Hi ladies. Another question please 5 weeks after my anterior & posterior prolapse repairs plus perineum reconstruction. I'm still wearing pant liners as I still have a slight discharge, it's not blood & doesn't smell. Does this sound normal? I know I overdid things 2 days ago as for the first time since the op I felt relatively good & wanted to "do things" - big mistake!! I really suffered late that afternoon & had to lie down! Thanks.
All normal Carolmarie, it takes along time to fully recover from repair surgery as it is major surgery; very long slow recovery.
Have you started pelvic floor exercises yet, your pelvic floor will be in shock after the surgery and the fact that you needed surgery in first place will mean you're pelvic floor must have been weak. So will most lightly need to spend time strengthening up your pelvic floor muscles now.
If you go into forums then genitourinary forum, at the top of the forum page you can access useful resources. The information their is very good, especially the south tees section and further down are sections on pelvic floor exercises.
You could maybe check with your GP or consultant if it's OK to start pelvic floor exercises or even get a referal to physiotherapist who specialises in pelvic floor.
Hope this helps, take care,
Phyl x
Thanks so much for your reply Phyl-it's very reassuring-one less thing to worry about.That information by South Tees is very helpful.I have been doing the exercises since the op as instructed by the physio dept.Thank you again.x
Hi Carolmaria, I think what you are describing is normal. You did right by listening to your body after overdoing. I did that as well and slept for a day. Finally when the perineal pressure or heaviness went away, I felt back to normal. I am 7 weeks post op, without any bleeding after a couple of weeks.
Thanks for your reply Sherry.I went to my Slimming Club this morning for an hour & a half & now I'm shattered again & having to rest!! It really is gutty.You feel you can do things but then your body says hey hang on,no you can't!! I shall be so pleased to get back to normal.Take care.x
It usually takes 6-8 wks to recover. As long as there is no blood or infection it should be ok and take it easy for now
Thanks for your reply.There's no blood & as there's no smell I assume there's no infection.I've been resting all afternoon as I just can't shake off the tiredness!! Really hope I soon get some energy back.
Hi Sherry, I'm 5wks post op & like Carol have probably overdone things & am now suffering! Please tell me it gets better!!! I cannot believe how much pain I'm feeling. I keep thinking this time next week & next week arrives & there's no improvement! When will it all end? Does anyone else feel in pain a have this awful dragging heavy feeling? I also still feel like there's a bulge there!
Hi Carol, my friend took me out to lunch today & she couldn't believe how slow I was walking. In her words she thought I would be running around by now. It seems anything I do gives me grief! x
So sorry you're still in pain Janet. We're neck & neck timewise so it proves we all heal at different rates as obviously we've all had different ops. I can't say I'm actually in pain, more discomfort & "strange" unexplained feelings. I'm just getting so frustrated at how exhausted I am all the time, the slightest bit of exertion & I'm completely whacked & need to rest. Can't wait to feel normal. I measure my progress in weeks rather than days & on the whole I can see some improvement. Good luck,take care & keep resting. Carol xx
I know what you mean about about a strange feeling...it's difficult to explain isn't it? Do you have this feeling of heaviness as if something's falling out?
Hi Janet,
It can be up to 4 months before things start to feel almost normal. If you have had pelvic floor repairs you must have had a week pelvic floor and therefor will always have to take care as it will never be as strong as pre-prolapse.
These ops are not guaranteed for life and can last up to ten years or more if very careful not to put any down pressure on your pelvic floor.
The wounds heal and stitches start to fall out around 4-6 weeks but can take longer depending on extent of repair and type of material used for stitches. The deeper tissues can take even longer to heal.
I fail to understand why they say 6-8 weeks as you will find that is not the case with many of the women on here. Younger women will heal better and quicker than older women and for those of us who have started menopause our ligaments are weakened and no amount of repairs are going to change that.
On the plus though the repairs can give us some of our life back so we are able to function reasonably well - continue working in low impact jobs, take care of our family and household within reason, have a normal sexual relationship with partners. Just avoid any heavy high impact activity.
As long as you rest plenty in early weeks and start very slowly to begin with light low impact bits and pieces around the house and very gradually do a little more every day listening to your body until you reach 3 month. Never ever do any gardening, lifting anything heavy, or spend too long on your feet. I thing by 6 weeks you shouldn't be doing more than 2x 20in walks per day if you can manage even that. Don't lift anything more than a litre if water by then either.
Most of it is about listening to your body and resting as much as possible.
I was told to never garden or lift toddlers, and no heavy or high impact work ever.
I am over 18 months post op and while my anterior repair feels strong and holding up, my posterior repair feels weak and I have problems with scar tissue around the vaginally opening and just inside front vaginally passage which started giving me problems a little while after returning to work and they started to put me on my feet again do I regret returning do early and looking back wish I'd took 6on the our to sense proper healing as you have know power over employers.
Anyway thus was my second repair surgery and if this goes I don't see his they can tighten things up again eight causing unbearable pain to those areas already pulled tight with problem scar tissue.
Please ladies be very careful and protective of you're repairs you want them to last and not have to go for repair surgery again if it can be avoided. It's the rest of your life and resting for a few months is nothing compared to the rest of your life.
Take care ladies,
Phyl x💖
Sorry about predictive text!
Thank you Phyl for your reassurance. You've obviously been through it all & glad you're on the better side of it now! I just expected to be feeling better & stronger with each week that passes. It is a very slow healing process! Thanks for spending time on replying to me/us. Janet x
Please be sure and eat nutritious foods. Taking Vitamin C 1000mg and Zinc 100mg a day helps healing too
The trouble is Janet that on the outside we look normal, all our healing is going on inside. If we had our leg in a plaster cast everyone would be sympathetic & understand that it will take weeks to heal fully. I truly hadn't realised just how major this surgery was, nor how long the recovery was going to take. My surgeon certainly never told me & I was discharged from hospital after 2 days with an A4 sheet of basic dos & donts for 6 weeks, which made it look as if some miracle was going go happen at that point! The ladies on here have made it quite clear that that is not the case! I think we're just going to have to be more patient & do as advised - keep resting! (Boring!!) By the way, well done for going out to lunch -that's more than I've done yet, though toying with suggesting it to hubby tomorrow, but only down the road to our local pub - armed with my coccyx cushion!! Take care Janet. x
Many thanks for that advice. I do eat a healthy diet, but maybe I'll start my multi vitamins a bit earlier this year, I usually start in October.I'm willing to try anything to speed up recovery!
Hi Phyl
Have you seen anyone about the scar tissue?
I have the same problem I think - the ball of knotted stitches has gone into a hard lump size of a pea right in the entrance and it's driving me mad!!
I have appt with consultant in November so hoping they can do something about it! X
Ps apart from this annoying bobble I'm doing ok 14 weeks post op !
Hi Happy noon,
Yes I saw my GP and she prescribed estriol topical cream which you get with applicator to insert every night for 2 weeks then twice a week for 3 months and then whenever required thereafter.
It has thickened up the internal walls and given me some relief, but still have to watch I'm not overdoing being on my feet too long as the constant stretching between legs causes inflammation and nippyness. It's the same swimming have got to limit the kick and stretch when doing breaststroke.
Feels like it has been drawn too tight, anyway GP said to specifically target the troublesome areas of scar tissue with the cream. They use to say to stop using the cream for a month after using for 3 months; I done this over 6 to 9 months and was much better so I thought I would get away with not needing it at all but after 3 months scar tissue was really bad again so restarted again.
Hope this helps,
Phyl x