Unsuccessful Surgery

Submitted by Liz12 on August 12, 2011 - 5:54pm
Body: 

I presented with a 3rd stage cystocele. I was having occasional stress incontinence. I am also a 52 year old nursing student so was very concerned about the long term lifting restrictions associated with a cystocele repair. I found an OBGYN who actually trained the urogynecologist in our area. This physician felt my problem was with the ligament that held up my uterus. He also informed me that my uterus was prolapsed although I was unaware of this.
I was very excited to consent to a hysterectomy, repair of the ligament, and to have mesh added to the urethra to irradicate the stress incontinence. The bladder was suppose to reposition itself after the uterus was removed as he said it was pushing the bladder down. He told me that I may develop a rectocele but that this would definately take care of the cystocele and with no long term lifting restrictions.
One month post-op I have a 2-3 stage cystocele (he was wrong it dropped little by little after the surgery) the ligament repair held so there was nothing to contribute to the cystocele he was simply wrong. He now says I can decide to have this repaired (next spring because of nursing school and the 6 week lifting restricitions assoc with the surgery) but he will impose no long term restrictions even though that might mean subsequent surgeries later. He says I am such an active individual he thinks I should live life to the fullest.....

Any thoughts on any of this would be helpful.....should I be a nurse as it is a heavy job??? Cystocele repair after this first surgery didn't achieve it's objectives??? Any sympathy would be appreciated (LOL) as I am really ticked off right now!!!

I am thinking about trying to lose the last 20 pounds, return to accupuncture, watch my diet etc all things holistic.....
Thank you all so much I am a new member!!!

kiwigirl

August 13, 2011 - 10:42pm

HI and welcome :Liz12, Im sorry no-one has replied to you yet, and I don't have the right experience, but just wanted to say hi, until one of the others replies.Sometimes the one who might reply is away , over the weekend eg.
I tried to reply to you last night (NZ time Saturday) and now it's late Sunday arvo.For some reason my login wasn't accepted, unless in my tired state, I typed it incorrectly (wouldn't be surprising given I'd been dancing on chairs, floor and the can can.).
I am a little older than you and post -meno.Can understand your disappointment in your op and and advice told about it and afterwards.,...grrr.You have every reason to be ticked off at this point, I would be too!
There is another poster finished her nursing certs. and im sure she can give plenty of advice once she sees your post.
Losing weight will be helpful as the less fat surrounding the inside areas , the easier it nwill be for them to slide into the place needed and guided with posture and Christine's exercises.
keep posting, and I will keep and eye out too. Meanwhile use the search box and type in any words relevant to your situation eg post surgery/ cystocele ,and so on.It takes time to read through the replies to find your answers, but in doing this you may also find other helfpful info :-)
I would think you could continue with your nursing, if that's your passion, but learn how to lift thats helpful with your pop.Louiseds has written lots about lifting in her posts.
Hope this is some help for now. Take care xx

csf

August 19, 2011 - 9:09pm

Hi, Kiwi:

I, too, am very sorry to hear about what happened. I do think you have some of your answers already, with weight loss being key. I had a particularly rapid recovery (though it felt like an eternity!) and one of the things I did, much to the admonishment of people in my personal life, is that I lost weight very quickly.

I knew in my heart anything extra weighing down on my organs couldn't be good. I also realized I had gained weight rather quickly. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that could have been one of the many things that contributed to the tipping point in my prolapse. I know it begins over years but I had a rapid, sudden drop after terribly yanking on a tampon and feeling a ripping sensation that hurt when I did get the tampon out. Proceeded to remain inverted (on an ironing board at 45-55 degree angle I'd say, and once in a while creating a version of that on my belly, and at times doing Louise's jiggling move on all fours but on my elbows more often than hands. I had seen a Dr Oz show that showed an actual heart and other organs with fat around it so had a visual of fat and how it weighs organs down.

I want my organs free of any hindering weight or pressure! So I highly encourage you to loose weight. I def think it was a contributing factor to my recovery. Lost 23 pounds that first month by completely cutting out coca cola and desserts. I'd eat an apple, tomato, salad, no dressing, broiled salmon, etc. Cut way back in portions by visualizing the amount of food and thinking do I really really want THIS AMOUNT having to slide by my innards? Nope.I started visualizing the actual logistics of eating and it made it easier to say I don't really want to put a lot inside me. The discomfort/pain/lonliness/stress/panic that pop can bring was just more than I the joy of eating as I was. So I cut way back. I maintain it by once in a while having simply some papaya or other interesting fruit or veggie - plain - instead of having a meal. Maybe every three or four days I'll do that - an apple and water instead of a breakfast, for example. I try to just forget about it until lunchtime then I try to eat normally instead of thinking I can now make up for what I didn't eat. I find it important to eat less but not take notice too much that I ate less, lest my mind start wandering to having extra at the next meal. : )

If you pursue nursing, I highly encourage you to be extra dilligent about posture. And to simply be clear and steadfast that you can't lilft more than whatever amount u decide you can handle. Praying for you!! I work nights and am sleepy as I write this........but was hoping to give you some encouragement. Swimming seems to have helped me a lot. The stretching while using a kick board seems to nudge something into place for me. My guess is it's stretching those front muscles in a good way. And it feels like the kicking might be close kin to Louise's jiggling things into place. I feel righted after swimming. So perhaps give it a try.

And keep as positive as you can. It helps a lot. Stress is supposed to make this worse and in my experience I see that to be true. I happen to be the same age as you though I'm still menstruating as I always did, no hot flashes, etc. I think glucosamine and sharks extract have helped a lot. And advice here I was given to drink LESS worked like a gem. I was drinking a lot at one time. I am so grateful for that and other advice.

Hang in there!!!
csf