Post Rectocele Op

Submitted by jazzwoman2 on May 25, 2011 - 11:32am
Body: 

pressure. I've tried a sieve bowel pessary, which is even worse and have now ordered a perforated cube pessary because it can be taken out on a daily basis which means I can use it just when I need to. I am now going back to the Whole Woman DVD which I purchased last year and have decided to manage the cystocele using Whole Woman techniques and the cube pessary when I feel I absolutely need to, if it works.

I feel I've been on a massive journey over the past 18 months and it's not over yet but at last I'm beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel.

The reason for my story is firstly, if any of you have underlying health issues, like me, then I would think long and hard before having surgery. Find other ways to manage your prolapse with pessaries and Whole Woman techniques. I would hate anyone to go through what I went through last year and secondly, I'd be grateful to hear from anyone who knows anything about the cube pessary or has used it successfully. I don't intend to use it much but it's good to have another option.

Many thanks

jazzwoman2

June 4, 2011 - 7:31am

Looks like only half my story has been published. I'll have to get back some time.

I've tried again and My computer didn't dump it this time. Many thanks Christine. I think the fault was my end.

J

Christine

May 25, 2011 - 11:38am

I haven't seen that before. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, but could you please write to us again?

jazzwoman2

June 4, 2011 - 7:29am

I had a rectocele operation last March 2010 after which I suffered excruciating pain for at least 7 months. I was told that it was a routine operation and even though I have Transverse Mylitis (inflamation of the spinal cord), it would be ok to have the op. That turned out to be absolute nonsense because not only did I have massive nerve damage and pain but because of the physical (legs up in the air, pushed and pulled about) way the op was carried out, they also damaged my sacrum, which went into spasm and added to the pain. I had to find my own support post op, as my consultant was quite adamant it was nothing to do with him (does anyone know what makes men become gynaecologists) and abandoned me without even an offer of pain killers. Eventually I was given Gabapentin, which I'm still on, to cool the nerves down and I started to recover very slowly. The whole procedure has taken nearly 18 months out of my life and I'm still struggling.

I now have a cystocele which is again causing traction on my nerves and I have pain again. I have been advised not to have any more surgery because of the way the TM flared up last time (wouldn't contemplate having another op anyway). I have tried several pessaries but my body rejects them and at the end of the day I'm in excrutiating pain again, with shooting pains down my legs and in my vagina and I have to take the thing out, which causes inflamation.

I have got Christine's DVD and I have now decided that the only way forward for me is to manage my cystocele myself. I also find that a sacrum belt really helps if I have to do anything too energetic.

The reason for my story is to say that everyone concerned in my surgery knew my underlying health condition, which I've managed for 20 years and no-one at any time explained that I may be in pain after the op because of the problems with my nervous system. One of the side affects of TM, which I've since found out, is prolapses, so my consultant would have known (I went paralysed from the waist down 20 years ago). If I had been told I would have been able to make a more informed choice and would have been able to put a support team in place had I chosen to have the op. So if anyone has underlying health problems, just make sure you ask what the after affects could be on your condition, if you decide to go down the road of a prolapse op.

Cheers
Jazzwoman2

doubtful

June 4, 2011 - 2:18pm

Hi Jazzwoman2

I'm so sorry to hear that what sounds like negligent medical intervention has left you feeling a lot worse than you did originally. Thank you for sharing it with us. I still have bad patches/ periods where I feel I'm relapsing and fantasize about a 'little operation' or a 'nip and tuck' as one arrogant young gynaecologist I met at a party once told me he was going to specialize in. Hmm, I knew nothing about pop then but his attitude still gave me the shudders. How would he feel about a 'little' penis operation with a high failure/ complications rate? You sharing your experience is a generous reminder to us all to get what can be annoying but are often minor symptoms in proportion and not to fantasize about an easy surgical fix because there isn't one.

I'm sorry you are finding a pessary so unsatisfactory with your cystocele. I'm no expert on pessaries - but did find sea sponges very comfortable/ reassuring when I first discovered my urethrocele. ( To be fair, mine is small and I'm pre-menopausal). However, if you are post menopausal, quite a few women have found they work well for cystoceles, cut down and with some olive oil to keep things well lubricated.

I believe your decision about the best way forward for you is right. In the end I improved my symptoms most by being religious about whole woman posture and gave up the sponges because I felt I really didn't need them. However, we're all different and some women find they help over many years.

Wishing you ever- improving health and all the best.

Doubtful

sassygal59

June 6, 2011 - 7:22pm

I've had 2 surgeries in the last 2 years for a prolasped bladder, now I think I have it again. I was reassured the 2nd surgery that this wouldn't happen again. Any one have suggestions on what I should do?

jazzwoman2

June 7, 2011 - 7:22am

Hi sassygal59
I'm new to the site but have posted my story below. I had surgery for prolapsed bowel last March and am still recovering. I have constant pain in my vagina and have not had one pain free day in nearly two years. I now have a prolapsed bladder but have decided that I am never going to have surgery for anymore prolapses every again in my life. I am 57 and post menopausal and have never experienced anything as brutal on my body as the op I had last year. I will never treat my body like that again.
You haven't said your age and your general health but I would think long and hard before going down the road of surgery on the same prolapse. Perhaps it's trying to tell you something.
Having spent many months in emotional turmoil over my new prolapse I have come here and am working towards being pro-active and taking care of and being very gentle with my prolapse. I am using Whole Woman posture, which I must say is making a difference to my whole health. It is giving my organs space and I'm breathing better and feeling calmer. I'm slowly changing my lifestyle and regaining my confidence, with my prolapse, at this point in my life.
Just imagine if you were able to live with your prolapse, what would that be like?
I hope that helps.
Warm wishes to you.

octaviel

June 7, 2011 - 1:33pm

I love your words 'how would he feel about a 'little' penis operation...' So true. I am going to use that if necessary!

csf

June 7, 2011 - 6:34pm

Great to hear you are seeing improvement, Jazzwoman2 !!

We've really got to spread the word there are options other than surgery. My gosh, how much better I feel now than when I first noticed my u "right there." No site of anything like that now! My gut instinct was that I needed to rest, get off my feet, let gravity work things out, eat right....it was the extreme stress and mental torture of it that got me terribly down and spinning my wheels! Wow, when I think back to the mental and physical agony of it!!

So I try to let new women know there IS hope that things become VERY managle. I do not feel like I have prolapse at all, a mere 7 weeks later. I do think the rest, diet, had a lot to do with it! But the number one and immediate thing you can do is make sure to stand letting that lumbar curve in - and letting your organs rest in your lower ab on that pubic bone. I feel silly even describing that. All i really can say comfortably in layman's terms is that I stand/sit with making sure that just below my chest is pulled up ...chest kind-a out and shoulders relaxed down. That very first day I saw the site I made certain to "get" the posture.

That's why I always bristle when people talk to me like I am not in posture. I want to say every waking and every sleeping moment I am in posture so please stop lecturing me about being in posture. hahaha. It's key and it's the number one thing you can do RIGHT NOW to stop your prolapse at the stage it's at. With LOTS of rest, constant posture, better diet, tumeric, (and a few days of shark cartilidge), glucosomate for about three weeks, and ALWAYS LOOSE CLOTHING, and not lifting anything over seven pounds or so - I am feeling COMPLETELY fine.

I do not even think about the prolapse now! As in I feel 100 percent good!! And let me tell you boy o boy was I ever stressed when I discovered the prolapse. lol I clung to the hope that it could go away. And it has. I MUST not do any of the "no's" to keep it like this, mind you. A pair of tight jeans and i would be back at square one. Even slightly tight waistlines - even wearing pants at all right now, except for very baggy waists and the symptoms come back - not the prolapse itself - but the feeling of prolapse is back. And lifting does it too.

But this is a HUGE, HUGE improvement. So SERIOUSLY follow whatever the women who are experienced here tell you to do.
csf