scheduling sacrocolpopexy and cystocele repair...more than a little scared

I was looking for someone who had said they were having prolapse surgery in January and can't seem to find the post. I had a sacrocolpopexy along with hysterectomy and a few other nips and tucks back on Oct. 18th. It was done mostly with a laparoscope and robotically along with surgical mesh, and It went great and has healed wonderfully. I will briefly go over my experience below.

I stayed in the hospital 2 nights rather than the one they said is usual, as I requested since I live alone. The day of the surgery I just went to sleep that night and slept really well. The following morning they put me back on a regular diet and breakfast tasted wonderful since I had been on liquids since a full day before the surgery. That same morning they pulled out all the cotton/packing material that had been left inside and it felt really quite strange but was not painful. I had no pain other than little tinges largely due to gas. They blow your tummy up during the surgery and it takes quite a while for that to pass. One of the 5 little holes they put in your tummy is for a drain and when they took the tube out of there before I left the hospital, that was probably the most pain I felt but it was over quickly. I came home from the hospital with a catheter and had to keep it for 7 days until I had my first post-op appointment. The two hurdles that they tell you about are your first bowel movement which came about 4 days after surgery and then when they take the catheter out (they do some testing to see if you can completely void, etc.). Both went fine although I did have a bit of persistent loose stool on and off for a couple of weeks following surgery. They say it is more common to have constipation from all the pain meds. So most people don't have this issue.

Everything has healed really well and I have no leakage or inability to fully void. I had a very big (level 4) prolapse and so the surgery has made a wonderful difference. There were no stitches on the little laparoscope holes (just some surgical glue) and they are pretty much healed with just a few little dots on my tummy left. There were dissolving stitches between the vagina and the rectal area and these have pretty much fully gone away now too. There are some innervation issues that affect the rectal area and this just takes a while for the nerves to regenerate but once they do you won't have any problems. This just causes some temporary lack of feeling in that area that may affect bowel feeling just a bit. But it all has gone away now.

I would say to anyone who is having this surgery that you should ask to stay in the hospital 2-3 nights if you live alone. If you are coming home with a catheter, make sure they spend time with you before you leave the hospital explaining how to care for the catheter, empty it, etc. Ask questions because you may still be a little foggy from your anesthesia and they throw a lot at you before you leave the hospital. I was so afraid to do this and should have done it years ago but was mainly afraid of the mesh. But have had absolutely no problems at all. I took a lot of time finding the right doctor and ended up selected a Urogynecologist named Tomas Antonini here in Austin, Texas. He was so caring and so available afterwards that I could not have asked for a better doctor. The reason he chose to use the mesh on me is because the ligaments holding my bladder were so stretched that he did not think doing it without the mesh would hold for the long term. I am 63 and I don't want to have to do this again if at all possible so this seemed the best alternative for me. Be aware thaat there are many approaches and the best approach for you may be different. But I do think that finding a Urogynecologist who has dealt with a lot of these cases is the key to getting the right surgery done the right way.

If you do find that you need a similar surgery and you have questions, please post them. And don't be afraid of it. It really was not bad at all and I am so very glad I did it.

I was looking for someone who had said they were having prolapse surgery in January and can't seem to find the post. I had a sacrocolpopexy along with hysterectomy and a few other nips and tucks back on Oct. 18th. It was done mostly with a laparoscope and robotically along with surgical mesh, and It went great and has healed wonderfully. I will briefly go over my experience below.

I stayed in the hospital 2 nights rather than the one they said is usual, as I requested since I live alone. The day of the surgery I just went to sleep that night and slept really well. The following morning they put me back on a regular diet and breakfast tasted wonderful since I had been on liquids since a full day before the surgery. That same morning they pulled out all the cotton/packing material that had been left inside and it felt really quite strange but was not painful. I had no pain other than little tinges largely due to gas. They blow your tummy up during the surgery and it takes quite a while for that to pass. One of the 5 little holes they put in your tummy is for a drain and when they took the tube out of there before I left the hospital, that was probably the most pain I felt but it was over quickly. I came home from the hospital with a catheter and had to keep it for 7 days until I had my first post-op appointment. The two hurdles that they tell you about are your first bowel movement which came about 4 days after surgery and then when they take the catheter out (they do some testing to see if you can completely void, etc.). Both went fine although I did have a bit of persistent loose stool on and off for a couple of weeks following surgery. They say it is more common to have constipation from all the pain meds. So most people don't have this issue.

Everything has healed really well and I have no leakage or inability to fully void. I had a very big (level 4) prolapse and so the surgery has made a wonderful difference. There were no stitches on the little laparoscope holes (just some surgical glue) and they are pretty much healed with just a few little dots on my tummy left. There were dissolving stitches between the vagina and the rectal area and these have pretty much fully gone away now too. There are some innervation issues that affect the rectal area and this just takes a while for the nerves to regenerate but once they do you won't have any problems. This just causes some temporary lack of feeling in that area that may affect bowel feeling just a bit. But it all has gone away now.

I would say to anyone who is having this surgery that you should ask to stay in the hospital 2-3 nights if you live alone. If you are coming home with a catheter, make sure they spend time with you before you leave the hospital explaining how to care for the catheter, empty it, etc. Ask questions because you may still be a little foggy from your anesthesia and they throw a lot at you before you leave the hospital. I was so afraid to do this and should have done it years ago but was mainly afraid of the mesh. But have had absolutely no problems at all. I took a lot of time finding the right doctor and ended up selected a Urogynecologist named Tomas Antonini here in Austin, Texas. He was so caring and so available afterwards that I could not have asked for a better doctor. The reason he chose to use the mesh on me is because the ligaments holding my bladder were so stretched that he did not think doing it without the mesh would hold for the long term. I am 63 and I don't want to have to do this again if at all possible so this seemed the best alternative for me. Be aware thaat there are many approaches and the best approach for you may be different. But I do think that finding a Urogynecologist who has dealt with a lot of these cases is the key to getting the right surgery done the right way.

If you do find that you need a similar surgery and you have questions, please post them. And don't be afraid of it. It really was not bad at all and I am so very glad I did it.

@gailg That is me, I’m suppose to have the same surgery January 25 but I still haven’t decided if I’m going to or not. My biggest fear is having incontinence afterwards. They give you all the possible outcomes and this one scares me terribly. Right now I have a level 3 prolapse, bladder, bowel, uterus, but no incontinence other than an occasional dribble from coughing with a full bladder. I went through PT and retrained my bladder so my urge issues are pretty much gone. I’ve also figured out how much fiber I need daily to keep me regular with my rectocele. I’m 59 years old, in good health and am having minimal issues with the prolapse right now. If I do have the surgery I want it in January so it’s now or wait a year. I just keep going back and forth, I haven’t been able to decide. Anyone else have incotinence develop after surgery? If it happens I can do the sling but they said the urge may never go away. I don’t want more issues to develop from surgery.

I am 62 years old and have had stage 3 cystocele (bladder prolapse) for over 10 years and it has not bothered me much until the last year. I had a bout of bleeding due to some rubbing but it finally quit and I got checked out for uterine cancer (which I did not have). I think the bleeding was brought on by rubbing from a pessary that I finally tried due to urologist's urging. Recently was told that my prolapse is now stage 4. Went to a urogynecologist who is highly recommended and he said the best procedure for me is sacrocolpopexy. I was a bit surprised that he wanted to do a hysterectomy and so questioned him quite extensively. He described it as a "once and done" procedure saying it would allow me to have a better quality of life and I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. Since my mom is 96 and never had a hysterectomy I guess I thought this might be overkill. In order to get out of his high-pressure office I scheduled a follow-up. I just felt like he was way too anxious to get me into surgery. When I cancelled my follow-up with him I was questioned aggressively by the receptionist and received multiple follow-up phone calls trying to get me to come in and discuss "my surgery." My gynecologist thought he might be a bit aggressive in what he had recommended and so she sent me to another urogynechologist in town who is highly regarded. I liked him much better and after examination he recommended the sacrocolpopexy as well. He said he did not think that a simple anterior ligament repair would hold because my ligaments are so weak. He said the sacrocolpopexy done robotically with hysterectomy is the state of the art procedure for my situation at this time. He was very willing to explain things and answer all of my questions and was not as pushy as the first urogynecologist I went to. He even said if I wanted to, I might come and work with his nurse on another pessary fitting to see if I had better luck. He even told me that he could see from my examination that my previous bleeding was likely coming from a small area at the base of my cervix that looked to have healed recently. He said it could have been caused by the previous pessary or just by rubbing on the tissue which was a bit atrophic. He also emphasized that using estrace and/or vitamin E gel or any type of cream or gel would add to my comfort level.

This was a couple of months ago and I decided just to take a break from going to doctors. I have been using the cream and it has helped. However, in the past couple of weeks it seems that the cystocele is causing me more discomfort. It is very difficult for me to empty my bladder and I have had a couple of nights where I am up and down all night trying to empty it and as soon as I get back in bed I feel like I have to go again. I am planning on making an appointment to go back in to the second urogynecologist and work with the nurse that does the pessary fittings. I had told him I was extremely afraid of the mesh and he said it is not the same mesh or the same surgery that you see on all of the class action lawsuit commercials. I just don't know who to believe. I am so confused and feel that the situation is not getting better, in fact, it is really getting worse.

I would like to know if there are any doctors at the Mayo Clinic that perform sacrocolpopexy or who do any type surgery on cystoceles. I would be willing to come and consult one of them but I just don't know where to begin. I would also like to hear from anyone who has had such surgery and how their recovery has been. I have some issues with my back as well and I feel like the prolapse is adding to a heavy feeling in my back and pelvic area. I apparently don't have UTI which is surprising given that my bladder seldom empties. I just need to take the next step but don't know what that is. Help? Direction? I really appreciate it.