Am I the only one out here leaning toward surgery?????

Submitted by Stevie on January 17, 2009 - 8:30am
Body: 

Wow - I have been up most of the night praying for strength, and the wisdom to make a sound decision and was and led to this site on my first internet search this morning. Thank you! I am 50 years old, not in menapause, and had a rough weekend last week. Thought I was getting sick - no appetite, abdominal pressure, constipation, painful to sit, and then Monday morning felt a large bluge. Called the doctor and after an exam (I always knew that I had a tipped uterus) and lengthy discussion, was told I have a state 3 prolapse. Had a pelvic ultrasound which looks good with the exception of a very thick lining and am schd for a biopsy. Being that I am 50 and have never had a colonoscopy my gyn had me call a gastro dr and I have an appointment for a consultation and colonoscopy. He also has given me the name of a urologist. When he said curb the exercise I freaked. Over the years a good work out is my only "me time" and my only way to curb my stress and anxiety. Without exercise, I'm a emotional wreck. Our discussion then turned to quality of life - he in no way swayed me to the surgery route but it was discussed as an option . . . I guess after all my bable above being said --- AM I THE ONLY ONE OUT THERE LEANING HEAVILY TOWARD SURGERY???? I am going to order Christines book - look at the excercises, etc . . . my worry . . . not only do I use exercise as a stress relief, but heavy workouts are the only way I can keep my cholesterol under 200 (I do not want to go on cholesterol lowering medication if at all possilbe and so far have been able to control it with diet and exercise.). . .Also, I fit the sterotype for Osteoporosis and my mother has Osteopenia - weight bearing aerobic exercise and light weight lifting is so important if you are a candiate for Osteoporosis. Has anyone out there opted for surgery due to a gambit of other health issues and been happy they did so. And if yes - what was your exerperience?

alemama

January 17, 2009 - 10:56am

If you believe in the power of prayer and the answering of those prayers then welcome to the first site you stumbled on this morning. and if not- welcome anyway. This site is for non-surgical management of prolapse. Discovering prolapse is shocking, upsetting, devastating. I felt vulnerable and scared. I had the "china doll" syndrome for months and was pretty depressed. As soon as my husband got home in the evening I would get in bed. I held it together during the days very well- but then I would get in bed and read all over the internet about this stuff. Basically all that ended when I got the book in the mail. I read it cover to cover and realized first and most important that surgery would not work for me. I love exercise- I have to do it to be sane. I found out that if I had the surgery and wanted the best possible success rate I could not lift anything over 15lbs for the rest of my life. That and the fact that I could not have anymore children (or risk ruining the surgery) combined with the videos I watched of the repairs (youtube mostly and they are graphic so if you go looking be prepared) put me off the idea. Well then of course I started planning how I was going to get better and live my life how I wanted to. I started practicing the posture- quit sitting on the couch entirely- started strengthening my body in ways I never had before (like before prolapse I could bench press my weight). The sheer effort of holding my body in this new posture exhausted me. My back ached. But I got stronger. I stared bikram yoga (modifying poses along the way), stopped eating meat wheat dairy and sugar, and changed the way I dressed. I took long walks in the posture making large crazy moves with my arms- and I got lean.
And my prolapse got worse. I started the devastation cycle again. What I was doing wasn't working. I thought I could handle prolapse if I could do something about it. Now what I was doing was not working.
Well I was encouraged here that often a prolapse will get worse- often what happens is you develop all three-and then thing get manageable. Well this was not the case for me. I added more exercise. I added some very powerful yoga breathing exercises. And all of the sudden things were staying up and out of my way. After a few months of this I started really living again. Living with out the fear that I was going to make it worse. I started camping and hiking- lifting weights- and my children-even running 5-10 miles a week. If I did something that aggravated my prolapse I rested- evaluated- gave it a few weeks and then got back to it.
Anyway- you can live with this. You can exercise and be strong and fit. You can keep your uterus and protect your body from what basically boils down to outdated barbaric experimental procedures. Yes you will need to make some major life changes- but what seems to be the silver lining of the cloud is that these changes can promote a better life.
Other women will chime in here and give you tips and share their stories of non-surgical management. What is simply amazing is just how much sense the posture makes anatomically.

AnneH

January 19, 2009 - 6:04pm

There was a time I thought I would definitely have surgery. But after I read Christine's book, I was convinced I could handle this without risking the potential of lifelong pain and complications that surgery sometimes creates. I am really glad I did not have it. I am used to the prolapses now and they don't bother me much anymore. I also use a pessary that helps a whole lot.

I would advise anyone to first, read Christine's book. You could also try a pessary if you like. Pessaries can be removed. But if you have surgery, you cannot undo it.

Stevie

January 21, 2009 - 9:03pm

Since finding this site I have done alot of reading and it has been an amazing week - I completley revamped my diet - no white breads, lots of little meals of fresh fruits & veggies, lots of water, added Miralax per doctors recommendation and started back with a few select yoga moves . . . I could feel everything lifting . . . by the end of the day I still have pressure but it is so much more tolerable and I can actually sit at work :)! Everyone here has helped take me away from my original knee jerk reaction of "just fix it" and given me hope that this can be managed. I have my second opinion appointments with a gastro & urogyn specialist tomorrow with a practice that focuses on the pelvic floor. Everything I have read regarding their practice gives hope that you can live with this and surgery is not always the answer. Alemama - I can't thank you enough for thaking the time to respond I had this mind frame that I'd be a total couch potatoe. And I am anxiously waiting for pay day to order Christine's books.