Want to discuss prolapse bladder or any kind of prolapse

Hi, @galah11 -- Really sorry to hear about this prolapse that is impacting your life at this point, plus the leg pain. That sounds super uncomfortable and inconvenient to have a golf-ball size bladder sitting "there" and having trouble with walking and standing.

Very wise that you are trying to learn more at this point.

I think that some of the women in this discussion may have some thoughts for you, like @pizon @goldenretriever @skd43usa and @letsgo, may have some input for you regarding surgical or nonsurgical options and how to manage the discomfort you are experiencing.

@galah11, what is your history with this condition? Has this come on you suddenly, or has this been building over time?

Hi and thanks for the kind reply, and reply. It’s been coming on for a time ( I had a trip to Thailand planned) but I delayed mentioning it to my GP until recently. I didn’t realise the leg pain was related and was going to investigate that also. I’m waiting for an appointment and discussion with a gynaecologist. Reading here I guess I feel nervous at surgery because of the mesh scandles and other people’s bad experiences but would rather not have the pain and discomfort for ever. I’m also waiting for a physio appointment and wonder how much improvement learning correct kegel exercises will do. So I’m in limbo, waiting, and trying to learn more. Thanks again

Problem is - I am not constipated right now, however I do need a "clean wipe" BM and that is hard to come by. My BMs are now softer and are a bit messy to clean up on myself which actually makes the prolapse and leakage worse. The prolapse gets irritated from all the wiping with baby wipes and iritation makes more mucous which leaks out. It seems I can't win whatever I do or eat. I am now on a more normal diet but have to supplement with rice, toast, bananas to try to get that perfect B . Sometimes it works and then there are times when it doesn't. i am afraid of any kind of stapling or anything as I have heard some horror stories regarding any procedures around the sphincter muscle. Apparently 8 times out of 10 the problem gets worse instead of better I still don't know how to get to the gyn though as I don't want to end up with sepsis from bavk door getting to the bleeding vaginal entrance.

Please do not be afraid to ask your doctor about this problem. They are trained professionals and more than likely your doctor will refer you to a gynecologist who is even more trained in this area. Look at the Mayo Clinic descriptions of the vaginal and rectal prolapse. I have both and for the second time I will need surgery. I am looking forward to it, so my life can get back to normal. I hope this helps!

@maisie2 and @Restless67 and others,
No one should be afraid to talk with your doctor about these things. They are more common than you may know. Once I talked to some friends about it I realized I knew 3 people who had surgery for prolapse. Who knew?

I had a stage 3 bladder prolapse for about 10 years and lived with it fine. Then it got worse and I tried a pessary which I could not wear. I had bleeding and even after the pessary was removed the bleeding could not be completely stopped. It went on for many months, then stopped but then came back again with a vengeance. I had a D and C but that did not help and I had a very thin uterus so there was no problem there. I went to one urogynecologist who was highly recommended and he was just too high pressure for me. He recommended a procedure called a Sacrocolpopexy and some other things which does involve mesh and is done with the Da Vinci Robot. I just was scared of the mesh so I continued to live with it. But finally the bleeding got so bad I went to a second urogynecologist and he recommended the same thing. But he took the time to explain everything to me. He showed me what the mesh looked like compared with the old type mesh that has caused so many problems. He explained why just fixing the ligaments that hold the bladder and other organs in place would not be a good solution long-term. He said my ligaments were too damaged and weak and that if we did that, I would be back in surgery in a few years. Sounds like that is what @Restless67 may be dealing with. I was still hesitant because the procedure usually involves hysterectomy and I just could not get passed that. So I held off until I got to where I could not urinate easily and once even had to go to the doctor to get a catheter put in so I could. It was no way to live. Bottom line is I had the surgery last October and it is the best decision I ever made. My doctor did a urodynamics test prior to surgery to try to anticipate if I would need some minor corrections to eliminate the possibility of incontinence following surgery. Turns out I did. The reason for this is that your prolapse can actually mask incontinence because of its position and once it is fixed sometimes people have incontinence if that is not adjusted for.
This is why I say you must have a really experienced doctor. After surgery, I stayed in the hospital 2 nights and went home end of day 3. I would have liked to have stayed one more day but once I got home and got settled I was glad to be home. The first few days are a little rough until you have your first bowel movement as you may feel a little bloated. But I really had very little pain and once the catheter came out (after 7 days) I was great. I know these details are not pleasant but really I would encourage each of you and anyone who has this issue affecting their life in a major way to find a really good urogynecologist (most gynecologists will just do ligament repair) and maybe even consult more than one. I just had my 6 month checkup and everything looked perfect. I am so sorry you are dealing with this. It is so unpleasant but all the restrictions on your life are so limiting if you can do something about it. Just look into it and find a doctor that won't pressure you to do anything if you are not ready. If you llive in a small town and their are no urogynecologists then look into travelling to one in a larger city. But at least check it out and know that it is not as scary as it may seem. Best to everyone going through prolapse issues.

Hello everyone I've been away from the group for a while I had bladder and uterus repair done 1 1/2 yrs ago and have had the sensation of sitting on a ball and hip paint that has gotten worse I finaly went to another uro/gyn out of state and now du2 scar tissue building up over the nerves wants to remove all stiches....is there anyone out there that has had this done before and what was your out come? No mesh was used...thank you in advance for your replys

Hi, @pizon, great to hear from you. You'll see that I moved your post to this discussion so that some of the members who have discussed prolapse here could see your update and interact with you. Hoping they'll have some insights about this surgeon's proposal to remove all the stitches to address scar tissue building up over the nerves following your previous bladder and uterus repair, like @gailg, @sueblue @skd43usa @letsgo and @fromwoundedness. @hopeful33250 may also have some thoughts.

@pizon - what would be the next step the uro/gun is proposing for after removing all the stitches?

I was told I would be 80 to 90% pain free...however my prolapse may return

Hello @pizon

I see that you have a big decision to make regarding the removal of stitches in order to be more pain free, but also the dilemma of having the prolapse return. That sounds like a difficult decision for anyone to make.

You said that you went to an out-of-state doctor. Was this to get a second opinion?

While I have not had surgery for bladder and/or uterine prolapse I have had surgeries that have caused scar tissue in other areas and I know how troublesome it can be.

Would you consider another opinion from a different doctor at this point?

Teresa

I lived with bladder prolapse for over 10 years and finally it got to a point where I was having bleeding and also it was causing me to not be able to urinate because it was dropped so low that the urine could not flow up-hill so to speak as it needed to to reach the urethra. Anyway, I got two opinions from two different urogynecologists and both recommended a procedure called sacrocolpopexy. It does involve mesh and I hesitated for a while because of that. But both told me that because my prolapse was stage 3 (it was stage 4 by the time I did the surgery), there was a very high probability that if the ligaments were just repaired, the prolapse would return. So after much deliberation, I ended up doing the surgery with the mesh. It was done with the daVinci robot and I had 4 little holes in my tummy none of which involved any stitches that had to be removed. I have no scar tissue that is visible and you can't see the spots unless you look very carefully. In order to do this surgery, it is most often that a hysterectomy is done along with it because basically the uterus is in the way. Again, I was hesitant but went ahead as I am postmenopausal and am 63 years old. I use Estrace Cream now a couple of times a week just for tissue health as recommended by my doctor but I did not have any ill effects from the hysterectomy at all. Bottom line is I wish that I had done this about 5 years prior to doing it. It would have saved meyself so much pain and agony. The bleeding from the pessary that I tried to wear and the nights when I could not urinate and laid awake in such discomfort could have all been avoided. As far as incontinence, I did not have this at all prior to surgery but my doctor did something called a urodynamics study in order to see if I would likely have incontinence once the prolapse was fixed. Apparently they can project based upon this study whether they need to make any adjustments during the surgery for you if you are likely to be incontinent after the repair. When you have a prolapse it can mask incontinence because the urine cannot flow. Therefore, after the repair your incontinence may become evident. So my doctor found with the study that I likely did have some incontinence. He corrected for it during the prolapse surgery and I have not had any problems. My friends say I have the bladder of a 19 year old now. I stayed in the hospital for two nights following my surgery. It is usually one night but I requested my doctor let me stay two since I live alone. I came home with a catheter in and it stayed for 7 days after surgery. On the morning it was to be removed, as you might guess I showed up early for my appointment. I don't know if this addressed the scar tissue issue very well but this is my experience. Please ask me any questions you like and I am glad to share what I can. If you are willing to travel out of town and want my doctor's contact information, I can certainly share that as well. I am nearly a year post surgery and have no issues whatsoever. I wish you well and am so sorry you are having such pain and difficulty. I am a chronic pain sufferer from some back issues and so I know how pain can really get you down. Best of luck to you.