APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR LONG POST......Please hang on in there 🙏
I have specifically subscribed to mumsnet to find others I can share real experiences with regarding vaginal prolapses.
I am a 47 year old female with a husband and three children.
2002, baby 1 shot out very fast (apparently I pushed when midwife wasn't ready), a big baby boy head with speed caused a third degree tear (right through my anal sphincter, nice!). I was stitched up by the bedside, a procedure which now would currently be performed under surgical conditions. For many years I had fecal incontinence, which eventually and mercifully stopped.
My second son was born via c-section (due to previous tear). My third child was born vaginally with no tears or episiotomy, but my third trimester was pretty grim, wore a brace and used crutches to get about, I also started to get vulval varacosities due to the pressure of baby too.
The years go by and I suppose there was slow gradual symptoms of prolapses but you think its normal and no one really highlights these things as an issue or a good idea for preventative measures.
My piles got pretty bad and I had a hemorrhoidectomy about 10 years ago (didn't really work!). I always needed to urinate and would have to reposition to completely void my bladder and I would strain on the toilet frequently.
I had lower back pain and strain, my hips and pelvis were achy and sore - now I wonder if this is all connected.
I have been perimenopausal for a few years now but didn't realise, I think I had a significant drop of oestrogen which compounded all my issues with joint pain, mood and changes down below. No blood tests after age 45 would be done if perimenopause symptoms were present
I have had a Mirena coil in place for years which totally stopped my periods anyway, lots of other symptoms took me to the doc where I was prescribed a high dose of HRT (Evorel patch) along with oestrogen vaginal cream and pessaries. I had noticed vaginal dryness and discomfort for some time but as usual didn't do anything about it. I now have lots of moisturisers and vaginal gels to combat this. So during the process of gathering and deciphering the patches, gels and creams, I decided to insert my first oestrogen pessary tablet using the long applicator provided and have a little look down there at the same time (hadn't done this in a while!).
The long thin plastic applicator didn't make it far up within the vaginal canal until it bumped into something, so i adjusted position again and again until it finally reached the top (i think) of my vagina. So I took a mirror and my first thoughts were, "where the fuck has my vagina gone? my inner labia were almost none existent, my clitoris was shrunk and hiding away up high, my outer labia were like thin crinkled coconuts (this is vaginal atrophy which I'd never ever heard of). I was aghast but had to continue with the examination....I coughed / pushed down to see what would happen and to my absolute horror I observed 3 pink bulges at the entrance of my vagina, I didn't know which bulge was which! I tentatively inserted 2 fingers and felt soft squashy bulges, could barely find my way through but suddenly felt a hard lump that I could hold between my fingers - it was really strange! (more about that later). Needless to say my GP noticed too and referred me quickly to see a gynaecologist.
The consultant was quite surprised for a woman of my age to have what he described as 'multi pelvic organ prolapses'. My rectum had prolapsed onto my vaginal wall (known as a rectocele), my bladder had also prolapsed onto my vaginal wall known as a cystocele, my uterus has also fallen into the lower third of my vaginal cavity, oh and remember that hard lump I was able to hold in-between my fingers? - that was my cervix - I never thought we'd get that up close and personal. Prolapses are graded 1-4, with 4 being the worst, most of mine were graded 3 (one possibly a 4), so fairly significant
To cut a long story short, a cube shaped pessary has been offered for me to insert and remove as I please, its main job is to temporarily hold things in place until I remove it again.
Now this is the biggie - the other alternative is surgery. Quite major surgery which includes a hysterectomy and a complex surgical full pelvic floor repair - no mean feat and months and months of recovery with an adaptive lifestyle from there after.
I know its recommended to try initially the most conservative method, however I am all about the surgery. I think due to the number of prolapses and significance of the grading including the pain and pressure I'm feeling that surgery is the better option, especially whilst I'm young enough to recover from a complex surgery.
Please help me, have any of you had similar experiences and what did you opt for? What worked well etc. I'm desperate for female advice on this and don't know where to turn.
Many thanks,
Joanne x
P.S sorry for all the TMI and ridiculous length of the post, well done if you got this far and thank you ;)
P.P.S hope the GIF isn't too much 🥴