Bladder Prolapse and GI tract issues

@islandjude welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am unfamiliar with stage 3 bladder prolapse and I don’t really know what a pessary is. My bladder conditions consist of other things. I have seen pessary mentioned in other discussions. Perhaps you can find some valuable information in some of the other discussions while waiting for members to chime in here. I’m pretty sure there is an entire group devoted to digestive / bowel issues that you might find helpful. You are not alone. I am bad with technology but could you try searching on keys words like bladder prolapse, pessary, digestive / bowel issues to see what comes up?

@cehunt57 Thanks for responding, you're the first😊. I'm old and not good with technology either but will try to try your suggestions. It's not fun to struggle with these issues. Sending you best wishes for healing

I’m 77 and I’ve had bladder prolapse for at least 12 years. I had corrective surgery in 2016 and it was a disaster. At the time, it was grade 2-3.

Five days before my scheduled surgery, I went to the ER because I was experiencing all the symptoms of a UTI.

I provided a sample and they confirmed a UTI because my urine was cloudy. They did not culture it. They put me on oral antibiotics and assured me that I would be flushed with antibiotics during surgery.

The surgery was through the military system and conducted at a very large military hospital by a supposedly qualified URO/GYN. I elected to have the abdominal repair because the vaginal repair had a far worse long term failure rate.

When I was under anesthetic and the surgeon had begun, the doctor elected to perform a vaginal repair, in spite of my wishes, because she encountered adhesions. Evidently her time was more valuable than respecting my choice.

I spent one night in the hospital and was then sent home still catheterized. I was in excruciating pain from the UTI, even just from emptying the catheter bag.

A few days later my husband took me back to the ER because I clearly still had a massive UTI. This time they cultured it and it turned out the I had pseudomonas. Pseudomonas is a potentially deadly hospital-born infection which was probably introduced by a CNA who cathed me for a urine retention test the week before my scheduled surgery.

Eleven months after the vaginal repair, it failed. The prolapse returned and it was then a grade 4. I was left in a much worse situation than I was before the surgery.

Flash forward to yesterday when I underwent a Colpocleisis surgery, which pushes the bladder back into place, secured and the vagina closed to prevent a prolapse recurrence. (I’m 77 and I’m just fine with no vaginal intercourse).

This was just yesterday, so I’m in the worst phase of healing, but if you’re patient and have questions I’ll do my best to provide helpful answers.

@islandjude, see my lengthy response below.

@cehunt57, a bladder prolapse is usually caused by some kind of birth injury. In my case, I’m a small boned woman who delivered a 9.5 lb. Son with a 14” diameter head. 12” is the most common head size.

The bladder’s attachment becomes loosened and it begins to push out of the vagina. At first it’s general considered grade 1 or two. The more the bladder sticks out of the vagina, the higher grade the prolapse is. A grade 4 bladder prolapse is when essentially all of the bladder sticks out of the vagina. That’s what I had prior to my surgery on Wednesday.

A pessary is a rubber “plug” that can be inserted in the vagina to hold a bladder prolapse in place. It works with smaller prolapses, but didn’t work with my grade 4 prolapse.

In 2022 I had surgery to remove approximately half of my large intestine because of 7 noncancerous tumors, one of which was wrapping itself around the interior circumference of my intestine and would have caused a life threatening bowel obstruction if not removed.

Because I was dealing with many daily attacks of diarrhea post intestinal surgery, getting my bladder prolapse repaired became extremely important for sanitary reasons.

I am four weeks postop from rectal and vaginal prolapse surgery.
They were unable to use mesh
I had a catheter in for eight days post surgery and then had a UTI that was treated for seven days, but I am having horrible urinary urgency all the time even on medication.
Wondering if anyone has any ideas

@absoloodle I had Colpocleisis surgery 6 months ago for stage 4 prolapse. It took about 6 weeks to heal and was wonderful for about 2-3 months. But now I feel like I'm having some sort of "prolapse" again and I was just treated for a UTI a couple of weeks ago. (I am 75 years old.) I need to go back to the doctor but feel embarrassed thinking I must have done something wrong. Anyway, I hope your procedure will be 100% positive! And just FYI it took a full 6 weeks for that crazy "stitch" to finally heal.

@patruchelut07, I’m so sorry to hear that. Oh, I hope that my repair is permanent. I’ve been living with a prolapse since about 2013-2014 and a grade 4 since 2017.

I’m going to have to discipline myself to stick to the lifting, etc restrictions. I’m an avid master gardener and my garden was only about 1/3 cleaned up before my surgery. We live on 1/3 acre with extensive mixed borders as well as 23 Douglas Firs and Western Cedars. The firs, especially, make a massive mess over winter and the weeds have run rampant after nearly two years of other maladies. I so wish I could snap my fingers and be moved into a home that requires minimal upkeep. This one is tough even for able bodied younger peeps.

I still have intestinal problems (diarrhea and gas cramps) 5 years after losing half of my large intestine due to 7 precancerous tumors in 2022. That was my primary motivation to get the surgery.

Let me know what your doc says. I see my doc’s Nurse practitioner on the 28th for surgery follow up and my new internist on the 26th.(Boy do I have a lot to tell him!).

Wow! You have certainly gone through a lot! Best of luck to you on your upcoming doctor's appointment! I never even heard of all this stuff until about 2 years ago - really wish I didn't know anything about it! Take care!