recent surgery/2nd time

Ummmm Hi and hope your surgery went well etc.

On this site we tend to do alternatives to surgery though although there are many sites who are very pro surgery etc...

Fraid I have no help I know of :-(

Good luck

Sue

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

Hi Puddin57

Hope you are feeling OK and the surgery makes some difference for you. As Sue said, you are unlikely to find many women here who have had surgery, let alone two repair job surgeries. Either these women don't find us very useful, or they don't come here, as we cannot claim to have anything much to offer them.

There are heaps of women who have probably had exactly the same procedures as you have had on any one of several other sites which promote surgery.

By all means check out www.wholewoman.com and explore the site. The FAQ's contain all the basic info about Whole Woman techniques. Christine Kent's book, Saving the Whole Woman, which is much more detailed, is available from the online shop, as is her exercise DVD. The book has a workout in it which would be good for any woman with prolapses but does not claim to be beneficial for women who have had their pelvic structure changed, as the workout reinforces natural structure.

Sorry, but I can't help you more than that.

Cheers

Louise

I have been reading this site for about three months. I have been reading as a hungry person starved for information. The funny thing is that I discovered it by accident. I was looking for Trimosan for my pessary because the tube I was given at the pessary clinic was almost empty, and I could not find it any where. This is when I found the article about how this product was not safe for cows........ Well, I started reading and kept on reading. I now have the book and have been doing exercises and using the posture. I am also swimming three times a week and going to a physio clinic where my therapist specializes in prolapses.

I discovered this site unfortunately too late. I had surgery in 2004 to correct cystocele and rectocele. I insisted that my uterus be left intact. I drained for one year and eight months, probably as a reaction to the mesh used. My cystocele had returned worse than ever in one years time. I regret being so naive in trusting my DR of 30 years when he promised that this surgery would fix me up as good as new. I regret this surgery and I regret not talking to people about my embarrassing condition before the surgery. I am now not so silent and this site is a blessing to womam who find themselves needing to deal with this situation.

Thank you with all my heart to Christine and to everyone who has posted here. I have found strength in the encouragement found here, strategies to follow in the suggestions, and even fellowship in the frustrations expressed.

It was suggested that I be put on a waiting list for another surgery, one which would also remove my uterus. This surgery would only hold 50% chance of success compared to the first. There would be 17% chance that I would lose bladder control, and yes, there could be other complications, many that Christine has already outlined in her posts and in her book. I am going to avoid this route at all costs.

I am doing all that I can to rebuild a healthy strong body and to manage my prolapse. I am doing much better than before I started. (my bladder doesn't just hang out but stays tucked up more) I don't know what my post surgical limitations are. I am trusting that a healthy well-managed body has some of its own wisdom and there is hope after this type of intervention.
I am trying to replace tears and depression with fortitude and resolve and hope.
theodora

Oh Theodora…my heart sinks every time I hear one of these stories. I recently spoke with a woman from Canada in the very same situation. She just called the Center out of the blue and I didn’t get her contact information, but realize now how important it is to get women like you in touch with each other.

It is my wish in scenarios like this that the mesh be removed so women could have the chance of working naturally (albeit with compromised vaginal walls) with their prolapse. But removal – especially after several years – has been likened to trying to remove superglue from hair.

There are no easy answers. What we need is a list of referral doctors who are sympathetic to this cause and would be willing to attempt removal upon the first sign of erosion.

For now, I am elated to hear that the postural work is helping and please know we are here to extend our love and support whenever you need it.

Christine

p.s. Regarding the hysterectomy option…I am currently writing for my blog about some of the endocrine effects of that surgery. Stay tuned!

I don't have a lot of advice to give you, as I am new and learning myself. But from reading your post, I just had to say that your beautiful spirit is so strongly evident.

Accepting is hard when we are deceived by those we entrust our bodies to. Even when the deception is unintended, and often more of a lack of clear information, we're still left with the end-result to bear. It is clear that you haven't let your experience defeat you. That shows such courage.

Your quest for information and your desire and commitment to nurture and strengthen your body can only yield positive result.

The strength of your post helped me today. That is what I love about it here. We gain through each other. Through the telling, the asking, the giving...it is a good and nurturing place. Kit

Hi Theodora

Welcome, and thankyou so much for posting. I am having a little low patch at the moment, and it is good to be reminded about why I decided not to have surgery in the first place. It has reinforced that for me. I had the misfortune to discuss prolapse with my family doctor the other day, for the first time in three years. It wasn't my idea. The doctor raised the subject and blabbed on about how it was all going to fall out eventually, and the sooner I had the surgery the better. Thankfully I know all Christine's stuff like the back of my hand so it didn't throw me too much. It was quite amusing at the time, but has left that little niggling doubt, once again.

I don't know what will happen to my pelvic contents in the future. Each of us can only use the tools at our disposal to deal with the reality we are dealing with at the time. I have these tools now. I am dealing with reality OK. I will never be able to take my body for granted again.

I would rather have my vagina sewn shut at the age of 85 (if that is the reality I have to deal with at that time) than start the surgical damage now (I am 54)and have to deal with the repeated surgeries as well as the further prolapses which could result from it. What a waste that would be!

It is all about risk management. We know, thanks to Christine's research and literature review in her book and reading the pro-surgery sites, about the risks of surgery. What we don't know, and are trying to find out by not having surgery, is about the risks of failure of implementing Wholewoman techniques, which is working at minimising symptoms and seeking to prevent further damage. Until we have solid information we can only go on faith in our own body's ability to retain its organs, given the right conditions, and look after our compromised bodies in the best way we can. You are in the same boat. Good luck.

Cheers

Louise

Thank you Christine and everyone else who responded with encouragement. I will keep you posted on how things progress for me with this altered body. I have shared some of the blog posts with my husband. I think for the first time he really understands what this is all about. I guess that I should let you know that I am the lady from Canada that you spoke to. Thank you again!
theodora

Six years ago, I had surgery because my cervix and bladder had fallen out of my vagina and I needed to put my finger up my vagina in order to defecate. The surgeon said that only about 25% of the surgery was the hysterectomy because I also had repair to the bladder, rectum, and small intestine. That was when I was 42.

In recent months, I have become concerned by increasing prolapse. Two weeks ago, I found this site. I have been to four (male) personal trainers and took a class on posture by a woman. All of them said that you need to have your belly button back to your spine.

Surprise. Surprise. In two weeks of just trying a change of posture, my vagina looks different. The prolapsed bladder is farther back in my vagina. I feel better.

I do have questions about exercising, but the evident changes from just altering my posture are nothing short of miraculous. I have a Kegelmaster 2000 which I use every day. I went to a physical therapist who specializes in prolapse and got exercises from her.

Just my two cents -- I think I've benefited more from changing my posture than anything else I've done. Maybe there can be a segment of the forum for those of us who have had surgery.

It’s interesting…I think there may be a possibility that the post-hysterectomy woman benefits more than we do from “sucking it all up and in”, if you will. But I do not know if those benefits last a lifetime, since holding the body in this way is unnatural and therefore requires a lot of effort and energy. The famous PT, Diane Lee (www.dianelee.com), has a prolapse program and I know post-hyst women have benefited from it – but it is focused on a considerable amount of “working” the muscles. The beauty of natural female anatomy is that we only have to sit, stand, and breathe correctly to help our organs move toward their proper positions