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anterior/posterior surgery 17 days ago!!!

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lorelli
lorelli

Further to my earlier lenghty post I had my anterior/posterior surgery 17 days ago.  I have had a rough time of it to say the least.

After surgery pain in the bottom was intense and so I opted to take the morphine as I would not have been able to get through the night without it.  Following morning vaginal pack came out which was nothing atall.  They took catheter out following morning but I was not able to go to the toilet and had intense pain and pressure in the bladder and vaginal area so they had to put the catheter back in. I also struggled with bowel movemebt after surgery and hadnt been for two days before surgery so ended up not having a bowel movement for 4 days and when I did it was painful.  The main worry is that even though you have taken the stool softener (movicol) that you are still pushing and will do some damage but without too much trouble I did go and that relieved just a little bit of the pressure.  My main problem has been the bladder which is still not working and has left me extremely anxious.  I also have a rare condition called diabetes insipidus which means I produce much more fluid that others and so the pressure with having a catheter in all this time has been pretty intolerable.  Whilst in hospital I was extremely sore and they kept putting catheters in (around 5 in total as they needed to put two in/out ones in just to drain the bladder to get me out of my pain) and by the time they put the 5th in it took 2 nurses and close to 30 mins to insert the catheter and the pain was horrendous for me.  I was sure I had developed an infection as had some bleeding too and a strange odour but none of the nurses thought it upon themselves to submit a urine sample to check for infection. Bowel movements are approx every two days and I still need to take movicol and psyllium husk to help ease that along. they discharged me after 4 days and once I had had a bowel movement but I was in much discomfort and pain with the catheter which left me with a constant pressure/burning and cutting pain which felt as if it was where the tube fed in through the vagina.  Two days later I was bleeding and wasnt sure if this was early onset of my period or a haematoma so kept an eye on that but bleeding did calm down and then went watery so can only assume this was my period.  I went a week after to see nurse to have catheter removed and even she upon examining me could not understand why I was bleeding and took a swab and urine sample albeit no infection was found.  I tried for almost 3 hours to go it alone but bladder was still not working and so in all the pain I was in, a further catheter had to be fitted for a week.  They have also asked me to use the flip flow valve for hourly periods or 3 hourly periods in order to store up some of the pressure of urine in bladder to hopefully show some spasm to get my bladder working again. I will return later on for them to remove the catheter and see once again if my bladder can work alone.  I am extremely anxious with all of this and thus far am unable to see any form of benefit from it in all honesty but I guess that is due to having had an uncomfortable catherer in place for 17 days. 

I have never felt so low.

I never in a million years had prepared for the pain and discomfort associated to all of this and can only hope that in time I will look back with something more positive.

I think  having read other stories I have had a particularly bad experience as my hospital care was not what I had hoped for either and that is another story entirely as none of the nurses even offered to help me shower whilst in hospital for four days which I was pretty apalled at.

if anyone has endured such problems with their bladder after surgery and had repeated catheters I would be very grateful for them to share their story and likewise if anyone has questions to ask me please feel free.

Fingers crossed my bladder will start working soonest.... I am praying for that

UPDATE

went to have catheter removed yesterday and after 4.5 hours managed to go myself a little bit (voided only 80ml) so had to sit around for a further 1.5 hours and went again myself (voided 100ml) again only a small amount but they scanned me said there was no residue left in my bladder that all should be ok and let me home without the catheter,

2.5 hours later I had extreme urge to go and couldnt go. the pain was something I cannot describe and I am not sure how I even made it through.  Ended up having to rush to the hospital in the early hours to have catheter put in to drain all the fluid inside (which was the large amount of fluid I had drunk earlier in the day to see if I was able to go without the catheter) and as soon as the catheter was put in I felt relief and 650ml voided into the bag immediately explaining the intense pain I was in not being able to go myself with such a large volume in my bladder.

Came home with catheter and now may have to go back into hospital to have a different type of catheter fitted through the abdomen in order to train my bladder and see if I go it alone or use the catheter if I need to.

Am still quite sore today mainly because of the unbearable pain I was in last night until the fluid was able to be drained out and also had an upset tummy three times so bottom also bruised and sore plus I have started bleeding again (fresh red blood) moderate flow.

I am in utter despair with what I can only describe thus far as a nightmare.

If anyone has experienced something similar I would be grateful for any advice as right now I cannot see a light at the end of the tunnel..  sad

with my thanks

1 like, 28 replies

28 Replies

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  • robyn94818
    robyn94818 lorelli

    Posted

    Oh you poor girls. Don't forget there are also so many that have very successful operations too. Being a Registered Nurse myself (& 6wks post-op anterior with TOT sling) I do wonder about the experience in doing these repairs of the Dr's operating. How many have they actually done. Public system or private? Top urogynaecology Specialist versus somebody learning how to do it etc. Hope you two girls get better real soon and do end up with positive results.
    • chris00938
      chris00938 robyn94818

      Posted

      Robyn you've just said what I've thought too.  My heart goes out to these ladies who have had such a rough time of it, but at the same time if I didn't have the connective tissue problem that I've got, I'd jump at the chance of another repair because for me it was a breeze.  Yes, I got a bladder infection afterwards, but had been prewarned by the surgeon that it could happen, especially with the hysterectomy as well, but a course of antibiotics sorted that out and even the anaesthetic didn't make me feel tired afterwards.  I'd read that I'd want to sleep during the day for a while, but I didn't and felt mentally normal and not drained at all, although I did rest as ordered.  But it was in front of the tv or with a book or something.  But I actually felt so good so quickly.  Of course, some of it may have been that I knew the cancer had been taken out, so that would have given me a huge boost.  But my feelings, even though there are risks of problems afterwards, are that sugery is still the number one choice and a prolapse pessary is the second choice, that still offers a very good life with minimum problems, but penetrative sex is the biggest issue with that (with some being OK to carry on with penetrative sex, and some being able to be taken out for it and so on), and I think having choices is a big thing here.
  • robyn94818
    robyn94818 lorelli

    Posted

    Hi again. Hope those not doing so well have a bit of improvement now? I have had a 7wk check this morning with my Urogynaecologist. He is SO amazing! Delivered over 5,000 babies before then deciding to concentrate on Urogynae as Obs was taking him away from his young family too much. He came to New Zealand from the UK, but is Indian. He wants girls to talk much more about these prolapse problems so is getting his 11yr old Daughter to make 2min long video talks he will put on Youtube. She is also very clever and knows all about anatomy and its function etc. She wins all the Impromptu Speech final comps etc. He thinks people may listen more to a young girl than thinking he is touting for business which he isn't - he is just so passionate about medical problems and loves fixing things for betterment of lives. His name is Mr. Anil Sharma. Well, back to where I'm at. My MSU lab result came back and showed I did indeed have a UTI! Funny though as I didn't have the usual symptoms of one - no frequency, burning, stinging, not cloudy, or smelly - just leakage. Vaginal discharge too though. So the antibiotic he gave me Monday last week was the right one so by 48hrs of being on them I was basically cured! What a relief. Here is me thinking that I was going to have to live with constant urine leakage, instead of stress incontinence which is why I went for surgery. So have to do another MSU tomorrow to check all has cleared up completely. But I'm symptom free now so hopefully it will come back clear. He examined me and said all has healed completely. He could feel the sling and said it is in place correctly. It didn't hurt a bit either with digital exam or duck bill thingie. So I'm allowed to slowly increase walking excercise now. NO impact workouts. Yoga or Pilates is ok. Running only on the flat. So there is a light down the end of the tunnel girls. I had that UTI and vag infection for probably most of the 6wks post-op recovery time as I was too scared to ring about it as didn't want to know I had incontinence permanently! Hindsight is a wonderful thing and of course now I wish I had of rung as soon as I noticed things weren't maybe as they should be!! I've got no pain now. All feels completely normal. Have to have some happy stories on here!!!! HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY
    • chris00938
      chris00938 robyn94818

      Posted

      Robyn, that is brilliant news:-)))))  Interesting what you said about the UTI because I had a bladder infection (but had been warned I might) and didn't have a lot in the way of symptoms but felt really off colour and told the GP straight away and they tested the wee and found out it was an infection, but yes, as soon as those antibiotics kicked in I felt SO much better!  Despite having the hysterectomy and vaginal repair the whole thing was actually a breeze for me.  I'd expected so much pain and to feel so weak, but the worse pain was the wind from the laparoscopy and I didn't even want to sleep during the day, which surprised me.  I thought I wasn't very fit either, so had been a bit concerned that I was being fast tracked out of the hospital.  My op was finished after 6 pm one day and I left in the afternoon of the next.  I know I was fortunate, but just wanted to encourage others 'being done' now:-)
  • robyn94818
    robyn94818 lorelli

    Posted

    Oh by the way, I've read all sorts on here about pelvic floor excercises and when to do them. My Urogynae and GP said today that I can start them. Gave me number for Physio who specialises in them. GP said so many people are misinformed about how to do them. She said don't take a big breath IN, then tighten up down there - tighten up as you exhale air OUT of your lungs. Otherwise you are actually putting too much strain downwards if do it when breathing in. 
    • jan05416
      jan05416 robyn94818

      Posted

      Hi hunni so encouraging to hear of ur progress. I too have leakage which has been a worry and hopefully it is just down to infection, as never had it before op. It's good to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. So pleased all has healed well for u. And a u tube video sounds amazing, perhaps if u get news of this u can let us know. Have a wonderful Xmas. X
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