand. Stay with this thread we will cheer you up but you will need to put up with way way TMI

I am that stupid that I didn't notice anything was wrong, except I kept peeing myself all the time. I went in initially for a TVT to fix the peeing, but ended up with 3 ops instead. The doc told me I had a rectocele and seemed surprised I hadn't noticed. Now its fixed I can tell the difference but it didn't bother me before.

So far, everyone on this thread (I think) has been terrified to the point of cancelling, then gone ahead, then been glad of it. There is a long recovery time, and you really really need to take it easy afterwards, but after that, you get your life back. If you check out the link above somewhere, it goes to the old thread, and you can read about the ladies that had it done before, and their experiences too.

I am off to pack, have a great weekend ladies x o x o x

HI everyone

Missed lots of posts again, too many to comment on so will just say hope you are all doing fab x Welcome to all new ladies too x

Meg, I have my swab results back and am on the same anti biotics as you since yesterday, feel ok tho and think they are working already. The other night the pain was terrible in my (erm) 'wound area', have not felt pain like that since got it done but thankfully it is eased right off again now. Plus my tooth abssess recurred, as it does when I am low.

My rollercoaster ride has crashed back downward this week, from feeling so positive and good at the start of the week to in the depths of misery and despair weds and yesterday :(

Think all the upset weakened my immune system and caused the infection to worsen causing the pains, was crying my eyes out at the poor docs yesterday and went to high street to get my prescription looking and feeling awful. So awful in fact that 2 old ladies asked if I was ok and patted me.... made me cry

Having big problems with finance and the inland revenue refusing to pay up child credits for my daughter. It has been 8 weeks since I lost my job and 4 since I had my op. I have not been unemployed for more than 10 years and have always worked/studied to raise my girls. Feels like the whole system wants to kick you when your'e down. It was this govt that made me redundant from my job in april. and now they wont help me

Feel jealous of all ladies with loving DH/DP's. I really wanted some strong arms round me this week telling me it will all be ok. Thankfully my DD aged 23 has come straight over and stayed a few days to look after me. What an angel she is.

Had to laugh re the rude stuff you girls wrote.. That happened to me when I had a horny dream.. haha - learned not to think about it too cos it hurt lol. Me and my DD have been watching the True Blood series and perving over vampire Eric. What a dish, cant perv too much tho

Haha my post is long. Thank god for this site and you lovely ladies.

And thank god this week is nrly over. So much has gone wrong. I have never cried so much in years than since I had this op. It must be hormones even tho my bits are gone. Stupid doc says its cos I dont feel 'like a woman' anymore. I keep wanting to punch him. He doesnt understand at all. That is nothing to do with it lol

Al least I have all of you. Have a great weekend all xxx

Off to collect my 10yr old, he's been away on a school activity week in Devon for FIVE days! I have missed talking to him!!! So excited!!! LOL

Flowers, I wish I knew the best thing to say to you to make you feel better :-( TImes can be very tough and I am the first to admit that I consider myself lucky in life! Try and keep your chin up and vent as much as you need honey x x x

Welcome Stardrops glad you found us also. Take time to read our experiences and I think you will find that you will feel better about things.
Missing have a great weekend, I'm like you, hate the long drive and I wouldn't drive myself either, I would fall asleep, happens every time.
Flowers your daughters sound very kind, you abviously did a great job raising them. So sorry about your troubles, how disappointing at this time in your life. I am very blessed with my husband for support. My parents are both dead and my kids are at a rather selfish phase in their lives, I believe it is called teenager. My older daughters live an hour away and work full-time, so I don't see them much. I do have my Emily though, she is 12 and has been so kind offereing her help around the house. Anyway, I do hope you have a better weekend.
Footle I love to hear your honest words of wisdom, You are like a mom figure to us. I not having a mom for quite some time, surely needs to hear the advice of a wiser woman. I think you're cool. Don't blame you for sneaking a tramadol before the mamogram, they can be painful when they squish your boob into a pancake. I have only had one mamo in my life nad I wondered what would happen if you just suddenly passed out whie your boob was caught in a vice?
Jewel I like that you consider yourself lucky in life, not all are so aware of the blessings they have, even if it is just having life go smoothly. I have had really hard times in life and it does seem that when it rains it pours and that is one of those times for poor Flowers right now. The storm will end and in the meantime, Flowers, just lean on us for emotional support.

Forgot about my question for you all, I get reading your posts and I want nothing more than to comment on how amazing you all are.

I took it easy yesterday, hoping to avoid the pain that I suffered for my superhero moves the day before. Much to my surprize, I woke up feeling worse that the day before. I am not as tired, but that is the only difference. Why did this happen? Has it happened to any of you? Also yesterday I was out for a walk and when trying to wipe a bit of mud from my shoe, out of nowhere, my groin just shot pain right down my leg, just about knocked me off my feet. I am assuming this is from the TVT. Any thoughts? This kept me aching in that area for the entire day and it is still here. OUCHY

Rect - I get the odd niggle, like when I ironed today for 20 minues there was the odd pain, not as bad as a shooting pain but a shapr pain but I haven't had anything as bad as you described which makes me think it is not related to the posterior repair but somehting else you had done. When you all talk about TVT do you mean mesh that is built into the wall? Lots of you talk about it and I dont really know what it is!!!!

Thank you everyone, you are all so kind and lovely :)

I called hmrc again today and got a much nicer lady than the horrid man the other day, she said my payment is being held back incase I go back to work in future and they will reassess it at the end of the tax year (April 2012) and if I am still entitled I will get it then!! Incredulously, I said well I need it now, not in 2012, so she has requested I be given it on hardship grounds, the request goes to head office who will call me with their 'decision'...

Yes Rect, oldest daughter is very sweet, she is nrly 23 tho, my 18 yr old has been a big let down since my op and has gone to stay at her bf's now for a while as her not helping around the house, not contributing money even tho she was working etc has caused 2 arguments in recent weeks, my youngest is 15 and stressed with her gcse's right now but generally ok and a comfort to me.

That sounds terrible re your pain, I didnt have TVT so cant offer any thoughts other than take it easy and hope it wears off soon, have you taken any painkillers?

Yes - we are all amazing, and that includes you too xx

Well a TVT is basically a mesh tape. Transobturator tape technically and is only about 1/4 inch wide and 10 iches long until they cut the length to fit after insertion. I have the Monarc sling (brand name). I watched the op on their website and what they do is, cut a small incision in your upper vaginal wall to expose the urethra. They also make an incision about 1/2 inch on each side of your area, the groin. They slip a hook through the groin incisions and come out at the vaginal incision and put the mesh tape on and pull it through on each side and then sew you up. Viola! you should be fixed for urine leakage. This is why infection is risky, foriegn object in the body. CHeck ou tthe Monarc sling video op, it is interesting. Just google monarc sling and teh video should show up.

I have taken pain meds to dull the ache in the groin and as long as I don't move too quickly the wrong way, the pain is tolerable. Trouble is "the wrong way" is not obvious until you've done it.

Well i must get of my but and do some activity today, I will go out to my herb garden and do a bit of pottering. Then I will come back in and kint.

Have a great evening ladies!

Well now I can see why I have had such less pain than a lot of you! A posterior repair is no where near as invasive as a TVT!!!! I can imagine weeks of pain with that!!!

So I hope you don't think what I am about to say is too weird, but every day after my shower, I like to look down there to see if everything is healing well. The trouble is, my vagina is so swollen, that I don't see much opening. I only see bruising and a couple of stitches on the perineum. I have the two groin incisions as well, but one side came out and opened up, so it is too late to close it. It will heal with a gap. I am hoping sex goes good, I am worried because I had both top and bottom fixed, that could narrow things up quite a bit. He did warn me because of the lack of tissue to sew to, that sex will be painful for the first while.

Jewel, did you watch the video?

Footle, I have heard they use mesh on some posterior repairs, but I don't know what it looks like. The dr. showed me the tape he put around my urethra.

Regarding my groin pain, my husband said that the dr. mentioned while I was in hospital that groin pain is uncommon. The dr. asked me if my groin hurt at all and I said yes but not too bad. He said I would be his first patient to have it. I don't remember this conversation, when he explained this to my husband, but there is a muscle that is inside of the groin area and they try very hard not to touch that muscle. If you poke through it, he said it would be excruciating. In my case he may have just bruised it a bit when threading the TVT through. So I guess that may be my problem. Funny thing my memory is not all intact from my stay in hospital. I remember some things, but not all. Mmmm

It is nearly 3:30 am and I haven't been sleeping. Today, I overdid it. I went out to the garden and pulled weeds for 1/2 hour, then rested. I cleaned the bathroom and the kitchen, then rested. I got a call from my husband that his truck broke down and he really needed me to come pick him up, so I drove to go get him. I know i am not supposed to drive, but I didn't know what else to do. I had to wait for hubby to get his truck running before I could drive back home, so I was worn out by the time it was all done, drove home and started dinner, then I was sore. Serves me right. I just don't know what i am supposed to do as far as activity goes and how much really. I didn't do anything straining at all, just up and moving mostly. I feel guilty because I think my husband wants me to do things as he is always telling me to get up and go for a walk or do something for a few minutes. He wakes me up if I am sleeping to give me breakfast. These things are all nice, but I would rather sleep and wait for breakfast. I also would rather just rest in bed sometimes and not have to go for a walk or what ever. I don't know what to do? I think when hubby goes back to work next week, I will get more rest. Am I wrong to just take is easy sometimes? I know I have to walk etc., but i don't want to make a schedule out of it. i am just grumpy about it I guess. I shouldn't complain, but I am frustrated.Any sound advice out there?

Well over the past few months I have been folllowing this site - the help and info has been great. I am one week post op! posterior repair with large rectocele. I endured years of suffering in silence, perhaps because I lived with the condition for so long I didnt realise there was anything wrong and the sheer embarrassment of discussing it! I had had a terrible delivery over 20 years ago my gynae said pre-op ''everything was in the wrong place''
I stayed in one night and first few days were rough but then a speedy recovery. I have come to work (office) as I cannot rest at home I keep finding jobs that need doing! I have been so lucky, I came home thinking my teenage daughters would help but after a day they lost interest and left me to fend for myself - ummm I didnt really have anyone else to help me so had to force myself to the kitchen for essentials.
I need advice from you experienced girls -
I am very sore but this is from the stitches rubbing, sitting/walking - how long do they take to disolve? if I have healed can I snip the ends of them? also as my biggest problem was with BMs, whilst thankfully I have not experienced any constipation I still am unable to empty in full and have to assist, very difficult with so many stitches down there - is this normal? will it improve?

Footle, I have read and learnt so much from your threads, and all these other lovely ladies, we are all so brave - some have been through so much more, but your strengths made me go and get the help I needed although I was so terrified. I am sure I did too much too soon, but try hard to listen to my body - I was so scared at the stories I had read knowing I would not manage if I couldnt drive after a few days, because I was on my own, if I was at home I would see the chores that needed doing and would attack them, getting into work (office) meant I would not abuse myself at home. ( I shouldve been sedated more!) I lowered the car seat and had a really soft thickish cushion and it worked - I had to be soo careful though. I was never told not to drive, most likely it is just expected it would not be possible with the pain/discomfort. Now a week on and back to a level of acceptable sanity even I realise how foolish it was to even attempt to drive so soon. I was on my own though and clearly delusional. I found other way to do chores that kept looking at me and know you would all see the funny side! - I was so nauseous until day 6 but I had to get into work, I was not able to sit upright for long lengths so lay on the floor when I needed to and found a way to perch on the edge of a stool-and I only stayed for a few hours at a time at first. I am not sure what signs to look out for? pain on walking/standing for too long? - thankfully I stocked up on the heavier main shopping so don't need to venture into shops, I know I would not manage to stand and of course carry anything.
Just so sore with the stitches - am happy there is no infection but the ends are so sharp and causing unneccesary blistering... when do they dissolve?

HI everyone, hope you are all having a good saturday

Rect, you asked 'am I wrong to just take it easy sometimes?' - the answer is NO!! A big fat 'no' too!! You are SUPPOSED to take it easy!! For 6 weeks, minimum!

Yes it is sweet of hubby to bring you breakfast, but let him bring you it when you are ready to wake up! My first couple of weeks post op I was lucky if I woke up before 10am every day. Your body needs rest, think of all your energy going to heal your insides, that is why we are so wiped out in the early weeks, there's a lot going on inside, cant see it but your body is working 100% and then overtime to mend itself! You are not supposed to be doing anything! No housework, no walks, just REST REST REST! If you want to stay in bed then just stay there! Listen to your body, do activity only when you are totally comfortable and don't push yourself to do more. I know its hard (pot, kettle anyone) and it especially hard when people cant 'see' how ill you are as there isnt anything to see, but you have basically had your insides moved around and rearranged!!

And Blue, welcome, but your post made me shiver!! In fact I ran right upstairs from where I was on my sofa reading on my mobile to log onto pc to say this to you! STOP what you are doing!! 1 week post op and you are doing housework, and going to work! I am flabbergasted by what you wrote! PLEASE stop now and give yourself some time to heal! You say you have suffered in silence so long, but we are all here! And we like to support each other on here cos we all know what it's like! Yes its hard to see the place become like a tip but seriously WHO CARES!? It doesn't matter, you should be at 1 week after your op basically resting.. leave the chores alone!! The dust in my front room is 3 inches deep now but I am not touching it till I can be bothered!!

AND you should NOT be driving so soon! Are you in the UK? Do your shopping online via Asda, its only £3 for delivery.. Write a note with your order that they have to bring it right in to your kitchen worktop and they will! Jeez woman what are you doing?? And where do you have to go?? I understand re the teenage daughters, I have one like that and it hurts, but you have to try and get through to them that you are ill and you need them.. please tell me you are not still trying to pick up after them etc, if you are then stop it! You should be doing nothing for at least 3-4 weeks, then gentle activity with lots of breaks but absolutely no lifting or heavy work like hoovering/ironing. Yes I said nothing, that means zero, nowt, not anything at all, zilch, nada, naught, diddly squat, sweet FA!

Now please listen to footle and get medical advice from your ward asap. Don't try and snip anything, you could injure yourself! And no, you should not be trying to help yourself go, you could get an infection, please please see your GP or phone your ward, promise me you will... Oh poor love, we are here for you and you should of piped up sooner, this is a difficult op to get through on so many levels, and even if you feel alone in your RL you can at least come on here when you need to and offload, we don't mind! Get some books you have been meaning to read, magazines (as trashy as you like), DVD's (I recommend True Blood for a bit of excitement/escapism) and put your feet up! Let the place go to wrack and ruin if it has to! Take care of yourself!

Sorry for moaning at you like this but please do not try and be superwoman and get yourself some advise and then some rest.. even if you dont 'want' to rest you have to.. you have had the courage to have this op to fix your problem so give yourself a chance to heal so you can avoid these problems in future.. it will be worth it in the end, a few weeks rest is nothing tho it feels sooo hard, I am sure you deserve a rest and if no one is around to pamper you then just do it for yourself, sending you hugs xoxoxo

Ohhh my post crossed with footle's and she has been much more gentle and diplomatic than me, I am sorry, I didnt want to alarm you or scare you off, its because I know exactly how you feel that I wanted to get through to you cos you sound a lot like me, headstrong and used to surviving and doing what you gotta do, pls accept my apologies if my post is too strong but also listen to footle's wise words x