18 months post op for A&P pelvic floor repairs

Hi all,

Hope everyone who has had repairs are doing well and progressing with your recovery. Those of you awaiting surgery I hope you get your dates soon.

I am now 18 months post-op for anterior and posterior pelvic floor repairs, been back at work since 3 months post-op.

This has been a slow but steady recovery with lots of ups and downs ( 2 steps forward, 1 step back); the difficulty as always striking a balance between making progress but not overdoing things, while its easy to listen to your body and rest up when needed at home it's not so easy to do this at work.

It's also a balancing act to keep a level of fitness to be able to continue at work but also protect repairs from down pressure that could cause them to fail again. Even just keeping my home clean can be difficult avoiding down pressure

Anyway swimming 16 lengths at local swimming pool (25 metre length) once or twice a week. Weather not been great for walking, had been building up but overdone it a few weeks ago; 5 miles, although had lots of stops for rest) was still too much.

Managing my 2 basic 5 hour shifts; one I'm on seat at checkout for whole shift and managing fairly well. Not soar any more sitting, can manage most items now except very heavy cases of beer, soft drinks, water and cat litter. I try to catch customers before they put anything heavy on the conveyor belt as I can use my hand scanner if they leave it in trolley.

My other shift is kind of split between the sweat at checkout and the hybrids, but I am allowed a seat at hybrid when quiet although normally on my feet cleaning the self scan and hybrid conveyors.

Coping well with exception when it gets really busy for whole shift and been heavy with all the extra large bottles of soft drinks going through dud to summer holidays.

Front repair feels strong and holding up. Can feel lower pelvic muscles drawing in and tightening with swimming, bladder holding up and working great. Intercourse better than its ever been, everything feels back to normal internally and walls have thickened up with using estriol cream on regular basis.

A little worried with posterior repair; every now and again getting lower pain in back pelvic floor area especially if on my feet rushing about for more than an hour (especially if this happens at work). Also have to be especially carefully with what I eat to avoid constipation or being too soft. If constipated it can feel so uncomfortable and can feel like large swelling and cannot empty properly so in and out toilet all day and can leak when sitting due to down pressure, but if too soft can be just as bad still back and forward all day and tend to leak and can't get wiped clean going through tons of toilet paper until rubbed sore. So very important to avoid both situations.

Doing my pelvic floor exercises ensuring I draw up at back end first around 30 to 45 of each ( quick ones and longer hold) per day.

So while in general have a reasonably good quality of life, I am limited by what I cannot do due to anything that can cause down pressure and limited by how long I can be on my feet.

Too scared to build up any more shifts at work this time as that's when the first repair failed. Finding if difficult to live I'd of 2 shifts as I still have a dependent teenager and hubby not doing well just now; he has a pituitary tumor and just started medication which is knocking him of his feet, only 1 tablet a week but leaves him exhausted and confused for first few days and by the time he us starting to feel better next one is due, hoping to avoid surgery in long run. He us self employed and barely doing any work so tumbling into debt real fast.

Anyway hopefully things will improve soon, can't understand why this of us bearing 60 yrs old must bear the government's inability to balance the books and trying to use the excuse that we are living longer and healthier life's especially when this is hitting us women do much harder.

Women more lightly to take time out to look after children or elderly parents and therfore less lightly to have built up enough of a pension. Also for my age group the jump in working years is 6/7 years much more extra than men with only 1/2 extra. They haven't taken into account female problems due to menopause. I had hoped to build up more pension contributions over the past 7 years and the coming three years but unable to do the shifts now!

Hope this helps those of you worrying about success of your repairs. I think that they give us too high an expectation that we will be back to normal in 3 months, and while I made great progress in my first 3 months, going back to work at three months put me back so much and even though I felt great it was to much being on my get especially as they had me covering full shift on my feet within a short time. Wish I had took longer out for recovery as I don't think I'm doing as well at this stage as I was at 18 months post op after 1st repair. But then maybe I'm expecting to much considering it's a second repair. I suppose time will tell.

Those of you in recovery please be very careful to listen to your body and take enough time to recover, and those of you awaiting surgery please minimizer any further damage and get those pelvic floor exercises done to build up muscle strength.

Take care everyone,

Phyl x💖

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