rectocele surgery

Hi Mommakat

I think you need to find out exactly the procedure the surgeon plans to use and research it thoroughly, so you know the risks, the possible complications and the other implications of the surgery, eg loss of sexual function, permanent sutures, pain with sex, scarring in the vagina etc. Many of these procedures cause further prolapse, maybe further up the vagina. None of the long term studies extends further than 5 years out, so they just cannot say, on a statistical basis, what happens after that.

How many years do you have ahead of you?

Rectocele also sometimes masks cystocele, because the rectocele acts as a kind of pessary, holding the bladder back and the cervix up. Sometimes repair of a rectocele will allow the other organs to descend. Voila, more surgery. It is possible to have prolapsed organs for years, and not realise it. It is also possible that the soiling you are experienced is to do with a damaged anal sphincter, which may not be addressed by the rectocele surgery, and is repaired with a different procedure, which has its own risks.

If I were you, and had only mentioned these bowel difficulties to the doctor recently, I wouldn't be prepared to have the surgery so soon. It is pretty invasive surgery, and I would want to try any alternatives I could before committing to it. I would be putting the surgery off for a while, in order to do some research, and try Wholewoman methods first. If it doesn't work you can still have the surgery, but you can't undo surgery if the results are not as good as you expected.

I have all three prolapses and I have experienced the same problems with soiling and inability to empty my bowel, but it rarely bothers me these days. I have been doing WW techniques for nearly 4 years now. BTW, there is no TMI on this site. We can be totally open here, as we are all in a similar situation.

As a personal trainer I would imagine that you are continually and repeatedly lifting weights, demonstrating and participating with your clients. If indeed the weightlifting has caused this rectocele you may have to rethink how you do it, or just back off a bit for the sake of your longterm wellbeing. However there may be other causes that have brought you to this situation, or contributed to it.

I think you have a lot to think about right now, and do not need to be pressured into *elective* surgery in 6 days time, which may leave you worse off than you are, with no option of rewinding.

I would strongly suggest that you put the surgery on hold and just slow the process down a bit, so you are in charge of your body and what people are going to do to it. There are lots of us in this Forum who live happily with worse prolapses than you are describing. I don't mean to sound self-righteous, but you are an active, youngish woman who relies on her body for a living. I implore you to not throw away its integrity too quickly for an uncertain dream. You can probably deal with this yourself, with our help.

Louise

I think you can find out the basics from www.wholewoman.com, particularly the FAQ's. It is all in detail in Christine's book and dotted all over the Forums. Basically it is change your posture so your pelvic organs are carried over your pubic bone and the downward pressure is off your pelvic floor. Prevent constipation, and get it sorted if you suffer constipation. Don't ever strain when emptying your bowels. Eat well. Empty your bladder properly once a day. Amend your clothes so your belly is never compressed, so there is room for your pelvic organs out front. Attend to your environment so you don't have to slouch and stoop in everyday activities and can maintain your lumbar curve while sitting. Do appropriate whole body exercise that reinforces your natural posture and structure. That's the nuts and bolts of it. Use the Search box to search the Forums for posts containing the keywords, then your browser's Find function to make trawling each topic hit a bit easier.

As you have decided to put the surgery off for a bit, you are not in so much of a hurry now. I would strongly suggest buying the 2nd edition of Saving the Whole Woman by Christine Kent, which is my prolapse bible. It may take a few days to arrive but it will be a good investment of a few days, and contains really good illustrations and explanations of whey we do these things.

Call back with more questions.

BTW, there are some really good prolapse forums for women who are interested in having surgery. There are some real horror stories from women who have had many separate procedures, each trying and solve the problems caused by the previous lot of surgery. It makes really sad reading to see how these women have suffered, really suffered as a result of the repairs they have had.

Cheers

Louise

Hi Mamakat,

Welcome to this website and a wealth of information. I totally agree with Louise. You have so much to learn before you even think about agreeing to the kind of surgery your doctor is recommending. It may be what you end up wanting to do, but you should have as much information as you can before you agree to surgery. With enough information, you very well might decide it's not the best thing for you.

The first thing you might want to do is to search retocele on this website and see the past posts about it. I am guessing you did that on the internet which is what brought you here.

You should order Christine's book, Saving The Whole Woman from the Whole Woman book store. You will learn many things, most importantly, how to manage and control POP.

I am sure you will hear from different people who post here about your problem. My prolapse is cystocele (bladder prolapse) so I am not too familiar with retocele, however, I agree with Louise that you may very well be experiencing the symptoms you have because you have a bladder prolapse. That makes a lot of sense.

What type of doctor did you see? You may want to get a seond, or even third opinion as well. You can't have too much information.

Hope this helps a little. Ask any questions you may have and Louise (who, by the way, is an incredible source of information) is right. You can't give us too much information. Take comfort in the fact that we are all going through POP together and are there for each other. Post back anytime!

Warmest regards,

Mae

I reiterate what everyone has says!
My rect (and cyst) was horrible a year ago. Now, as long as i eat super well, stay in posture, and look after myself, I barely notice it. I'm mindful, but I can get on with life.

I have met people who had prolapse surgery and were told never to lift anything over 3 or 5kg again (6 or 11 lb). eek! my babe is 28 pounds, and growing...
i don't know which prolapse surgery they had, but...i would ask very clear questions about what you can do afterwards!

i know my physio said the surgeries work best in older women who don't move around very much--in active young women, they fail regularly. she'd said if i had surgery i would expect to have to have it about 5 times in my life (i'm mid 30's). both she, and the surgeon i saw who specialises in this, were clear that my best option was learning to live with prolapses. if i couldn't, surgery was there--but think of it as very last resort.
i'm lucky, as no one pushed me towards surgery. i found this site and the amazing wisdom & women here, and really, am so much better than i could have ever imagined i could get!

i know with my rect diet is the most crucial thing. i've had to cut out all dairy, chocolate (boo hoo!), eat tons of fruit and veg (i aim for 9 servings a day), whole grains, pulses etc. i always ate well, but now i have to head for perfect. i have to watch out for things like the fact that i get constipated around my period now, but i know that so compensate. it's frustrating at times, but compared to the other options, i don't mind...

hope that helps to offer some reassurance...

Kiki