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.

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