Recovery story - positive -ish! 😀

[nh_user_1065470]

Evening ladies (gents if you are looking on behalf of your other halves) 

I thought I’d write a little update as you don’t seem to get too many positive experiences compared to the negative so bare with me and here goes.....

I was advised in dec 2016 that I would need surgery for a posterior repair due to child birth issues some years before( my 3rd degree tear repair work hadn’t held as well as it should) ..roll forward to June 2017 and I’m walking into theatre to meet my consultant Mr Slack who stayed “remember for the 1st 6 weeks you might hate me , but after that you’ll think I’m great” 😂..

So off I go into the land of nod to wake up rather sore and out of it (I’m not good with anaesthetic!) ..turns out I’m not good with catheters either as it was that making me so sore rather than the surgery,  was uncomfortable the first night (catheter ) so once removed I felt a lot better ! 

Was released from hospital the next day ( I don’t recommend this if you can get away with an extra day or 2 take them no matter how bored you are) with NO pain relief - and advised to take nurofen or paracetamol when needed .. I wasn’t able to walk ou , my hubby had to wheel me and I could t sit down in the car due to the stitches pulling a bit . Anyhow we made it home and I settled into bed ... I was fine for a couple of days ...then bam I needed to lay flat because I was in pain ! I then got trapped wind in my chest which was worse than the pain down below!!! - I attempted the best I could to combine  nurofen / paracetamol .. on top of that peppermint tea for the trapped wind didn’t really eat because I couldn’t get comfortable...so consequently the following day was shaking with low sugar and crying in pain ..my poor hubby called the hospital who advised to call the doctors - who advised to call the hospital 😩🤦‍♀️.. so he decided enough was enough and literally carried me to the van with my hair like a birds nest , 3 day old nightie, surgical socks and slippers and grubby old dressing gown on (the shame) laying me on the seats at the back with a pillow on a henry hoover for my head (feel free to laugh,I do now) and whisked me off to hospital with my panic struck mum in tow who said “you look bloody awful”(cheers mum 😂👍. Get to the hospital carried in as no wheelchairs available and went to the emergency Gyne unit .. looked at by a lovely doctor whilst I sobbed about feeling so unwell ... pain relief and a bacon panini later feeling more human and armed with co-codamol I’m sent on my way ..back to mums to wash my birds nest hair and dry it nicely for me ! (❤️).

That was possibly the worst few days that I can ever remember!! .. but moving on - as the weeks went by I improved and improved biggest problem was swelling but a nurofen soon sorted that out and by 3months (deffo not 6 weeks) I was starting to feel much better !  I took nealy 5 months off work .. I needed it , I didn’t do any lifting for 6 weeks pretty much rested and did some small walks up my road and back .   At about 8 months I was back to my normal routine for including riding my horse  im not running anymore and not hoovering .. still had the odd swollen day but nothing major - had a check up as I was still a bit uncomfortable and it turns out scar tissue had formed where they had tied the knots so fast forward to last week and I’ve just been back in for that to be removed by laser .    

Although it seems a bit of a miserable post ...my consultant was correct , the first 6 weeks aren’t nice , I’m not going to lie , but yes I’m pleased I had it done, it’s improved my bladder/bowel problems that I have suffered with since having my son ..I don’t have to wee every 10mins or feel I haven’t weed enough  and I can now go the other side once a day without pain hoooorah!!!😀👍.   Tip of the day - don’t let the hospital fob you off with over the counter paracetamol and nurofen  and make sure you are ready to go home from hospital , I wasn’t and didn’t listen to myself! 

Anyhow , I’m improving day on day from this latest surgery, still swollen and I’m sure I will be for a bit longer but it’s nothing like what it was before ! 

Sorry for waffling on ! 

😀❤️😀

[nh_user_928615]

Hi 

     It's good to hear that you are moving forward and able to get on with your life; must admit I was a bit shocked and worried about you returning to horse riding as I would have thought that the bouncing motion similar to trampolining would be a definit no no. Please be very careful as you do not want to undo your successful surgery in the long run. 

                  You are so right about the longer term recovery needed to give these repair surgeries proper healing time and the chance to be successful; makes me wonder who is paying who to insist that we can recover in 6-8 weeks, I don't know any women (especially menopausal women) who have recovered in 6-8 weeks and had a long term successful outcome x 

                     Hope you continue to recover and are stronger in the longer term x💕👍

[nh_user_1065470]

Hi Phyl 

I’m sticking to gentle hacking these days around the Kent countryside - consultant said that is fine and actually helps strengthen pelvic floor!  No competing for me anymore!! 

Given up running and anything high impact ... taken up cycling (on the flat) to try and shift the huge amount of weight I’ve gained since the op because being overweight is not good either! 😀

[nh_user_928615]

I did try cycling for a while, was fine after first repair and am sure it helped but after 2nd surgery found it really uncomfortable due to scar tissue and even a little wind was too much resistance and could feel pelvic floor straining and instead of strengthening things I could feel the walls sagging. It really is like walking a tight rope trying to balance what is enough but not too much . 

        Let us know how you get on with the cycling x

[nh_user_1181087]

Hi

I am 5 months post op for vaginal hysterectomy and bladder and bowel repair.  Totally agree that recovery is a lot longer than expected.  I had to take 17 weeks off work and am glad that I did. My only remaining issue is swelling after driving or walking for long periods which I was getting concerned about but from your post sounds like this is quite normal. So that is a relief. 

My life prior to the op was not great.  I had constant pain, couldn’t walk far and was unable to drive or even sit in the car for too long.  Recovery has taken much longer than I expected but I am so glad I had the op.  I finally have my life back just am more aware of how what I do impacts my pelvic floor.   Agree with you it worth it in the end!! 

Take care ❤️