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Am I worrying unnecessarily?

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trizwizz
trizwizz

Thinking of changing my forum name to Moaning Minnie!

​Nearly 8 weeks post op rectocele repair. I've not always been convinced it's worked but have been reassured that it's all down to healing etc.

So to today, needed a bowel motion, went to the loo and was back on the same old cycle of needing to go, not being able to go, feeling bulgy etc. Felt vaginally and there was a definate bulge. Pressed and was able to go. I was regularly "splinting" before the op.

​Also before the op I was unable to pass urine and have a bowel motion together. Today was beck to having a bowel motion , wash hands then return to have a wee.

Should I be wrrying about this!

​If this posts twice apologies - it seems to have lost the first one - but maybe not!

1 like, 35 replies

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  • trizwizz
    trizwizz

    Posted

    Just an update.

    ​I've been to see the GP - the one I normally try to see so he knows me better. He has signed me off for a further 4 weeks. He said I would get no thanks for going back too soon. He's right I know - the world won't stop turning if I'm not there. He did also say that he didn't think I was normally a Moaning Minnie and if I felt I wasn't fit then I wasn't. I did dither as he asked if I wanted to try to return so he said if I was dithering it meant I wasn't really fit.

    ​I told him the problems I have had over the weekend. He said that the repair is unlikely to fail but it can. Particularly as I can feel the very specific bulge that I could before the repair (although smaller). I asked him about a possible bladder prolapse getting worse - he was non committal. He didn't examine me - preferrring, I think , to leave it to the consultant. Also because it could be the healing carrying on from the inside and he didn't want to interfere with that. He said to come back in three weeks to see how it was going anyway.

    I am also going for blood tests re. the menopausal symptoms - he was a bit annoyed the other GP didn't do them.

    ​He asked me to chase up the post-op appt which I've just done. The secretary said I should have had one by now and she would send me one in the post today. So it's a good job I did chase up otherwise I would have been waiting forever!

    ​So that was today - walked back from the docs - it isn't far - took child to orthodontist - had to drive - home now and aching again so that's enough for today. TV this afternoon!!

    • lisa52462
      lisa52462 trizwizz

      Posted

      If your worried I'd push to go back to the consultant or see him/her privately if you have that option, you get seen the same week that way.

      My GP has referred me back to the consultant as she is concerned about the repeat infections I'm having, I'm on my third lot of anti b's and I'm only three weeks post op! Last week I was also suffering with a lot of pain, so much codeine didn't help. The pain has since subsided but she is concerned once this lot of anti b's have finished I'll be back with pain and another infection. My appointment is Friday and I've debated cancelling it as I feel better but I'm still going to go as I want to know if everything is ok and why I'm getting repeat infections. I'm due back to work Monday and also want his opinion on that.

    • trizwizz
      trizwizz lisa52462

      Posted

      The post op appt should come through today or tomorrow. I rang his secretary who was surprised I hadn't had one - she was going to send me one. In some ways I can wait - whatever has or hasn't happened is not life threatening. The appt will probably be in a couple of weeks. I could go privately but don't think I'm that worried.

      I've been signed off work till 12 July so I'm sure it will be before then so in a way it's ok.

      ​Everybody seems to say there is terrible pain  - which I just haven't had _ really and truly. No problems with bowel motions either. The worst pain is the inflammed ovary - which is still there and is a strange coincidence to the op.

      ​I wouldn't cancel any appt you have especially if the doc has pushed for your appt with the consultant. It will be worth going - even if the consultant doens'y normally see patients till later - matbe he will ask to see you again as well. I will have been off  for 12 weeks when I finally go back. Well 13 as my first week back I have booked annual leave so looking forward to that! I know I'm not fit to work yet so don't see how you can be whatever you do for a job - even if it's a mattress tester and involved lying down all day!!!! I don't know of any job that doesn't require you to be busy. Certaily fo rmine I have to be able to drive, get up and down off the floor, make intelligent and coherent conversation, chair meetings etc. I'm not able to stand for more than 10 minutes without gravity taking effect and making me feel the whole of my insides are going to fall out (I know it's the bruising and swelling!) Walking, strangely, is no problem, carrying stuf is - which I also have to be able to do - to  a weight of about 10lb plus depending on equipment. If you can don't go back to work!

    • lisa52462
      lisa52462 trizwizz

      Posted

      Glad your appointment is on its way.

      I find nothing comfortable, siting, laying walking all uncomfortable and I walk like I've crapped myself 😂, I don't get the feeling of loosing my insides from standing but I did get that feeling every time I got my

      Period, my god it was awful! I thought it was connected to my rectocele but I've not had a period since April so no idea if that's gone.

      My medical notes will probably have neurotic all over them as this will be the second time

      I've seen the surgeon since my op three weeks ago 🙈 After reading the threads on this site I'm baffled as to why I've only been signed off for four weeks! Should i to be completely pain / discomfort free before I go back? The thought of sitting at a desk all day and commuting in a car for two hrs a day fills me with dread!

    • trizwizz
      trizwizz lisa52462

      Posted

      Four weeks is definitely not long enough! I only started to drive after four weeks and I drove a 20 mile journey - 10 miles there and 10 back and I was exhausted. I did sit in the car for a 2hr journey - I wasn't driving and that was uncomfortable by the end -not being able to move around I think.

      ​My surgeon signed me off for 6 weeks straight away - said that was the minimum time to be off. A GP - not mine gave me another 2 weeks then my GP just gave me another 4 weeks. He said there was no point rushing things. I said to him work wouldn't like it; his reply was that they wouldn't like it if I went off again either and they'd just have to lump it. Forunately I do get sick pay and have no worrries on that score.

      ​Get another sick note for yourself - you won't be fit to drive that distance then work. Remember you also have to be able to get home too!!

  • VOWeaver
    VOWeaver trizwizz

    Posted

    Dearest Moaning Minnie:

    I'm a member of your pain-filled society.  I'm six weeks out of an entire pelvic floor collapse repair (removal of failed TVM, construction of new bladder sling with my own tissue, complete hysterectomy, and rectocele repair).

    All my repairs combined do not equal the extreme "discomfort" of the rectocele repair.  I tell people it feels like a pineapple has been shoved up my rear end.  When I sit on the potty, I cry.

    Had I been completely informed before surgery would I have had the rectocele repaired?  I honestly don't know.  I need to be completely healed before I can give an answer to that question.  I will say this: heavy duty pain meds should have been provided for at least six weeks postop.  I'm only managing because I have a separate, non-pelvic chronic pain situation that provides me with decent pain meds.  I know that opiate pan meds increase constipation issues, which obviously compound the rectocele repair recovery, but I'm handling that aggressively.

    Bottom line (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!): rectocele repair HURTS!

    ~VOW

    • Jan999
      Jan999 VOWeaver

      Posted

      What you write VOWeaver. I don't know if you are in the UK but I have been properly as shocked as you at the lack of information given to ladies prior to a rectocele repair because that is not what I have experienced professionally and personally. Where I've worked ladies are under no illusion just how uncomfortable and painful the post op period can be and it gets worse before it gets better. I've told patients that and explained everything they can expect. Regarding "heavy duty pain meds" patients have to take some responsibility for that. Have you asked for them to be prescribed? I did and I got them, for more than 6 weeks. Yes opiates can cause constipation (but not everyone suffers that side effect) but codeine with paracetamol is the most effective analgesia for this type of pain, along with ibuprofen and you can take them together. The constipation can be rectified with Lactulose and stool softeners for example. I managed and so have hundreds of other patients. If your in pain, see a doctor. It's also a sign of other problems, infection for instance. It's major surgery so treat it as such. Rectocele repair is more painful than other repairs, you only need to see the operation performed to realise that is the case. 
  • VOWeaver
    VOWeaver trizwizz

    Posted

    Bless you, Matron.  Every word you said is absolute truth.

    I do take responsibility for the pain management.  As I stated, I receive "the good stuff" for chronic pain management.  If I did not, I'd be camping out in the waiting room of the Urologist's office.

    It was my own personal research that revealed just exactly what was going on with the rectocele repair.  Most of the information you find tells you what a rectocele is, and how it is fixed.  Period.  That's only the place to START for information!

    #1 Bit of news, is the fairly obvious: this is a very vascular area, and that means anything done will have swelling.  LOTS of swelling. And because the rectal area doesn't really get a chance to rest, the swelling is going to be around for a long, long time.  Swelling HURTS.

    #2 This area is right where the major nerves for the pelvic region branches off the spinal cord.  Think of the nerves as a huge superhighway, and the surgery is a wreck of major proportions.  It takes a long time to clear out the wreck, and all the drivers who are impacted by the mess are NOT HAPPY.

    I know that getting up, walking, moving around is the key to recovery for any surgery.  But the rectocele repair, with its accompanying swelling, is a fickle situation.  Get up, move around, the bowels function better, the gas can flow down the pipeline, all your body parts work more efficiently.  But then the nature of the repair also means gravity works against you, and the swelling increases.  That is the "pineapple up the rear end" I mentioned before.  I MUST get up, I MUST move around...and then later, I MUST sit down or lie down, and cry a bit.  Sort a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation.

    I'm in the US, and I had my work done by a major medical center on the West Coast. My surgeon is wonderful.  But I definitely will be having a heart to heart discussion with her about the pineapple and the pain and the expectations of the surgery.

    ~VOW

    • Jan999
      Jan999 VOWeaver

      Posted

      The pineapple is an excellent description of what the pain and discomfort is like. I found sitting down almost impossible for the first few weeks and being driven home in the car with my husband was unbearable. I know you will agree. I can assure you it does get better. It will be 6 years next month since my rectocele and cystocele repair and I'm so pleased I went ahead with the surgery.
    • trizwizz
      trizwizz Jan999

      Posted

      I can't say I've suffered the "pineapple" situation!! Honestly - after the op I took cocodamol for a week - 8% codeine so just over the counter meds (UK style!) . I can't say I really needed that - took it more as a prophylactic - I also have knee pain I take it for. Sitting and lying were no problem either. Pain has not been an issue at all. The swelling was minor, the wound was clean - barely any discharge or bleeding till week 3 or 4 when there was a bit. The wound in the vagina has healed quickly and neatly with no sore bits or anything.  Going to the loo has been no problem - no pain or discomfort - even from th eday after surgery.

      What I do have is a bulge.

      Standing was an issue - that has got markedly worse since the weekend. II can only stand for about 10 minutes.

      ​Matron perhaps you can answer this - it's nearly 40 yearsince o level biology! Typically in someone who has no rectocele and had no repair - would you be able to feel vaginally when there is a bowel motion?

      Once I had the rectocele and discovered a whole new world of bowel motions, I was aaware that to have an effective bowel motion I would have to "splint" - not everytime but it made me aware of what muscles were there - even though I knew if you know what I mean! 

      ​Now I feel the bulge is back. So when I have a bowel motion now - if I feel - as though I were "splinting" - but don't - in that I'm not actually pushing anything back - I can feel a bulge - as before the repair. If I hadn't had a rectocele woul dI be able to feel that anyway. Not having ever -

      pre-rectocele felt around in my vagina when going to the loo!

       

    • trizwizz
      trizwizz

      Posted

      Meant to add - the bulge is smooth as before the repair - it's not lumpy or bumpy - doesn't feel like tissue repair - it also goes in and out if I press - just as the rectocele did.
    • Jan999
      Jan999 trizwizz

      Posted

      trizwizz you really test me 😂. I had to splint when I had a rectocele and it was awful but that's common as you know. Your question about feeling the stool in the vagina when a woman doesn't have a prolapse  is something I haven't been asked before but thinking about it carefully, the bowel is muscular and when there's stool to be evacuated the bowel has a peristalsis movement. So if there's a lot of faeces or a large stool (sorry hope this isn't too graphic but it's the best way of explaining it) I suppose it could be felt particularly as we get older and the vaginal wall starts to atrophy. This could be a reason to help build up the wall with hormone cream or pessaries. 

      To mention about standing, it's not a good idea standing too long following this surgery until you are fully recovered.

      Hope I've managed to answer your question trizwizz 

    • trizwizz
      trizwizz Jan999

      Posted

      Ah - it's always me that asks the tricky questions! Seems to be my lot in life! Yes this ii what I was thinking about the peristalsis movement. I have no idea whether my vaginal walls are thin or atrophied or not. I presumed as I wasn't menopausal  (unitl 10 minutes after the op anyway!!!) I was reasonably ok!

      ​I shall wait to ask the consultant at my post op appt which hopefully will come through soon. He will presumably examine me and we shall see.

    • Jan999
      Jan999 trizwizz

      Posted

      It will be highly unlikely your repair will have failed which is what I think you're worried about. It rarely happens, I think you just need to keep resting, feet up and stop worrying and I don't mind answering anyone's questions if that's what they want, including you 😘
    • steph16921
      steph16921 VOWeaver

      Posted

      I am also West Coast. California to be exact. Where are you from?
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