Prolapse surgery recovery

[Addictedtohotbaths]

Hi - I'm having an anterior and posterior repair and perineum rebuild and possibly sacrispinous hysteropexy. I have two kids under 4. I've been told 6 weeks off work and no lifting etc so I'm trying to organise help with children etc.
Can anybody who's had this done advise what kind of help I personally will need, e.g. Can I be left on my own all day and from what point? Will I be well enough to make lunch etc after a week?
Thanks in advance.

You can't lift- it will undo the work done.
That means not even a kettle- fill with cups.
Ditto heavy pans of pasta /potatoes.
Drain with a slotted spoon into a collander etc on worktop.

Yes you can be left on your own! You will feel a bit tired as your body is healing from the inside. You ought to put your feet up as much as possible and def have an afternoon rest on bed/ sofa for the first 2-3 weeks.

Don't lift your DCs. I found kneeling or sitting on the floor so I was at their level worked instead of picking them up if they wanted a cuddle etc.

Try to get a load of food in the freezer so you don't stand for hours at the cooker as this puts strain on the pelvic floor.

Don't hoover, lift hoovers, or do any heavy housework which involves lifting, over-stretching etc.

I can thoroughly recommend the website of Michelle Kenway - Oz women's physio and prolapse expert and she has loads of tips on what to do . not do. Brilliant website.

Here www.pelvicexercises.com.au/prolapse-surgery/

Thanks Pinkfrocks, that's very helpful. So basically try not to lift anything heavy and rest up. What did you have done?
I will check out the website you suggested.

I had anterior and posterior repair done early December last year, I have two young children (DD was 11 months & DS 3yrs at the time). I was in hospital for 4 days before being discharged, home for strict bed rest. I had my mum come to stay for 5 weeks to help out with the kids. I found the recovery similar to that of a cesarean, first 2 weeks of absolutely nothing but rest, next 2 weeks slowly increasing light duties (helping cook dinner, gentle short walks etc) and then weeks 4-6 it was a case of listening to my body as to how much I could or couldn't do but still strictly no lifting anything heavier than a cup of tea which was very hard as DD was only crawling. I slowly then built up the amount of lifting I could do, in an emergency I knew I could lift DD (about 9kg) but I knew it would hurt and possibly do damage, but in a controlled situation I just adapted how I did things, I still wouldnt carry her up the stairs for bedtime but I could do the main bedtime routine if someone else carried her for me.

Around 8 weeks post surgery I had no option but to start lifting heavier things on occasion (DS - about 15kg into a shopping trolley) but avoided it as much as possible for as long as possible.

I did nothing, not even drive, for the first 6 weeks. My husband took time off and my mum came over. My kids are 2 and 3. I'm 3 months post op now and only just started pushing buggies and a little lifting but I have been advised its a lifestyle change and I should never really lift again. By 3 months it has healed to roughly 80% of the strength it will ever be and a further year to be 100% but with the scars it will never be as good as it was before prolapse

Thank you both.

How did you decide to go through with the operation?

I have read there a women who will never have surgery or who will put it off as long as possible. My consultant says its severe and says do it if it's impacting daily life which it is, and physio says if it was her she would manage conservatively with pessary and pelvic floor exercises.
I can't use a pessary for the rest of my live and can't imagine pelvic floor exercises are going to be enough to put everything back in place.
But I'm scared I might regret having the operation?

It's also been suggested that I have a connective tissue disorder but it's not been investigated? I wonder if that means recurrence more likely after repair?

Sorry I'm rambling! I haven't got anybody to talk to in the real world about it!

I decided because I'm young, couldn't poo without splinting, had no perineum so sex wasn't great, had a pelvic floor that wasn't connected properly post birth and as it was rectocele a pessary was no good. Yeah it may fail but why wait until you're old to try. Plus tissue will heal better when you're young and healthy. Especially if you do turn out to have EDS

I can now wear tampons again, have sex and poo unaided. It's amazing. I'm so glad I had it done

Not going to lie I have a high pain threshold and it was really sore for the first week or so I was in bed for the first 2 weeks. But worth it. Even if it fails!

Similar reasons to Ridingthegeavytrain, day to day life was affected, I am early 30's so don't want to live rest of my life uncomfortable. I was told 1 in 4 chance of prolapse returning and I figured I would take the chance. I can feel things aren't 100% back to what they were pre-children (not that I was expecting it to be) but they are a million times better than before surgery if that makes sense. I also am hypermobile so was concerned about recovery but so far so good. My surgeon told me that in my case due to the severity of my prolapse pelvic floor exercises were a waste of time in that they will not improve it, although now I've had surgery I do them all the time as my surgeon has pulled everything back into place so the exercises should help keep things there.

@Ridingthegravytrain please can you private message me I’m on the nhs list and have many questions x

@cravingcake can you please message me I have many questions