Want to discuss prolapse bladder or any kind of prolapse

Hi! @vera90222
I have a stage 3 rectocele and slight cystocele.
I am scheduled for a surgery in a month and a half.
I would LOVE to talk to you more about your experience before/after. I find most of the data on this surgery is for woman in their 70s,80s and not many in their 30s.
Looking to connect please!

I did see a urogynecologist and my diagnosis was stage 3 bladder prolapse. She prescribed physical therapy for my pelvic floor tension myalgia which she said could be causing my leg pain. We are going to do a pessary trial and if that doesn’t help, look at doing surgery. She said that surgery isn’t always 100%. A chance of recurrence or failure. We will have to see how PT and pessary work for me.

@slavmauve

I hope the PT helps you and you can avoid surgery.

When I had my hysterectomy in 1997 my vaginal wall was beginning to prolapse and my gynecologist .. who was a man (there were no female gynecologist in my town then) and in his last 30s then .. did a repair. I saw him yearly after the surgery. In 2012 I saw him because the vaginal wall was beginning to drop out of me a little. He gave me exercises to do … of course no physical therapist to guide me through them here. The exercises worked for me then. I had foot surgery that year .. a lot of time to do the exercises. Then 3 upper abdominal surgeries over the following 3 years. The last one open and had a feeding tube for a year. I hurt so much that the only way for me to have a gynecological exam would have been to sedate me. My gynecologist passed away during my recovery time. I asked to see one of the NPs in the practice in 2018 .. had to .. protocol on getting estrogen patches.

I had started seeing a pain specialist in 2017. I had the low back pain and pain in my inner thigh & down my leg. The pain in my lower back was below where I had surgery of the l-s joint in 2010. With exam and test he said it was sacral dysfunction. I had a fusion in that joint last spring… 2021. Then my bladder prolapsed more. He said that pelvic dysfunction goes hand-in-hand with sacral dysfunction. I was blessed we had a urogynecologist . She was wonderful … and she agreed with the pain specialist. She explained all my options and what all the protocol we had to go through. We went through what exercises I was doing and I was doing all correctly. They just were not working. We still do not have an actual physical therapist that helps with the exercises. This doctor did well and she also explained to me that it could fail. Hopefully it will last me the rest of my days. If it doesn't .. hopefully she will be nearby and options will be even better than they are now.

@slavmauve

Constant PT exercises do work. Don’t give up on the pessary as there are many different styles and sizes. I have being using one for over 3 years…best thing I did. Took about 3 trials with one style and 2 with the second style. You should not know you are even wearing it and you should be instructed on how to insert and remove yourself. Don’t leave the office without walking around with it a bit and taking a trip to the bathroom.

Good luck

FL Mary

Hello @jsk25 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can imagine the difficulty you are experiencing making this decision on when to address your prolapse given your desire to have more children.

You will notice that I have moved your post into an existing discussion on prolapse. You can find your post here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/692615/

I would like to connect you to member @lisalucier who has shared having had rectal prolapse surgery when her children were quite young, so may be a good resource for you.

Have you discussed options for caesarean section rather than vaginal delivery so that you may more easily address your own quality of life alongside of considering having more children?

For me the mesh repair for bladder prolapse along with the sling to lift the urethra helped me 100%. Previously I had surgical bladder prolapse repair by a lousy doctor. Even after surgery my bladder still protruded slightly from my vagina and felt noticeably wrong, it wasn't lifted enough and I still needed to urinate several times a night. He did not put in the mesh or a sling. His training was limited as I later learned. He simply tried to tie my bladder up to thinned tissue which couldn't support it. I was ignorant, not realizing the extend of the damage or knowing I had options.
I did my homework before my next surgery, studied up and decided what I wanted to try and found a specialist who only did bladder repair, period. He had a fantastic success rate and client approval rating.
I have Allergic Contact Dermatitis, with allergies to many fibers, yet the mesh material and sling material have caused no issues. Now 6 years later still no issues.

I am scheduled for prolapse repair at the Mayo Clinic on April 28th. Tried the pessary and physical therapy but prolapse kept getting worse so now am at a grade 3. After examination in the pre-op dr. will determine if vaginally or open abdomin will give me best results. They prepare for the longest surgery to start which is the open. I am worried about the recovery and if it will be long lasting.

I have tried the pessary, several styles that did not work but the gel head really worked great but I had so much discharge with it and eventually it fell out. That particular one is known for causing an odor too which I did experience but the relief it gave outweighed that. Gel heads can be inserted and removed with a dr visit covered by my insurance. I am now scheduled for surgery April 28th at Mayo.

Mine was done vaginally, like my hysterectomy was.
The recovery time for the bladder mesh lift was dramatically shorter then the hysterectomy. You should still plan on being inactive for a week and doing nothing strenuous for several weeks.

That's what I was told-up to 6 weeks recovery. How long were you on pain meds?