Want to discuss prolapse bladder or any kind of prolapse

Hello and thank you for remembering me...my surgery was Tuesday the 18th and was done by a different dr. then the original dr. in March of 2017..I had 2 stiches that had come thru the vaginal wall and these 2 were removed however the Dr. (and the nerve Dr. in MD) wanted to remove all the stiches in the back of the vagina and they were to far up so they were not able to be removed without doing further nerve damage...so I am playing a waiting game we are hoping that removing the 2 stiches and cleaning out around those nerves will be enough...but I don't think the dr. thinks that will be the case...I have to wait to see if I still have the feeling of sitting on a ball and the pain I will have to go back to the Dr. in MD who specializes in the P/N and get nerve blocks...not the out come I was hoping for but it is early I would like everyone to know that if in the state of DE there is only 1 practice that is uro/gyn and once you start seeing a dr. in that practice you can't see another one in that same practice. The dr I saw did the surgery correctly however du2 having problems with my recovery I feel he didn't take care of me as he should had I had this diagnosis earlier and maybe then the stiches could have been removed???? I do believe there is a reason for everything but I would not recommend the Christiana URO GYN in the state of DE I would travel to Media of Phila PA again thank you

Hi, @mary1234 - so, I will try my best to differentiate how the rectal prolapse surgery went from the bladder prolapse repair (hysterectomy plus stitching my bladder back in the correct position), as they were done simultaneously.

What I recall is that at first I did have pain - quite a bit - and that pain management was very important. I really made the wrong decision, in retrospect, telling my nurses and physician the day of my surgery that I did not want any more opioids. I did so because after taking them initially, I saw that look in my husband's eye of "she is babbling nonsense" on the opioids (in kindness, but still that I was not making sense and acting a bit odd), and I didn't like that. So, I asked for other pain meds. That took me on a journey of the medical team trying a host of other options and none of them working well at all. I'm pretty sure that this kept me in the hospital another day, as I believe that pain control is a key factor in being dismissed from the hospital, and I was there more at the outer end of the projected hospital stay time. In my opinion, the pain did merit opioids to properly manage the initial pain.

Once at home, it was key for me to keep up with my alternating schedule I'd been told to follow of taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen. When I set a timer (my husband did this for me initially, even all night) and took those meds on time, my pain was there but tolerable. If I got behind in taking them and was playing catch-up with the pain, it was not a great scenario.

I recall a distinct feeling of being tied up too tight in my rectal area. I don't think so, now, as this did eventually loosen to a normal feeling there. I had to use a lot hemorrhoidal cooling pads, and that helped provide some relief. They have you take a lot of stool softeners after this surgery, and I was thankful for it. Honestly, I was terrified to have my first BM. After surgery in that area, you just feel like that much pressure is going to blow your stitches right out. That was not terribly fun. I did finally get through that hurdle, stitches intact. It didn't feel great, but doable. Having a BM continued to be a concern for another 1-2 weeks, but then was fine.

My recovery from the whole surgery (not just the rectal prolapse) was fairly challenging, cause of pain at first and then the fact that I felt weak and tired for a long time. I had my surgery the end of January, and it was not till May till I didn't have to take a nap every day and I had normal energy again. That was discouraging, and made me question my own strength somewhat. I also had a UTI after surgery (I believe this is fairly common), and then I developed lots of rashing from the medication given to me for it and they had to use other medication.

One thing I learned, in addition to what I've mentioned, was that my expectations were not realistic. I think I expected a perfect surgery and that the "perfect" state I was in down there after my surgery would stay that way forever. Well, seven years later, I know that my bladder has moved back down somewhat (from a urogyn appointment where they measured the bladder's position), though not nearly to where I was at surgery time. I don't know about the rectal area, as that was not measured. I'm sure it's not 100 percent perfect anymore. I think if I'd expected to be, say, at least 75% better post-surgery, I'd have been more realistic.

@mary1234 - what are your major concerns with having the rectal prolapse surgery?

@pizon - good to hear from you. I really hope that removing the two stitches and cleaning out around those nerves will be enough so you can get rid of the pain and the feeling of sitting on a ball.

How are you feeling today, following your surgery this week?

hello I am feeling very sore today but am up walking still have a ball hopefuly that will go away very upsetting but not life threating

My major conerns about the rectal prolapse surgery is that it could do something to the bladder. I strain to pee and have been trying to take care of that with meds, etc. Am starting PTNS with an acupuncturist this Thursday. With the nurse didn't work. I am afraid I will have to self-catherize because I know you can't strain after the prolapse surgery. Will I be in a position to do that after the surgery? I mean, I am afraid of complications of the surgery. Did you know you had rectal prolapse, I mean with symptoms? You had 2 surgeries at once, and that is very brave of you. My rectum comes out when I pee and I manually push it back in. Lately I have been having mucus discharge so I know it is getting worse. I guess I want to reassured that the surgery will really fix it. I might end up having to self-cath. Thank you for your reply. --Mary

maosoe2. the symptoms of rectal prolapse is a bulge that comes out of your rectum when you go to the bathroom. According to how severe it is, right now I can manually push it back in. I need to strain to pee because I have some nerve damage to bladder since a hysterectomy in 1985. So straining will cause it. IF you can stop straining and it is not bad, maybe you can take care of it yourself. Otherwise surgery is the only option. I have yet to hear of anyone who has had the rectal prolapse surgery and how it went. You can tell if a red mass comes out of your anus......I now have a dischare of mucus and it is making it harder to pee so I will probably have the surgery. I have been trying to help my bladder first with medications, which haven't worked, now will try PTNS with an acupuncturist, and if that doesn't work, looks like I might be self-catherizing.......So, I hope I helped.@

Hi, @mary1234 - Though I did have rectal prolapse surgery, I'm afraid I don't know about whether it can do anything to the bladder. I had bladder prolapse repairs at the same time, and the rectal prolapse surgery didn't hurt anything with the bladder, to my knowledge.

I did have to have a catheter (a small tube inserted into my bladder to drain urine) at home for a week following my surgery. To be honest, it was not a picnic, but doable. I did have my mother-in-law, who is a nurse, staying with us and helping me with it for that time. If you have anyone living with you at home, it would help to have them on hand to help out, if needed, but I think you can do it on your own. I did have an accidental spillage incident with my catheter, and my husband helped me deal with it.

I didn't know I had rectal prolapse till I went in to the urogynecologist about my bladder prolapse and found out I also had rectal prolapse. After he told me this, which was new information for me, I then noticed a tiny lump coming out of my rectal area. This meant that I had experienced significant drop and still needed repair, but not to the extent that I had a lot of protrusion. I did not have the situation of needing to push that part of my anatomy back inside or any mucus.

I feel confident that the rectal prolapse surgery was successful in my case.

Hi, @pizon - sorry to hear you've had a lot of soreness. That is unfortunate you still have the feeling of sitting on a ball. How long did your doctor want to wait to assess whether you still have that situation?

My original dr (Howard Goldstein) said I had many different things with each visit after the original prolapse repair (appx. 8 visits from 03/2017 till the last visit in April of 2018 where he told me we had to remove 2 stiches which crystalized and if that didn't work then he would take my uteras) needless to say I went to a new dr. in PA.....Dr. Goldstein told me I had IC then it was a bad back then it was IC again so he had no idea that it was a nerve issue.....please anyone else who reads this make sure your Dr. knows exactly what is wrong with you before you let him go cutting on you....I felt like a mortage payment

A few of you have talked about vaginal or rectal prolapse or related surgery, so wanted to check in with you. Likely everyone in the discussion will benefit from what you have to say and your experiences.

@pizon - how has your recovery from surgery been? Are you still experiencing the sensation of sitting on a ball?

@mary1234 - how are the sessions going with the acupuncturist?

@maisie2 - did you learn anything further on whether you have prolapse?