Still have rectocele after 3 surgeries - Help!

Submitted by CSF35 on November 10, 2017 - 7:17pm
Body: 

Hi
I am 58 - and have had a rectocele for many years. I live in California. In 2013 I had a surgery to repair this and she left my vagina so small it was the size of a pencil. I am married and sexually active - so this was not an option.
She repaired it a few months later and left me - enormous. The rectocele was significantly reduced.
Now 4 years later - I went back to another doctor since the rectocele had returned and I wanted to reduce the size of Vagina which was bigger than the Panama Canal. - I found a surgeon recommended by my previous surgeon - and she tried another approach. She went in from the top of the vagina - and sewed me up and left a large piece of sewn tissue at the opening.
It has been 4 months since the surgery and my rectocele has returned. The vagina is a normal size and sex is adequate - but I cannot evacuate stool completely.
I take Sennokot 17.2 mg twice a day and Docusate 250 mg twice a day. Every other day I supplement with Metamucil and Miralax - I feel like a freak...
Since I had the third surgery - Splinting doesn't help to evacuate because I can't push on my vaginal wall into my rectum the scar tissue is too thick - yet I still have a bulge because I am unable to evacuate all the stool.
Are there discreet tools one can use - like small enema bag - It is a challenge if you are visiting people or traveling.
Are there exercises one can do - or am I a lost cause?
Thanks - would really appreciate your advice and feedback. My vagina looks like I am 95 ( I am an RN and 95 year old vaginas look a heck of a lot better than mine - and I only had 2 children) I do have Hypermobile Spectrum disorder - ( not Ehlers Danlos - since they changed the criteria a few months ago before I was seen by the doctor - But loose connective tissue is a problem for me..... Thanks so much.

Forum:

CSF35

November 10, 2017 - 7:27pm

My rectocele was very severe initially - so I had to have surgery - I also had a cystocele with mesh done at the same time. That was successful..... If there is any advice out there for me at this late stage in the game I would be grateful.. I am using esterase cream and will also use honey...... Really can't talk to anyone about this - so happy to have found this site.

Christine

November 11, 2017 - 12:15am

Hi CSF,

Thank you for sharing your story. No natural rectocele is severe enough to require surgery, and there is no surgical cure for rectocele as you have learned. Although WW posture is good for everybody, the posture and exercises are probably not going to help your condition because the back of your pelvis is fused together with heavy scar tissue. This is why we do everything we can to warn women about these surgeries.

We can send you love and prayers for gentle self-care. A good diet and enemas may be the best route, rather than all the laxatives. There are many aspects of the WW work that are grounding and centering, but I don’t want to give you false hope that they could positively affect your symptoms.

All love,

Christine

TotallyConfused

November 15, 2017 - 12:39pm

Always learn something new every time I visit this site! Today this came to mind:
No matter how hard I try and what I do to improve my prolapse, my cervix is always sitting at the opening of my vagina, not comfortable when in vertical standing position.
Since I am not active in sex anymore, may be I can have my vagina sew up from the bottom near the rectum so the opening will be smaller to prevent the cervix from falling out. The only use of the vagina opening as far as I am concerned is to urinate so a small opening is sufficient. Is this workable? Anyone tried this? Any thoughts? Should I bring it up next time I visit my gynecologist? Should be a simple procedure, right? (So glad I can share this kind of silly questions here:)

Surviving60

November 15, 2017 - 3:38pm

The procedure you refer to is called colpocleisis. You can read about it in Christine's book or search for posts on this forum. It's a very risky surgery and certainly not something you would do simply because it was uncomfortable to have your cervix where it is now. How are you doing with Whole Woman posture? Do you firebreathe? What do you do now to manage your symptoms? - Surviving

TotallyConfused

November 15, 2017 - 4:32pm

Thanks. I read up the procedure. Seems no procedure is SIMPLE. Best way is to manage your own symptoms.
Yes, I do try to remind myself of Whole Woman posture as much as possible, and yes, I do firebreathing and jiggle often. I do First Aid for Prolapse once a day. But when the weather turns cold and wet, nothing seems to help much. This is one of those bad days and I just have to deal with it. Still I am grateful for all the support and information on this site!!!