Any old prolapse! Uterus/womb prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, enterocele, urethrocele, incontinence, pelvic floor, anterior and posterior repair, TVT etc part 5

[Piplysmelie]

This is thread 3 of a long-running series of posts from ladies suffering from pelvic prolapses to support each other through the process of diagnosis, repair and recovery.

Here are the previous threads:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3
Thread 5

Info from BBC Health

What is a pelvic prolapse?

As the muscles, ligaments and supporting tissues in the pelvis become weaker, they are less able to hold in the organs of the pelvis such as the womb (uterus) or bladder.

Gravity pulls these organs down and, in the more severe cases, may appear through the entrance to the vagina.

A variety of problems can occur, depending on where the weakness lies and which organs are able to descend, but in every case there is some degree of prolapse of the vaginal wall, which begins to invert (rather like a sock turning inside out).
Prolapse of the womb or uterus is the most common prolapse, affecting as many as one in eight older women to some degree
Prolapse of the bladder, known as a cystocele, is less common.
Prolapse of the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the bladder) is known as a urethrocele.
Prolapse of the intestines is quite rare, and known as an enterocele or rectocele.

Symptoms

Symptoms depend on which tissues descend, and how severe the prolapse is.

They may include:
A sense of heaviness or pressure in the pelvis.
The appearance of a bulge of tissue in the genital area, which can be quite alarming, and is often red and sore.
Urinary problems, such as having to urinate more frequently, feeling the need urgently, being incontinent (losing control of the bladder) or, conversely, being unable to pass urine when you need to.
Pain in the pelvis or lower back.
Sexual problems, including pain and decreased libido.
Constipation.
Vaginal discharge or bleeding.

Treatment and recovery

Once a prolapse has developed, surgery to fix the affected organs is usually the only way to cure it effectively.

However, another option is to use a device known as a vaginal ring pessary. This is rather like a contraceptive diaphragm or cervical cap. It's made of silicone or latex, and placed in the vagina to push back the prolapsed organs and hold them in place. Many women happily manage their prolapse this way.

Bladder Hope you are doing okay. :)

Hello lovely ladies I am on phone so will keep this short. Went down to theatre at 1pm yesterday and was back in my room just after 4pm. Woke up in agony in recovery and had to have high doses of morphine and hence was totally out of it for the rest of the day. Have just seen the consultant who has said that it went well but that he had to do a far bigger repair than he anticipated. The vaginal prolapses were so bad they were causing the uterine one so when he repaired all the vaginal ones he did not need to do the uterine one .
So m very sore with all of the additional stitches into my bum muscles but very glad to be on the mend and you ladies have been amazing with all of your support. This post has taken me 2 hours to type so I will be back after a nap with my big question x

Wishing you a speedy recovery Bladderama, good news on the uterine repair not being necessary :)

I had another bedwetting incident last night :( Afterwards everything felt really tingly and odd, lik3 things were swollen. And then today I have been so tired, I slept all morning whilst my three DC looked after themselves. Not sure If the tiredness is related to my lupus, or the lupus is causing the bedwetting or what.So fed up of this though. I am calling the docs later to get an appointment and will ask for a referral to the gynae at the Nuffield for a second opinion.

Hope the ABs work quickly for you misty!

Oh Daisy, having lupus to deal with too must be hard, especially when you don't know what's causing what. Hope you get some answers.
Bladder, good news! Just remember not to over-do things when you are home.
I'm away for a few days at the coast with my dds and enjoying the sea air (and wine)!

Hi ladies,
just looking for any advice/thoughts on my situation.
Had anterior and posterior repair with TVH 10 week ago.
Had follow up yesterday, should have been after 6 weeks but seems my consultant doesn't bother until 12weeks unless you ring with concerns which I did after 6 weeks.
To cut a long story short I felt surgery had failed. Still feel bulge front and back, urge and overflow incontinence as before surgery. BM'S better but not quite straight and new problem with them can't get clean after, have to wipe with damp tissue.
Saw consultants assistant not actual consultant, quite usual with nhs I suppose.
She seemed to just want to dismiss my concerns and send me on my way but finally agreed to examine me.

Result was she said I had skin tags causing my wiping after BM problems.
This is not treated with surgery due to causing scarring etc didn't really understand all of it. She said I would have to just adjust. If these tags turned to haemorroids they would treat them medically but could use surgery as last resort.
As to repairs in general she said I had small cystocele and maybe even smaller rectocele, but had, had the repair surgery so live with it.

Another follow up in 6 months to see how things are going.
I am not a happy bunny about this advice and wondered if you ladies with your different experiences think I should just do as she says and see what the situation is in 6 months.
Sorry for this rambling me,me,me post. Rather down and confused today.

Welcome jessandme :) sorry you're feeling so down, but understandable really :(
My first thought would be to contact your consultant and outline your concerns and ask for a face to face appointment.

The comment re skin tags turning into piles, is I think, bonkers. Afaik, they are totally different things!

Is it possible that things are still quite swollen, and might settle? Only at the start of the process here, so no experience myself yet. The stress and overflow inco must be still quite distressing, especially after what is a difficult operation :(

If no joy from your consultant, then I would contact PALS with your concerns, or see your GP and ask for a referral for a 2nd opinion.

Hopefully someone will be along soon who's had the op, and can advise better than me.n

LackaDAISY thanks for the welcome and quick reply to my post.
Your advice sounds good, I will probably wait a few weeks for things to totally settle but 6 months seems much too long especially as the doctor I saw wasn't a surgeon and did not inspire confidence. Didn't seem to have a clue TBH. Thanks again

Oh Daisy sorry to hear that you are dealing with lupus aswell

Jessandme that sounds so frustrating for you, this subject is always such as difficult waiting game which really does not help us.

I have come home from hospital today and am completely OOOWWWWWW my bowels are just not working and have not since the day before the operation - it is agony

My TMI question (don't laugh you lot) is to do with intercourse - as if you couldn't have guessed! With a previous broken 'geographical' fanjo it could take days for ejaculate to exit and usually at the most inappropriate moment . So when a fanjo is fixed and less ..um.. geographical in there with less places for it too hide does this problem resolve or do I really have the freakiest of fanjo's?

The consultant did advise to wait a couple of weeks before attempting intercourse and I was gobsmacked I cant even see my fanjo for swelling right now - who in their right mind would try that so soon????
He has also asked to see me again in 2 weeks which sounded quite quick, is that normal?

Hope that you are all well and healing x

Two weeks

Sorry to hear about the bowel issues Bladderama :( I assume you've been taking all the laxatives you can? And make sure you keep on top of pain meds!

Can't answer the sex question I'm afraid!

Blimey Bladder - are you sure your consultant said only wait a couple of weeks. I only had rectocele /enterocele repair & my consultant said no penetration for at least 6 weeks. He said once he'd had a look to see how everything was healing, he'd then give me a better idea of when penetrative sex would be advisable. Sorry to hear about the constipation - I hope you manage to get some relief soon.

Jessandme - your appointment with the "assistant" sounds a bit crap. It is worth trying to find out exactly what grade of medical professional you are seeing - as it makes a huge difference to their level of knowledge & experience. If you were palmed off with a junior house officer, then they will have less than 6 months of knowledge in any particular field of medicine. If you can't get to see a Consultant, you should ask to see a Senior Registrar at the very least. The skin tag stuff sounds like utter bunkum to me - I would ask to make a follow up appointment with your consultant.

Lacka, hadn't realised you were battling with lupus as well. Hope things settle a bit for you too.

Bladder - take care of yourself and stock up on glycerine suppositories as they will kick start a reluctant bm!!

My consultant wanted to see me after 2 weeks, so this is good advice, as then they can check for adhesions etc. etc. which they do very very gently, just a finger!!

I would suggest stay away from sex for a long time (8 weeks or so) or it will only hurt and then you will be put off! Remember these consultants are men and haven't got a clue about what it feels like, plus women are known to have a high pain threshold, Lol!

Hope the BM's get going soon (lactulose, senokot and suppos = ff member's best friend ) xxx

Jess - I would definitely demand to see the original consultant sooner rather than later and find out why all hasn't been fixed and what he suggests now x

Thanks for your advice and good wishes everyone. I'm now on day 3 of my antibiotics and feeling a bit better. Unfortunately I got a phone call from my gp surgery today to say that my urine sample tested positive for infection but because of a delay in testing I need to hand in another. That means I'll need another course of antibiotics . My body doesn't take kindly to antibiotics at the best of times. Who knows how it will cope with 2 lots at once!

Fengirl, I'll definitely keep an eye on the infections and won't hesitate to go back if I don't think they've totally cleared.

Bladderama, I'm only 16 days post op myself but my consultant advised waiting 6 weeks and I thought that was quick. There's no way I'd attempt sex now. My stitches are all still in place and it would also be far too painful

Wow, so many posts since I last came on this thread! Hello to everyone, there's so much that I'd like to say as I read all your posts but there are too many for me to keep in my head.

I'm now 4 weeks post cystocele and rectocele repair. In the hope this might be of assistance to someone else post-op, this is how things are with me: no stitches have come out yet and I have a yellow/greenish discharge which my GP said was fine. No pain except when I don't have a bm, then I feel as though everything has dropped again in my vagina. Experience now shows that it is just the pressure being put on the stitched areas by having a full rectum. Lactulose is my best friend which is good because pre-op it would never have shifted anything. A stick of dynamite would not have shifted anything pre-op.

Bladder I hope you have had some success with the bm's. Immediately after the op I became completely unable to poo. It was agony. Felt like a cannon ball was lodged inside my bottom/pelvis. Suppositories just fell out because my rectum was so full of poo. Lactulose/senna/prunejuice etc did nothing except produce some overflow liquid poo. TIA alert I finally had to put my hand inside a nappysack (for cleanliness and slipperyness) and use my fingers to dig out the impacted poo. This was revolting but after doing this a couple of times the blockage cleared and I was able to poo unassisted apart from lactulose of course. Sorry for too much information, I hope you have managed to go by yourself without having to resort to such things! Just wanted you to know you are not alone with this!

Healing wishes to all

Why is it I keep losing posts ahhhhhh!

Bladderama - ouch, scary, constipated times post surgery. Good luck and a speedy recovery. As for 'the question' I would have thought post op things should be a bit, er straighter and as you said without so many corners and pockets so will possibly resolve ....

Jess and me - may be worth ringing the consultant's secretary. I found myself discharged at 12 weeks by an unhelpful consultant. When I tried to get back to see the consultant who actually did the op I was told I'd been discharged at the 12 week check up so had to go through the whole process of referral by the GP again.

It's taken me quite a while but I'm feeling really good despite possibly needed further darning! I've an appointment with the consultant for early October.

Big hug to everyone.

Thankyou for replies girls. I have lactose and some senna for tonight. If that doesn't shift anything I will send my DH out for glycerin suppositories tomorrow.
Am wondering if the consultant just meant do not do anything until he sees me in two weeks, am still a space cadet with all of the pain meds and I just cannot stop sleeping.

Bladder - I was completely out for the count for the first two weeks - whether it was actual tiredness post op or drugs or exhaustion due to nerves pre-op, I don't know, but I felt better as the weeks went on and probably mentally felt back to normal at about 5/6 weeks. I supppose it is the effect of the anaesthetic? xxx Just relax and make the most of being in bed, lol! [smile}
xxx

Wouldrather - glad you're feeling good; keep posting re october and further darning xxx

Thank you for all the good advice ladies.
Will definitely be ringing his secretary to try and get an appointment to see him and not assistant. The assistant was young and not a surgeon house officer I think.
bladder glycerine suppositories worked for me and tbh didn't have constipation problems beyond 1st week post op, thinking now maybe thats because op not done tight enough. Regarding intercourse was told to wait until after 6 week check, which was actually not done til 10weeks.
The doctor I saw this week told me to wait another 2 weeks before trying but Im quite an oldie and slow healer, think most people try at 6-8 weeks.

Jessandme keep pushing them until you see the consultant that you want, thinking of you x
Wouldrather be good to hear that your appointment has arrived.

Have finally had some relief here, the pain got too much so DH went out to the chemist in the night for the glycerin suppositories- dear god awful hour but feeling much more comfortable now.

I have absolutely no intentions of trying sex until I am fully healed I was just very surprised that the consultant thought that I would!

Hello,
Can I stand at the back and watch for a bit, just been diagnosed with uterine prolapse, doctor says will get Referal. So just marking my place, then will sit (uncomfortably) and read through all the threads over the weekend.

Hi Thrifty :)

The Embarrassing Bodies vagina episode is on DMax right now. Just watched the anterior/posterior repair.

Lackadaisycal - I thought they made everything look really straightforward and wanted them to talk more about the recovery. I think I've seen two ops on Embarrassing Bodies - the younger woman looked a bit shell shocked when they did the post-op interview (I'm sure we can all empathise). Have avidly watched all the follow-ups to see if they revisited a few weeks/months later but didn't spot them.

Thrifty - welcome.

Daisy, thanks for the tip. I've set sky+ to record. Now that I've had the repairs I'm curious to see how they're done.

Can't believe I'm nearly 4 weeks post op. Feel almost normal again - have lost that horrible foggy apathy, which I can only guess is all the anasthetic being metabolised.

Fanjo feeling pretty good too. I finally plucked up the courage to have a look with a mirror & from the outside it looks like a pre-birth fanjo - quite amazing! Inside (and I was a bit nervous of poking around) I can see stitches that look a bit like a long squashed ridgey worm from entrance as far back as I could see. No discomfort, just a dragging sensation when I do too much. Walking every day to build up a bit of stamina & have started doing some of my very gentle pilates exercises - as starting to feel horribly flabby. Being very careful though & only doing the easy ones.
Still ridiculously pleased everytime I do a poo the normal way, without having to splint & wee all over my hand.

Hi Ladies

Excuse my brass neck - am wanting to seek your opinion on an idea I'm mulling over.

I've been involved in a thread on chat about pelvic floor muscles (hi, Daisy)thread here

I'm a physio, and have some experience in continence work in that I did some research stuff as part of a post-grad, have worked in outpatients with lots of women presenting with back pain who reluctantly admit to having ishoos, and with elderly women who often accept bladder problems as being inevitable.

Pelvic floor exercises are kind of my hobbyhorse. I'm quite frank and have never been embarrassed in my life - so I am fairly suited to dealing with continence issues. Well, maybe I became suited to it after colleagues kept dumping the referrals on my list...

I'm setting up working for myself, and someone suggested running "physio parties" Which, I think might be a good idea for teaching the whole continence thing.

I think a lot of the problem with PFExs is the way we teach them. Very few people even see a physio in the postnatal ward now, never mind get talked through pfexs. And, they are really effective exercises, as long as they are taught properly, and then done properly...

...so, I wonder whether teaching them to groups of women who are friends might be worth trialling? Kind of like a Pampered Chef party - n someone's house, with 6 -12 of your friends and lashings of wine ginger beer, only instead of buying a casserole dish, you have me come and teach you about the anatomy, give out bladder diaries, teach the exercises, show biofeedback and vaginal cones etc.

Groups of friends would be self supporting units (boom boom) and could encourage each other to do the blardy exercises.

I'm asking here because I figure that you have all had experience of physio and pelvic floor exercises - so, where better to find out the good and the bad about current practice?

Whaddyathink?

Hi everyone. Just thought I would catch up with you all. I am now nearly a year post op for rectocele and perineal body repair, and 8 months post op for removal for very troublesome TVT.
Still okay on the rectocele front, back at work in demanding job with one stone of kit and coping. The perineal body repair seems to be holding up and I feel much stronger in my middle. I can poo without assistance which is still a complete joy!
The TVT removal has been more difficult to recover from with several side effects. I still have lots of scarring on the right pubic area and a Seroma ( plasma filled space) underneath it which is proving very hard to get rid of. I have tried everything from compression, to increasing protein intake ( very good for general healing, I would recommend buying packs of chicken and just eating it as a snack).
Unfortunately I had a small accident at the gym with the seat of the chest press collapsing underneath me on Tuesday and I have pulled the scarring on the right side and the Seroma has filled quite a bit. It turned out the machine was faulty and awaiting repair...so take care and protect yourself after any operations as it takes a good long while for things to become completely strong again and you don't want to undo the surgery, after all we all have to wiAt long enough for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate surgery in the first place.
I just wanted to give you all hope that you will feel better, but it takes a lot of time. Good luck to you all!!
Xxx