Any old prolapse! Uterus/womb prolapse, rectocele, cystocele, enterocele, urethrocele, incontinence, pelvic floor, anterior and posterior repair, TVT etc part 7

[gottagetthroughthis]

This is thread 7 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
Thread 6

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.

Why does nobody ever warn us that exercise is bad for pelvic floors and can lead to prolapse??? It seems that the only sensible exercise for women is swimming and yoga!!! I too was a jogger, step aerobics, machines, aerobics, ...etc etc. (actually horse riding isn't too bad for us, neither is riding a bike! Lol!)

To all those still healing - please don't get too desponden;, half of it is the frustration that the healing process seems to take so long, and the other half is the feeling of not being able to do things you used to do. It does get better eventually and then becomes a distant memory, I promise! It will all be worth it in the end XXX

Surewoman and WhoKnows - actually it annoys me that on the NHS Choices site that promotes c25K the only warnings are about "traditional" running injuries such as knee and achilles problems. Even though it is aimed at all ages, there is no mention anywhere of possible pelvic floor issues, let along the risk of prolapse/s.

The awareness isn't there at al is it? I first had a rectocele diagnosed about 6 years ago, but it was low grade and not problematic. Apart from PFEs I wasn't given any advice and just never connected it with exercise. I have back problems and always mention those to fitness instructors, and read up on how to manage it with running, but the pelvic floor stuff never even occurred to me.

Does the shred contribute to the prolapses then?

Well, several of the exercises in it (planks, squats, situps) are among those mentioned by Michelle Kenway as placing a great deal of strain on the pelvic floor, basically all strenuous core exercises need caution if you have PF issues. I also blame the Shred for my most recent bout of sciatica!

Good grief I did not know that.

I have picked up something that was too heavy and now have a very pulled feeling in my pelvis and fanjo are we always destined to worry about prolapses returning?
Fen can I join your club too please?

help please all you ladies from the fallen fanjo club - I feel my fanjo is falling as we speak (or write I should say ) I need any advice you can give me I have been in some sort of agony today not sure if it is related but my buttock and leg was soooo painfall! I am unsure of whether to try the ring or go and see a consultant (who after examination told me I had a grade 1 rectocele and she had a grade 2 - at least she made me feel "normal"). I am sure I have asked this before and excuse me if I'm being repetitive but can you live a normalish life wearing a ring pessary perhaps cycling also and were all you ladies working before having your ops - that is my biggest fear - having to give up my job, which keeps me sane - it is all a bit scary although thanks to this thread I do feel that we are not alone . I have to admit I do blame this on heavy weights (up to 100lbs at times) and so regret that now however, like a lot of other women i was not aware of the damage i could do - I just don't know what to expect from now on in at 52 and having no periods for the last 5 years and on vagifem which I had to almost have a row with my GP for a repeat perscription - I would just like to have a half decentish normalish life. Oh god i have went on a bit sorry girls it's just that time of night

Bladder - I certainly feel that way, quite depressing to think that, for example shifting furniture is going to be a high risk activity from now on. Still at least we can all come to the thread and commiserate, and itvis reassuring to hear from some of thecfurther along lafies that things do improve eventually. Hope you've managed to get some rest this evening and that the dragging subsides. I went to pick something up the other day that turned out to be stuck and gave it a good tug without thinking, then spent the rest of the day worried about it.

I went back to work today, managed all of an hour and three quarters of which 3/4 was spent slouched back in the coffee room abd only an hour at my desk. Was not very comfy at all. Not sure whether to persist or get signed off for longer, the latter is tempting at the moment.

I feel really bad ? I think I?ve brought everyone down recently ? sorry. I really didn?t mean to!
In the interests of righting things again, I have written a little something (goes into rousing speech mode)?..

Ladies of the Fallen Fanjo Club!
I call you to arms,
Grab your Tena Ladys, pelvic toners, Michelle Kenway videos and Mumsnet nicknames!
We shall not be defeated by setbacks,
We will laugh in the face of unsympathetic doctors and nurses.
We will march onwards in our search of normal bodies
And have a bloody good shag when we get there.
We will retain our cool when showing our ?all? to the entire population of the planet,
And rise above aches and pains, errant stitches and thrush.
We will continue to have a good moan and sympathise with each other as needed
And we shall rise victorious,
FOR WE ARE COMRADES UNDER PROLAPSE!

This will hopefully put a smile on a few faces or go down like a lead balloon.

Bladder, how are you today? Hopefully it was just a 'warning'.
Gotta - the ring AND see your consultant!

Just ordered Michell Kenway's book so that I know what I can do. It seems we are all a bit in the dark. I am 5 1/2 weeks post op and looking to wen I can get back to excercise again and what I can do. I was useing weights and lots of high impact none of which I can do again sadly. I know I can swim and I love swimming. I do think I feel a bit of a loss for what I can never do again and I am terrified of another prolapse because I did something wrong. My GP and the nurse has not got a clue. I see my consultant on the 26th vut he does not reslly talk so I am going to be brave a take a list of questions with me. He charges £300 an appointment so he can blooming well answer (insurance nit rich I am afraid lol)
I hope everyone has a good day today. I am venturing to M&S to by some lovely fattening food to eat whilst I watch tv :)

Hi ladies, 11+ weeks post-op been back in to hospital for stitch removal under general anaesthetic:( Lying on the sofa unable to sit down.
I see you're all doing what I did which was to beat myself up about the way I'd been abusing my pelvic floor pre-prolapse. Before I was discharged from hospital following TVH and anterior and posterior repair I was visited by a physio who recommended that I started Pilates when I felt up to it but immediately post-op I was to do my pfes 3 times a day and have a brisk walk every day. Proper walking (not pottering round the shops ) engages your pelvic floor. Try pulling in your pf muscles whilst actually walking and you can't really do it because they are already engaged. So I followed her advice and I walk 3 miles a day and I can really do my pfes now! Revelation! I went to my local physiotherapy clinic and asked if I could have some one-to-one pilates sessions with the physio. The first session (8 weeks post-op) she went through the basics and just showed me 1 exercise to do - I did three repeats. She then suggested I took some painkillers when I got home. I thought she was a bit mad as I'd hardly done anything except lifting my leg whilst pulling in my tummy and pelvic floor. How wrong was I! I was in agony all evening. But I stuck with it and it got better. I've had another session since and been given a range of exercises to do. I feel like I've got control back of my body. In the new year I will join a small pilates class the physio runs for similarly pelvicly-challenged women and I'm really looking forward to it. No more humping bags of gravel around or digging out tree stumps for me but I'm hoping to be back riding my bike in the spring. I will never again stand up on the pedals going up a steep hill at the end of a 20-mile bike ride. That was what caused my rectocele to suddenly pop out - much to my horror :0 Nobody warned me either - they didn't when I had my children nearly 30 years ago. But at least we can warn our daughters, daughters -in -law, friends and relations. I got so used to bearing my all pre-op that I just decided to tell everyone what was wrong so I could warn them. Even some men - I could tell they were absorbing the information to tell their wives:)
My only problem now is a sore bottom from the stitch removal.
Fen - love your call to arms :) with you all the way!

Sorry for the extra long post - got too much time on my hands :)

That's interesting Guy - I have had no physio input at all from my hospital and the post op guidance notes didn't mention PFEs. I didn't start doing them again immediately post op, only really got into a routine with them again in the last couple of weeks because I was worried about straining my stitches. On the other hand I did get in the habit of engaging the pelvic floor whenever I bend or lift when I was pre-op and the habit has stuck. As for the walking, I find anything too brisk is still uncomfortable and anything more than half an hour and I feel draggy again (this is at 7 weeks post op). When the prolapse first worsened I wanted to carry on with my running and tried joggingwith pelvic floor engaged but found it almost impossible, which tallies with what you say. The guidance is so patchy. It's good to hear you sounding so positive, hope you recover quickly from your stitch removal.

Fen your ditty did make me smile!

Gotta - sorry, no experience with pessaries, hope you are feeling better today. As for your job, well I suppose it depends what you do, but I can't imagine there are many jobs that would be totally incompatible with a prolapse, if there is heavy lifting etc you might need some sort of help or modification to your working practices. i have an office job and sitting upright was uncomfortable pre-op but not unbearable, however I only work mornings which helps.

Hope that you feel better soon Guy having stitches removed sounds awful you poor soul.

Still feeling like I have pulled something and had to leave work early and log in at home I was so uncomfortable.

Has anyone else felt like they were pregnant as everything heals?

Fen :)

Loving the poetry Fen lol Sorry to hear about the stitches...ouch!

Hugs to all of you in recovery x

Feeling a bit weary of all the waiting, Sure, and working myself up way too much about the appt with the new consultant (what if she can't see anything/ dismisses me/ tells me to lose 5 stone before she'll consider doing anything/ is unexpectedly unavailable and can't see me for another couple of months etc etc etc) ! I know in the vaguely rational part of my head that its all nonsense, but can't seem to help myself lol. DH thinks its all quite amusing because am never like this about anything! Just need to hang in there I guess...three weeks left till theappt. Just want to get on with it, get it sorted, and get my life back. Thanks to you posting your success I feel like there is some hope :)

SO. I have been and seen a colorectal surgeon in the hopes of getting an answer as to what surgery is needed to fix my rectocele, and having suffered through the indignities of those tests I have no firm answers. Instead I have been told my case is 'complicated'. I have to have a series of three tests to check the extent of nerve damage, pressure sensitivity and (wait for it) a rectal ultrasound. What fun.

They are concerned that I had an unnoticed 3rd or 4th degree tear that is contributing to my incontinence. They are now talking about TWO surgeries to fix everything rather than one.

I am so fucking tired. And very stressed. The specialist told me that I shouldn't expect any of this to be quick. I just want to be better. On the plus side though he is throwing his weight behind my case for medical misadventure.

Oh whodve....really feel for you. Being labeled complicated isn't nearly as interesting as it sounds is it? Completely relate to how you feel...it just seems to go on and on without many answers. Sounds like you have a very supportive consultant which I think is a huge bonus - mine was terrified of my case I think when the simple things didn't work, and its delaying things even more. Sending you lots of hugs x

Whodve, the waiting seems endless when you're on that side of surgery (although the last two weeks go by in a whirl). It may take a bit longer to get things moving but in some ways being 'complicated' could be no bad thing. Many of us have ended up with two surgeries anyway - probably because no-one thought to look at the whole picture instead of going for the easy 'fix' first time round. I know if I did it again (I was desperate to get it all over with - 15 months ago ) I wouldn't rush things. As things stand I have been left with a urethrocele which was never discussed and no-one wants to touch.
Roseanna - your fear is one I had, and probably everyone else on here too. I distinctly remember being convinced that the surgeon was going to pat me on the head and tell me to stop being a silly girl... After all, the reason we put up with things for so long is that we keep convincing ourselves that there's nothing wrong / it's not that bad isn't it? You KNOW you're doing the right thing.
I'm climbing the walls here (but no Zumba!) - already six weeks off and my gp has signed me off for another four. He told me he wouldn't let me go back to work yet even if I wanted to. It was interesting that in all he did say, he went very quiet when I was telling him about the PDS. He also said that not treating the thrush was ridiculous (so pfft to the nurse who NEVER ever says sorry when she knows she's hurt me) as it's probably making the pain worse - and even gave me extra treatment for if I need it again. At least I know I'm not making a fuss about nothing, but the days seem very long.
Consolatory and healing hugs to all as appropriate.

Whodve............ it will be sorted soon I hope
Fengirl.. bloody nurse.. sorry off longer but you clearly need it
Advice please. after posting how lucky I have been today, tummyache and when weeing it feels bubbly ? kind of off and on but like a bubble bursting (the same as when they took the foley catheter out
I am now worried that the TVT is going wrong or the bladder prolapse not worked. Is this normal ?

Slinky - could it be the start of a uti? I'd get my urine dipped if I were you.

Slinky - are you about to have your period??? I always get suspicious about the tvt around that time and a day or two later realise that that was what the problem was. Just a thought (and hoping my self diagnosis is correct!!!! Lol! xxx Sorry, can't remember how long post op you are?

I am 6 weks Saturday SUREWOMAN
Not had a period in a few years, had both overies out two years ago.
Tummy really quite sore, and pressure like it used to be down below . Had a little look !! but to be honest have not got a clue if its ok or not lol. I have a spa day tomorrow, booked at week two as I thought I would be bouncing around by now !! Worried to death that I will do some damage so will sit and read whilst hubby goes in all the rooms enjoying himself. I am so not convinced I will be back at work after 7 weeks. Just sooo worried the op has not worked. Consultant on the 26th

Slinky - you will still be quite swollen at 6 weeks. I certainly wasn't up to much then. Drove 2 hours in the car to see my sister thinking that sitting down I would be ok, and then spent the first day and a half at her's lying on the sofa popping pain killers. Try not to worry too much. Are you peeing the full amount and is it the right colour? I think after these ops that we feel so paranoid that everything will fall down again that we become over sensitive to every little ache and pain. I really hope for you that it is all ok - and maybe as Fen suggests, go and get your urine tested if you are worried. Take care xx