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!!

Hey Doombar. I'm afraid my surgery was no tthe same so I can't help you with this one but just wanted to say and welcome you to the forum. I know aome of the girls had similar ops to the one you are talking about so I know they will have lots of info for you shortly!
Sorry to hear that things are so bad for you but you are on the right track to making a change and getting sorted out!
xxxxxx

Goodness my typing is terrible! Sorry! Typing in the dark! It's DVD night! LOL

Welcome DoomBar. So sorry to hear what is happening to you right now.

I am not certain of your question regarding the nerve damage portion of it. Are you saying that the nerve damage has caused you lack of feeling in that area and with that, can you feel the urge to go to the bathroom?

Now I can tell you this much pertaining to me. I am a 45 year old mother of 6 vaginal births and now 4 weeks post op for a cystocele, rectocele and TVT. I had incontinence, but not as severe as you, I could feel when my urine leaked out. I wasn't able to have a bowel movement without splinting ( putting your finger in your vagina and pushing the stools out from there along the posterior wall) and I never had the urge to have a BM. The cystocele repair was to stop the bladder from bulging into the vagina as it was causing me to feel like I had to pee during sex. What I can tell you right now is, all was a success.

The TVT was a mesh tape that is put in through the vagina at the sight of the urethra and then slung around through to the groin area where you will have two small incisions. This supports the urethra because the ligaments have either stretched way to much or completely came off where they used to be. With this urethral support you can control urine flow and it prevents it from just coming out whenever it pleases. All my surgeries were done vaginally, they all took a total of two hours, I had a spinal block with slight sedation, so I was awake. This was a good experience for me and it made recovery great. Had total pain relief for 20 hours after op. I was still able to walk and feel my legs though. Recovery for me has been fairly easy, I feel almost 100% again. I am still to rest and take it easier than normal, but all is well. Here is a link to a news clip talking about the stress incontinence and the procedure they have developed to fix it. There are videos on youtube that show these types of surgeries, but they're not for the squeamish. I watched them all before I had my ops and I was glad that I did.

When might you be going for surgery? Hopefully soon! I waited only 2 months to get in after I finally made my decision. I suffered for 6 years because I was embarrassed to talk about it and I really didn't know what was wrong. Then I was afraid to have the ops, but so glad I did and don't know what I was so afraid of. The only thing I can't report on yet is sex. I am not to have sex yet, but I am supposed to start stretching the vagina because it is really tight and intercourse would be impossible right now. Have a good evening.I hope this information helps you. If you don't mind my asking, how old are you and how many kids did you have?

Hi DB, I had I think similar surgeries to what you will need. I am assuming you will have more than the TVT?

I had TVT for pretty bad stress incontinence, plus posterier repair (to sort out your rectocle, ie BM problems, altho being a bit thick I hadn't realised there was a problem there, so mine wasn't as bad as yours for sure) and also found out afterwards that my pelvic floor had been pretty much ripped in half by the big heaaded bastards darling babies so they repaired that at the same time - sounds like you will be needing those same three things??

Mine was a 2.5 hour surgery under a general, and I am now 12 weeks post op.

Re the posterier repair and pelvic floor repair, I am sure that is a 100% success thing, ie it's structural and no reason for that not too work....as long as you are able to rest and let everything heal post op.

Re the TVT there are %, ie it works for most but for a few its not 100% effective - but I can't remember the %s. Dawn, do you have those around somewhere, I am pretty sure you know everything. I truly believe you are omniscient. I am hoping mine has worked, but have yet to try out the trampoline.

If you are having the same surgeries, your greatest issue is post op - ie you MUST do nothing for a few weeks, no lifting, not even a kettle. And you will not be back to normal for 3 months, ie you will have to take it slow, no big exercising, no lifting heavy things etc, as otherwise you can ruin the work done in the surgeries, so you will need to make sure you schedule the ops for the time when you can arrange help with things.

Hello ladies, I am just getting up for the day as it is 8 am here.

Missing I do happen to know the % of success for TVT it is 85% and of the 15% left, there are half that have improvement and the remainder have no change at all. Well I am flattered you think I know a lot, I guess my brain retains a lot of info whether it is useful or not. Good that you clarified for DB that she will need help and time to recover as well as plenty of rest, I kind of forgot about and failed to mention it. You are so right about resting, as it is a big part of success for these kinds of surgeries.
I still have my period and am bleeding so much and it just goes on and on, never had this bad of a period before. It finally dawned on me why I might be bleeding so much, when i was discharged i was told to take iron supplement because of low hemoglobin. I have not taken the iron because of the liklihood it will cause constipation. I could not take that chance, so instead I am exhausted, pale and bleeding like a stuck pig. I am still afraid to deal with the constipation. I know that when I was pregnant I was supposed to take the prenatal vitamins, but every time I did the iron caused constipation so badly and no amount of dynamite would stop it, so I ended up taking regualr vitamins to get through the prenancy. I did not tell my dr I wasn't taking the iron, thought I would wait and see how I got along in time, but now I am concerned. What would you ladies do in my case?
Well i must go now, i am so tired and want to have a morning nap.
have a great day!

either take the iron and piles and piles of laxative -ish food, or eat the foods with iron, ie spinach, sesame seeds, red meat and so on. For absorbing iron you should not have tea or coffee half an hour before or after each meal (it prevents iron uptake) and if you have vitamin C (eg orange juice) with the iron rich foods, it assists uptake.

oh and drink LOTS xx

Thanks Missing and Footle for the thoughts. I do eat loads of spinach, just love it. I have spinach in the garden now, ready to eat, so there is plenty for me now. The iron the doc prescribed has added vit c in it. I bought them when I got out of hospital, but was too scared to take it. I think I will eat the iron enriched foods as I am having a hard time right now keeping constipation at bay with all that I do. I have a fiber supplement that you put in a drink and 2 scoops is 48% of your daily fiber intake, plus the loads of water to drink with it. I have been taking 3 scoops and 6 glasses of water. In addition to that, I eat everything with whole grains, no white flour stuff. Bran muffins with raisins, baked beans which is also incredible fiber intake, salads and veggies, prune juice and still take the stool softeners 3/day. 2 days ago I decided to take senna to move the bowels and can you believe that I was constipated yesterday, to the point that I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital and have it removed by cesarean. I had the worst BM I have had in a long time. Good news is after the hard stools passed, came softer ones. It is my damn hormones that does this and I don't know what to do about that. This is why the iron scares the crap out of me, haha too bad it didn't really work like that and actually scare it out. I don't drink tea or coffee, pretty much a water person. I have lost 15 pounds in the last 2 months eating like this. That is a good thing really, it just goes to show how much diet change I had with all this. I just wish my fricken bowels would work already. You ladies are absolutely right in what you say, I just wish I knew it would all work, perhaps I need more fiber for some reason. My first BMs were so soft right after surgery and now not so good.

My husband loves hummus, I should make some and dip whole grain tortilla chips into it. Floradix, I will look for it. How long did it take for your Hb count to go up? I can tell I have not really improved much since surgery. I am pale as a ghost and when I pull down on the bottom of the eye to see the tissue there, it is hardly even pink there. I used to be so healthy that way and now I am afraid I look anemic. Sorry for whining so much about this, I am frustrated to say the least and tired of being tired. I got up this morning from a 9 hour sleep and then stayed awake for an hour and slept 4 more hours. I have lived on 6-7 hours of sleep most of my life.

Well I guess I better make a decision about the iron and get on with it. Thanks so much for your advice and thoughts. Have a good evening.

Honestly? I think you should take the iron. If you are bleeding heavily you will be very anaemic (sp?!). Get some glycerine suppositries from the chemist and stick one of them up! Or buy a home enema (sp?! again) kit.
Are you bleeding more and longer than normal Dawn? I founf this time, if anything mine was a bit lighter and despite the horrific-not-you-over-with-a-feather pain my period seemed managable this time.
Would a low hemaglobin cause you to bleed more? Surely there is only a certain about of menstrual bood in your womb to come out? Your period doesn't take blood from anywhere else in your body does it?!
The tiredness will definately be due to your period. You have maybe had bad ones before but this time you are more likely to notice and highlight it because we are all watching everything that happens down there, plus the extra pain wil have knocked you sideways - I told you that mine made me physically sick!
I am sure if you go to the docs he is going to tell you to take the iron and probably wont come up with any other options!
I know its scary re BMs. I don't believe that you could/should be doing anything else regarding your diet as I can't see any way you can add more fibre etc!!!
Sorry I can't be more helpful Dawn, I really wish I could. Try the iron and see what happens. Spend your period in bed if you have to. Hopefully (for both of us) this bad period will be restircted to our first post op and the rest will be normal again!
Much love
xxxxx

Footle, too bad your post didn't make it, you're right that is weird.
Jewel, I am not sure if menstrual blood is exclusive to the womb. I know that friends of mine who had frequent periods and bled a lot during those times, ended up anemic and eventually had hysterectomies. Re: constipation, I have used the glycerine suppositories a few times since the op and they help sometimes. My husband thought like you, I should try taking the iron and see what happens. He noticed how tired I am , so much more than my usual self for sure. I was going to start taking it tonight at bedtime, but I feel so sick right now, so I will have to wait. I am nauseated for some reason and have discomfort in my right side under the rib cage into my back, this is what nauseates me. I am feeling rather panicky about this as I don't understand why I feel so ill and I think I am getting depressed a bit too. Not sure why I would be depressed, but I have noticed my lack of enthusiasm to see people. My friends want to get together and do things, but I am just not interested. I want to just stay home and keep to myself, I only want to see my husband and children. I am going out Friday night to an outdoor event and it is freaking cold here these days, so not sure how that will go. I am a bit apprehensive about going to this as it is an event for my friend Tuck that passed away from colon cancer in January. It was his would be 29th birthday yesterday and his wife has planned a fundraiser for cancers below the waist in his honour on his birthday. I am afraid I will go there and just cry, I am in that kind of mood lately. I feel it would be so awkward for me to be crying and it would look like I was a drama queen or something. I need to go as I am bringing food, but how long to stay, I don't know. I feel selfish for thinking this way. Oh I am just such an idiot these days, my feelings are all messed up. I never seen this coming, I really thought I was doing great and breezing through this, but I took a wrong turn somewhere and am a bit lost right now. Thanks again for the advice.
Has anyone out there felt this weird afterwards? Someone out there, I think it might have been Missing thought they might be depressed too. What clued you in to that possibility? Good night, I am heading to sleep now.

Right come on Dawn. Emily's tough love time. Get your arse in gear woman. You need to get yourself out of it before you get too deep. The good sign is that you are talking about it with us. It's when you go quiet or tell us that everything is tickety boo that we need to worry!
START forcing yourself to go out. I read on that leaflet about recovery that you must get up and showered and dressed so that you feel better about yourself. If you are feeling tired and bit fed up having tatty hair and being in your baggies isn't going to help. It takes a whole lot of effort, but just trying REALLY hard for 10 minutes can make the whole day better.
Mentally you are good Dawn. Don't worry about it. You're head is where it should be and it's screwed on the right way. Physically you need to keep an eye on it and dont let any of your sypmtoms get too bad before you go and see the doc.
Thank you for talking to us about this Dawn. Period hormones for some people can be hellish at the best of times and I think we now have evidence that post op they can be even worse. But you can get through this Dawn.
You are clever, pretty, have a great hubbie and a new vagina! Sieze that day my girl. Life is for living and you need to grab it by the balls and make the most of it!!!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One more bit of advice Dawn (TMI WARNING!!!)
As soon as your period finishes sort out some intimate time with hubbie.
I did a couple of days ago (with MY hubbie not yours) and we had a lovely night! We did everything that we normally did minus any sort of penetration - Sorry I DID warn you - and it was wonderful. It felt so normal to be intimate with him again and stopped me worrying about him wanted to go off somewhere and find it (yes I know but I get paraniod!!). It was so romantic and loving and despite not ending up finishing the normal way it was great. And I felt really close to him and it was wonderful to know that certain parts of my body still worked the way that had pre-op.
Appologies to anyone if I have offended you by talking about sex but I think for us ladies who have had work done 'down there' it is an importat part of recovery and if you are able, I think you shouldn't simply wait for 8 weeks with no intamacy and then suddenly try to get back to normal straight away. And TBH not being able to have 'proper sex' opens up a lot more closeness as you aren't simply working towards that final goal!
Again, sorry, just trying to be helpful!
x

Footle - I too had thoughts about gall bladder pain. I had problems with mine for 10 years before they worked out what it was and removed it!

Dawn, not wanting to add to your worries but keep your eye on that particular pain. I can best describe it as a sharp pain, on the right hand side that was just up under my ribs and spread around to the back. At it's worst (when I was passing stones) the pain ws the worst I have ever had (having children was nothing on this!) and it lasted for about 8 hours (steadily getting worse and coming in waves similar to labour in that they got closer together and more painful) The worst time I ended up on my hands and knees sobbing with a really tight feeling across my chest. As I say I had it for years before i was diagnosed so it is something that youcan have for a while before it becomes critical.
The pain got so bad that I used to make my self sick simply because the process of being sick took my mind off the pain for a few minutes!!
Please don't think that this is what it is, but just kep it in the back of your mind and keep your eye on it and keep a diary for a few months if necessary. I used to suffer maybe once a month.
Well, I hope that as you are reading it you feel refreshed from managing to get back to sleep!
Much love
xxxx

Hi again everyone, I am up already. I didn't sleep well, kept tossing and turning with discomfort. I have that damn headache back again too. Honestly it just plain pisses me off. My dr says that I suffer from what is called cluster headaches. They come on and when they go away you think that is it and then suddenly you have it back just as bad as it was, but at the same time they only come on during my period. I had this very headache on April 15th, 16th and 17th. I remember this specifically because it was hubbys birthday on April 16th. I had it on May 16th, 17th, 18th and the morning of my surgery the 19th. Now here we are at June 14th, 15th, 16th had a bit of a break and 17th.

Well about the pain under the ribcage, I never thought gallbladder, but I did wonder if my liver was mad or if it was my kidney. Gallbladder makes more sense though and I have had this pain before on several occasions, but this time it was worse in the way that I felt more nauseated. I did eat a more fatty meal last night, curry sauce with a coconut milk base and maybe that, if it was gallbladder made things act up. I will keep an eye on it.
I know I need to get out, but now with this headache issue, today I am doomed. I can't drive like this and my husband is worried about that too. He is going to see about moving some of Charity's stuff in tomorrow instead, of me taking it there today. There is not a lot of time today as our whole family is going to Tuck's fundraiser at 6:00 pm and Charity is done work at 2:30 pm. I certainly was excited to see her apartment, but I can see it tomorrow.

Emily I can certainly appreciate your tough love and understand it as well. I really do need to get out, but for today, like I said, the headache has taken over for the time being. I would love to have some intimate time with my husband, I am missing him so much. I think I am worried about sex and function, it creates stress for me and I just want it all to work now, I am impatient, but your suggestion to get close without the intercourse sounds great to me. I am going to go and rest AGAIN and see if that helps.

Dawn. Get out in the garden and see if the fresh air will help your headache, Also caffeine helps me - if I have a stonker I take a diclofenac, drink a diet coke and eat some chocolate and it takes the edge off!!! But I think a little outdoor excercise may help too. (or how about a power shower on your head? Or I use tea tree and mint shampoo sometimes as the cooling effect can help)
I sympathise 100%. My headaches are probably my number one issue (wth my bowels as a close second) as when you have a stonker you can't do a thing! My hubbies has only ever had two headaches! Yes I know it is hard to believe but it is true! He has no idea what headaches are like and so to see me limping around the house holding my head on my shoulders or finding me passed out on the sofa unable to lift my head up annoys the hell out of him. I would like, just one day for him to have an Emily special headache - just to see what it is like!!!
Anyway, sadly my husband's nan dies last night and I am preparing dinner for my mother - in - law. (time for me to repay all the favours she has done for me!)
Keep your chin up Dawn, I know it sucks BIG time sometimes but this bad patch will end, I promise
xxx

Hello girls. Sorry I have not been on here for a while. I'm being sucked back in to real life!

I have not got time to read all the posts I have missed at the moment but I hope you are all well.
I have been back in to work for a couple of meetings and to see the children and i am back properly from next Thursday. It's going to be a big shock to the system but I Hope I will cope. I just have to avoid lifting anything heavy.
I hope you are healing well xx

Hi everyone
Dawn ,so sorry to hear you are feeling low and in pain, hugs xoxo I hope you get some peace and a good sleep over the weekend and that you get to go out tonight to your event for at least a while and have some fun.. I know how awful it is to feel like that and I did too for a while around week 3-4, thought I would never get 'me' or my life back but it will come. So sorry about your awful period too, makes me glad I had the hysterectomy and wonder why some of you other ladies didnt get one too, esp those of you who have completed your families? So obv I cant comment on that except to say i hope it is over soon and you feel ok again, hope the headache goes away too, big hugs
xoxo

Jewel, so sorry to hear about your husband's nan passing away.

Yes I plan to go out for fresh air, I have been doing it everyday so far and yes it can be helpful. Well I could eat chocolate with out a problem, good idea!! I do have diclofenic, but it has not helped th headache. Funny thing, I use tea tree and mint shampoo all the time, don't know if it helps though. For me a soak in the bath with extreme hot water helps it. At first it just pounds and then it seems to subside. Now that I am not so nauseas I think I can manage some things now.

Wow your husband is lucky not to suffer from headaches, that's unreal. you should get him really drunk to the point of a nasty hangover headache and then he might sympathize with you. Does he even drink alcohol? Well you have been so kind and thoughtful. You are such a nice person, I can't thank you enough for the help and the listening ears, actually to all the ladies here listening, you're wonderful. I will let you know how the fresh air, etc. works.
Take care all!