prolapse discovery

I'm feeling pretty encouraged by my doc. He said that by his exam he believes I have bladder & rectal tissue prolapse. Bladder is right at the vaginal opening & he could feel the rectum dropping abnormally during exam. He quickly started drawing pics & diagrams & told me he would like to refer me to a pelvic support specialist. Then he said "well the practice is called pelvic reconstruction specialists". I said that sounds severe & I am sure I don't want to just agree to surgery. He said "no, no, no--I don't think for a minute they are going to push for surgeries." He said this specialist does do surgery if needed, but that they will try different avenues first. More of a "holistic" approach I suppose. He said they are most likely going to tell me to PROPERLY do Kegel's a lot and he imagines they'll want me to try a pessary. He even mentioned that he knew there were other schools of thought about posture, breathing, exercise, etc... and he thought I was a good candidate to try those things too. He even said if they suggest surgery he wants me to let him know b/c he does not feel that is the way to go at this point. So he is making the appt for me & I'm waiting to find out when I go...

Just wondering if Christine's book makes a correlation b/t inflammatory conditions.....um..let's say.. crazy bad arthritis in a 40 yr old (me) w/ this prolapse condition. I've noticed red clover mentioned on this site as a good inflammatory condition remedy. I was diagnosed w/ osteo arthritis 10 yrs ago & each pregnancy has brought a "flare-up" of some terrible new pain in a new joint. My ortho doc has discovered that not only do I have zero cartilage in my knees...I have degenerative disease in C6 & C7, I have pretty significant spurs on my mid-back, diagnosed w/ heel spurs & continual plantar fascitis yrs ago & after 1st child my arches went completely flat so I've had to use orthotic inserts on some shoes. I've had severe carpal tunnel syndrome w/ each pregnancy & it has not completely left me since baby #2 was born in april. I've got some overlapping symptoms that suggest a touch of RA, but most of my pain seems to come from osteo-arth. Said all that to say......is this prolapse situation just another sign of the inflammatory problems in my body? I've been overweight ALL my life EXCEPT for 2003-2006 when I lost 70lbs & kept it off w/ 2.5 hr workouts a day & following weight watchers points program. 2006 during 1st pregnancy--my rt knee just "gave out" & would not support me. Had to have surgery when baby was 6 wks old. Been going downhill ever since....gained weight back...arthritis continually causing pain....harder to work out....harder to lose the weight...harder to move around...full time working...1 hr commute (one way)....2 small kids & a great husband but it's still a lot of work & not enough time. Here I am 2 months out from LAP band surgery trying to lose the weight & now I find out that my internal organs are trying to exit my body. I'm a little discouraged.

Appt on Thursday afternoon w/ a pelvic support specialist (?).... stay tuned.... I've been told that I should give a pessary a try & this practice does some biofeedback techniques to see where the weaknesses/damage actually exists in the pelvic tissues. I'll post more after the appt. Still saying NO to surgery...

Saw a "pelvic support specialist" last week. This doc puts my cystocele & rectocele at a stage 2. She thinks that I am a good candidate for a pessary. She was not interested at all in pushing surgery (which made me happy). I mentioned that I was just familiarizing myself w/ this whole woman group & she said she was familiar w/ this "school of thought" & that she thought there was really good info available here. I was encouraged by the whole visit & I go next Friday to be fitted w/ a pessary. I hope it is that simple, but my mother in law shared w/ me that she has cystocele & that she never has been able to get a pessary to fit right or stay in! So stay tuned. We'll see how this goes.