newly diagnosed - many questions

Welcome, Patsy,

I'm glad you found us, too! Pelvic organ prolapse is largely a postural problem. The work we are doing here involves recreating natural female posture. Most of us have lost the inherent shape of the female spine (which differs from the male spine), due to sitting, standing and moving in ways that are contrary to the forces that shaped our original design. The lumbar curve serves many purposes, most importantly moving our organs into a position where they are pinned into place rather than blown out of the body, which happens bit by bit everytime we are on our feet and take a breath. Intraabdominal forces move through us in a very specific pathway, which is defined by the shape of the spine.

It is very comprehensive work. You should see improvement, but I don't know about complete reversal. However, you will feel so much better in many ways i.e. cramping, low back pain, etc. that you will be very glad you started this process. Prolapse is just a symptom of much else that is out of balance with our musculoskeletal system.

Hopefully the downloads are working. Our web technician is on vacation until Wednesday and we've just transitioned our website to a new server and much has been disrupted. As for the book...please call our toll-free number tomorrow (888-514-1400) and you can order it then. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Please ask, share, laugh and cry with us Patsy! We know where you're at.

Christine

Glad you found the site. Without having to repeat myself, I am very pleased with the results while walkin' and sittin' the posture way. Prior, I had worn a pessary - didn't like that and gave "homer" up after one year and then it was the fembrace and that works very well. I figure, if I have to do anything really physical, that will compliment the posture way of walking, sitting and standing - we definitely need a "catchy" name for shifting our pelvic organs).

I have worked on an acre of land the last couple of weeks, weeding, mowing and have not worn either the pessary (in retirement) or the fembrace. Simply put, I forgot about it, feeling almost "normal" though knowing that will never happen. Don't get me wrong, by day's end on some days, I feel the need to lie down for a few minutes. (That is a rather rare instance now.) But then I am right at it again. Yesterday, my husband and I went hiking - again, strictly relying on the posture. Worked wonderfully!

I am 58 and have had pelvic herniation since 2000. Had entertained the surgical route, but read where there is no guarantees with that; some women were undergoing more than one surgery. No thank you. If one already has compromised tissues, then I would expect the success rate to be rather small.

Constipation is something all of us needs to avoid and I use the non-stimulant Colace. Magnesium is also good. Also, plenty of H2O. Don't strain. And above all else, don't feel a daily visit to the bathroom is a must. As for the bladder. I can remember when I was pregnant and the need to go every few minutes. Same thing.

Keep reading. All of the women here (even the shy lurkers) have something to offer. At least we have one thing (person) in common - Christine. Three cheers!

Sybille

Your progress is such a blessing and inspiration to all of us, Sybille....

Hello Patsy!

Glad we both found this site - I believe there IS divine power helping us out all the time. I was searching under "rectocele repair" when I found the link here - thank goodness!

I can truly empathize with your problem, although you sound to be in more pain than I.

I had this feeling of a small tennis ball in the rectum and, finally, visited my gyne/obs doc' a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was uterine prolapse until he said I had a rectocele. He just suggested I take care of my bowels and not get constipated. I've had chronic constipation most of my life.

I have 3 daughters. Recently, I've been getting this sore little ridge on the vulva (between rectum and vagina). It flairs up now and again. My doc' swabbed its, after I pointed it out to him. It came back negative. I believe it's related to the rectum. Sex too for me is painful. The doc' had also given me some estriol to improve my sex drive and that's when I learned how uncomfortable and painful it was now. Talk about tense! It's an awful feeling, isn't it? I too have a very sensitive, kind partner, who doesn't push me and is very understanding but, it's still a worry and I'd just love to be able to feel "normal" again.

Like you, I'm new on here and hoping to learn from other women. I've joined the gym and need to work more on keepin it up regularly. I've been on the South Beach diet and taking the Metamucil has corrected all my constipation problems and I now have regular BM's every day. I wish I'd used that sooner - I might not be in this position now.

Love to hear from you. Good luck and keep in touch.

Regards,

Trish

Hi all. Am new here and not sure if this is the proper forum for my questions so forgive me if I'm in the wrong one! I, too, am 'newly diagnosed'. During an MRI to discover cause of low back pain (2 ruptured discs were found), masses were detected on both of my ovaries. Since then, I've had an ultrasound (confirmed masses) and a CT scan (to rule out other problems). I was referred to a gyn oncologist, although no one had used the "C" word, yet. This doctor does not feel the 'masses' are cancerous but wants to remove my ovaries and uterous (and snag my appendix while he's in there) to eliminate cancer from possibly developing.

I'm 51 and postmenapausal. The doc. says this is optional for me but the possibility that cancer may be potentially growing in me is a nightmare I don't know if I can live with. I'm told that problems like this are often discovered 'too late' and I'm lucky this was discovered early.

Has anyone had a similiar situation? Any advise would be very appreciated. If this is not the proper forum, you can email me @ [email protected].

Thanks in advance.

Welcome Doggnonebeagle,

Yes...this is a prolapse site and we are a group of healthy women determined to stay that way through diet, bodywork and lifestyle changes. I can't advise you on your situation. However, I must comment that I don't understand why they can't do a needle biopsy (they are now using very long needles via the vagina to aspirate large, benign ovarian cysts.) You say the specialist believes they are benign (fibroids?) but then you say you were told you were lucky, that "problems like this are often discovered too late." Although it sounds like the actual data points to fibroids or something, you've been led to believe that cancer is either there or right around the corner. This is such a very old, maybe even unconscious, tactic entrenched in the entire gyn world. They really don't understand how vital these organs are to women so whenever there is the slightest abnormality they advise surgery...as John Robbins said of the situation in his wonderful book, Reclaiming Our Health, the gyn motto is, "When in doubt, take it out!"

Bless you in your search, Beagle, and I ask all women here to send you Light and Love.

Christine

Christine, this quote reminded me of something my sister told me.

She has suffered with endometriosis for many years and has seen more than her share of ob/gyns in her search for a diagnosis (they could not figure it out for a few years and was even at times given referrals only to a psychiatrist, because, well, if they the almighty docs couldn't find it, it must be all in her head, right?)

Anyway, eventually they found the cause of her pain and one now enlightened doc told her that when he was in med school the unspoken, though common feeling was that "there was no uterus worth saving and no testicle worth taking."

I think a few of his classmates are still practicing.

Kelly

Yeah, Kelly...the more I thought about this woman and her doctors, the angrier I became. The contradictions are just blatant and it's UNBELIEVABLE that we continue to be treated in this way! I may be wrong about this, but I believe if she had malignant masses large enough to be detected on ultrasound, which had metastisized to both ovaries, she would be losing weight like mad and probably coughing chronically from hot spots on her lungs. This would be WAY LATE in the game for ovarian cancer, and if they suspected cancer at all no doctor in his right mind would tell her she was lucky it was discovered "early."

Like the Vedic doctors of India, our medical doctors used to be highly skilled in diagnosing from looking at the whole patient and using observation, intuition, knowledge and judgement to come to conclusions. With technology making all the diagnoses, doctors have lost those finer skills, and seem to becoming dumber all the time. The infuriating part is her having to live a "nightmare" because the right tests either aren't being offered to her or aren't available to put her mind at rest and lead her toward healing.

So hope she finds her way.

Christine

Thank you, Christine. You've helped me more than you know.

Take care. Dog

I feel so fortunate to have found this site. Thank you Christine. I began where Patsy is physically and emotionally. I definitely improved my cystocele with Kegel exercises. It does take patience and practice. I was so angry at myself for causing my own problem (I thought) because I had been lifting a great deal during a move, that I was overdoing the Kegels' from frustration, fear, sorrow, you name it, negative emotions. It lead to spasms in either my bladder or urethra that made me feel like I had to pee all the time, very uncomfortable. I was also constantly checking that the muscels in my vagina were contracting during the Kegels by squeezing around my index finger. Perhaps I didn't wash my hands enough because I think I introduced some bacteria into my urethra causing a mild infection that made me feel like I had to pee then too. I was able to cure it by drinking many glasses of cranberry juice. Once I was sure that I was doing the Kegels correctly, I felt I had a bit of control over my condition. I also was chronically constipated, a lot due to anxiety over my condition. Your gut has to be able to relax. I developed irritable bowel syndrome and had to learn to cure that as well. I radically changed my diet. With IBS a person can be contipated, or have diarrhea or both. I treat the constipation with 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed per day and colace which just sofens the stool. I also drink hot tea or coffee,(it can be decaf) every morning to encourage a bowel movement. You have to learn a great deal about how your own body works in order to stay out of the control of the surgeons.

Welcome, Louise,

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Patsy,
What a wonderful book "Saving the Whole Woman"! I am also newly diagnosed. One month ago! I am scared of surgery, and was on for May 9th. I cancelled after reading the book. I am in Pelvic floor therapy which my insurance takes care of right now. I am checking into pessaries. Don't know anything except I am glad I've decided to cancel for now anyway. My therapist is in her 30s (I'm 61) and she has managed to postpone it for 5 years already. I do all kinds of exercise 3x a day. I think I can tell the difference in just 2-1/2 weeks. Keep exploring other options.
BaNa48