Maybe my life isn't over?

Body: 

This week I self-diagnosed in terror, realizing I have bulges coming from every direction.

Fears were confirmed when my GYN told me I have cystocele and rectocele. I am a 38-year-old mother of two.

This week I felt like my life is over... my vagina is destroyed... and it's doomed to get worse. I feel like I have a dislodged tampon sitting in my vagina and fear it will get worse with time.

Here's the thing. My GYN grabbed me by both sides of the head (literally) and looked deep into my eyes and said: "Welcome to motherhood... I am 52 years old have the bulge too. I can't even round second base without peeing myself!"

She told me that I do have some prolapse (rectocele and cystocele) but that it's not that bad and she doesn't recommend anything surgical at this time. She said I need to not be so worried about it and just live my life, love my husband, and hug my children.

She gave me some tips, splinting if necessary and told me that if it gets worse down the line we'll talk about other options. She told me my vagina is "beautiful" and that it's all okay.

She was sure to tell me she was not dismissing me.... and she said she hears me and understands my worries, but she definitely talked me off the cliff with humor.

So, maybe this is going to be okay?

Forum:

Your doc sounds like a sweetheart, but, doing nothing for now is really a huge missed opportunity for getting all this truly under control. She herself may be settling for a level of prolapse discomfort and inconvenience that is unnecessary. As long as you have all your organs and have not had any so-called "repairs", then your 'celes are quite manageable with the Whole Woman work.

Start by going over to the home page of the site and watching the overview video there. You will start to learn what you are not hearing from your trusted doctors and therapists. We manage prolapse by correcting our posture and breathing so that the organs are held forward in the lower belly, not crammed into the vaginal space. It works, but it's a lifestyle change that doesn't come overnight. Take a look! - Surviving

Dear CP - I think I wrote your exact post exactly 1 year ago. I came to this site as a 38 yr old mother of 2, feeling like life was over... vagina broken... tampon falling out feeling constant... gonna just get worse and worse until I have questionable surgery... never feel normal again.
and here I am a year later telling you - you will feel better! you will be ok!

I would read about women here saying it never heals but it gets better and that made me depressed too - I wanted to heal! I wanted things to be just as they were!
so one year on - i'm feeling pretty 'healed' - my prolapse isn't gone, but it's not very noticeable most of the time.... i don't feel exactly like I did before all this, I still have to do the work, I still have to be careful, I still have times where I feel a bit of heaviness.... but thanks to this site - i have spent the last year doing anything i've wanted to do. i've gone to the beach, i've gone on vacation, i've travelled for work, i've carried both of my heavy heavy kids, i've chased them and played with them... just this morning I was jumping up and down on my toes - no tampon falling out feeling, no feeling of anything falling out. the fear is gone as well.
you can learn to manage this where it won't interfere with your day to day life.

your doctor sounds amazing (as far as doctor's go). mine told me to do kegels and that yeah, it'll probably get worse over time.... i sat there crying and she gave me tissues and left the room. i had so many questions and worries... needless to say I've never been back.
but like your dr said about her own situation - prolapse is all around us. you'll hear women talk about their incontinence issues, about tampons no longer staying in, about crossing their legs when they sneeze, about things being 'different' down there after kids.... i've heard it said that most women have some level of prolapse in their lifetime, many times it's not very symptomatic so it goes undetected but if someone really checked, they'd find it.
and your dr is absolutely right in that you have to live your life - what she didn't tell you was to go live your life in whole woman posture!