RECTOCELE - what are the symptoms !!!

Body: 

Hi
Is there anyone out there that has had rectocele surgery that can help.
I have had the surgery, but did NOT go into hospital for rectocele surgery. I also had no symptoms to my knowledge. I had a vaginal tear from childbirth over 5 yrs ago, and that was all.
Please can someone help me...............WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS THAT MAKE YOU AWARE THAT SOMETHING IS WRONG AND LEAD TO A DIAGNOSIS THAT THEN LEADS TO RECTOCELE SURGERY.....
I had no symptoms, just torn vaginal area, Please please can someone explain to me as the doctors don't or won't. (see my other post response to Melissa, had rectocele and cystocele surgery 5 weeks ago).
winter

The symptoms you would have felt first is a kind of 'low feeling' like something is trying to escape from the vagina and a dragging sensation down there.

I really cannot fathom out why they 'entered' there when they were only supposed to fix a tear... This is something you would have to ask the doctors and if it were me I would then sue them for this is NOT what you signed for or what you asked for...

Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg

I have a very slight rectocele, I don't notice it at all anymore. the only symptoms I ever had were a pressure or dragging feeling in the area. and of course, I could feel the posterior vaginal wall bulging if I went looking for it.

I know this won't help you at all, but just wanted to thank you for sharing your story. I've had some pretty extensive tearing due to childbirth and the tears were never stitched and they never healed quite right. every now and then I toy with the idea of going in to have it fixed, but my fear is that once in the area, a surgeon won't be able to control himself and will go and 'fix' everything.
now I know my fear is not unfounded, even if yours is the one in a million case, that's too high of a risk for me.

I hope you find good legal counsel and get to the bottom of all of this. but most importantly, I wish you strength,stamina, and healing. you've a long road ahead

Hi Winter

My initial symptoms were inability to empty my bowel properly. It was only when I realised that I had a bit of bowel kinked into my vagina that I realised it was related. A visit to my family doctor confirmed it and suggested that I needed surgery, and fast. A bit more reading about prolapse led me to here, where I found out what to do about it, so I have not gone ahead with the surgery, and now two years later I hardly notice it.

I agree with Sue that it sounds very much like you got more than you bargained for from the surgeon/hospital. I would handle it very carefully, seeking legal counsel before I went back and asked the doctor what he did. The legal people will probably be able to assist you with the best way to get the relevant information from the surgeon/hospital, and what information is actually relevant. If you ask the doctor/surgeon first you may ask for the wrong information or not enough information, and there may be specific ways to extract information from them if they are unwilling to disclose, eg you may need to look at the fine print of the permission form.

These litigation lawyers do seem to be quite successful, but no doubt they will want to take over the process, so you may find that you become embroiled in a quite unpleasant battle with an uncertain time frame, even if you do come out of it with dollars. It is not going to fix you body, is it? But it might provide you with some income so you don't have to work so much. Just go carefully where there are lawyers involved.

You do not say exactly what surgery you did have. It may also be worth your while exploring the possibility of reversal of the procedure (but you do need to find ut first what it was!). I am not sure how long ago you had surgery, or if it would, indeed be reversible at all.

Cheers

Louise

Thank you for your replies. the comments you made were very helpful and if there is anyone out there that can confirm the same or other symptoms please do let me know as i need as much confirmation as possible. As an update i just wanted to share my progress and experience. It has now been about 3 months, i am back at work (part time), but find that after sitting for about 5 hours (i try to get up and have a walk around every hour or so), my bottom (rectum) area starts to hurt, just kind of feels uncomfortable and no matter how I shift about its hard to feel comfortable. Still not cutting grass or doing anything that would pull on any muscles as I can still feel the stitches, and believe me there are lots and lots of them (vaginal area). I do tend to still get a little tired by the end of the evening, but I think that's because if I dwell on things too much I get kind of distressed and don't sleep too well. THE BAD NEWS IS, THAT I AM NOW CONSTANTLY CONSTIPATED. Ironic, as this appears to be the symptom leading to surgery and, extremely distressing as this was never a problem for me before the surgery. I intend getting to the bottom of this (excuse the pun), and I will keep the site posted as I do so, but I believe in putting my house in order first and that means I am going to get myself as well/fit as possible before I have any more prodding and poking, plus to be honest it has been very psychologically distressing and I have had to come to terms with what has been done. I don't want to be a blubbering wreck when I pursue the facts, I need to be strong. Good luck to you all and if you have any comments I will be glad to hear from you. winterx

If you are constipated go to your Dr and ask for Normacol Plus - My mum gets it and after my surgery the pain killers constipated me - She gave me these granules (She has tonssssss of them cos she has had this all her life) They really do work, and make things easier. I also found that strawberries work just as well so I took them instead cos i adore strawberries :)

I hope that you can get things back in order for you :)

Sue

Look into the eyes - They hold the key!
http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/img/maddy544x150Banner.jpg