Morning ladies. I am now at week five, post rectocele op. Can any of you tell me when this awful discharge might stop? I have a constant dull ache in my abdomen and feel very bloated. Still bleed if I strain to go to the loo or blow my nose too hard! Am due to start working at home this week as my job is a sit down job but I will be on reduced hours so that I can walk around or take a rest. I am even wondering why I bothered with this op. 
At 5 weeks Ann I think you should really still be taking it steady, I had some discharge for about 8 weeks, though if you're concerned I would definitely go back and talk to your Dr. You say you work from home, if you use a laptop, can you work on your lap on the bed maybe? I think the op is definitely worthwhile, but we all have to be careful and patient and not try to run before we can walk. At 3 weeks I risked a gentle stroll round my garden and ended up in serious agony with a slight bleed. 3 months post op and still being very careful as I certainly don't want to go through the op again. Good luck and rest up! Gill
Thanks Gill. I think I might check with my doctor. My hospital follow up is not until the end of May !!! I wonder if I have overdone things out of sheer frustration. My brain is also dying!!!!
Hi Ann, Gill is right. I had a discharge for about 8 weeks after my rectocele op. I made some notes on how I was feeling at the time (bored and looking for something to do) and at 5 weeks I noted that I was extremely tired, had a dragging, uncomfortable sensation when walking any distance, ditto pelvic floor exs, so basically just wandered round the house and garden, putting my feet up as much as possible. I rediscovered reading, knitting, box sets and online learning.
By 3 months I felt much better and everything was well at a follow-up appt. Consultant very pleased with his work, and so was I.
At 5 months I started looking after my one year old grandchild 2 days a week ~ impossible not to lift her or the buggy etc, and I could feel the pull and accompanying ache. After a long wait I started seeing a gynae physio. My posterior repair has held. My point is, be patient, it is worth it, but I would say it was 8 months before I felt completely myself again. Actually, not myself, much better than before. No constipation, bulging, back ache or bladder problems. The op tightens the vagina, so sex is better too.
Working from home will help, but you will be extra tired. Just remind yourself that the more rest you can get now, the better the outcome you will have.
Hi
I am only 12 days post op but have read quite alot of previous posts now and I definately think even week 5 is still very early days and for me the op is def going to be worth it as rectocele was interfering too much with my sex life and BM too.
Thanks Moira. I guess I am just impatient and want go get back to normal !!
Ann: I would call your dr if I were you, when is your follow up visit. Did you have your surgery thru vagina or rectum? I had mine thru rectum. My surgery was almost 3 weeks ago and I havent had bleeding in last two. One thing the notes from hospital said was to let them know if you have excessive bleeding. notify them. Im thinking most had the surgery thru vagina because i have no discharge or bleeding.
Moira so I WILL be allowed to lift my grandchildren again?! That has probably been one of the hardest part for me, and the thought that it might have to always be that way was just too much!
Im five weeks also and still have discharge/slight bleeding. Its inconvenient but honestly if I kept it forever ( but won't, it will stop!) its way better than the problems I had before surgery! Hang in there I'm told its still early.
Sorry that should have been directed to OP Ann.
4 weeks post op and for me it comes and goes. But when I get busy, bending or walking too far, it hurts, pulls down there and the discharge increases immediately and it's heavy. It's almost as if my vagina is showing it's displeasure, sulking even! I laid up and it all stopped again.
Frustration has no place when healing is happening. I reckon that's why we're called *patients*.
Our bodies are making us aware of our own inability to just sit the hell down and wait, not very 21st century thinking is it? Busy busy busy... But it's vital.
The op is very worth it, just hang in there baby!
Im with you, this is why I had the surgery, moreso the sex life, the other problems with BMs was an annoyance at the most, the sex life needs to continue.
Thank you. X
I asked the consultant about lifting the toddler, and his reply was, 'You had to operation to get a normal life back, so go out and do normal things'. He saw no problem with managing toddler, buggy, high chair, car seat etc, but warned against moving heavy furniture, lifting bags of compost ever again.
Having said that, 5 months was too soon to be managing a 1 year old. I definitely felt the pull, which I don't now at 11 months post op. The posterior repair did survive that and the coughing from chest infections, so I was lucky. As she gets older (now 21 months) she is heavier, but I'm promoting independence as much as possible. She can walk further so less lifting in and out of the buggy, and she can clamber pretty well into the car seat. Enjoy your grandchildren!
Following on from yesterday, I was going into work for a few hours today as I felt very positive and fairly well. Had a rubbish night and have stomachs ache today. Am also feeling very weepy. Guess it's a bit of an emotional roller coaster too. Any of you ladies get these mixed emotions?? Not going to work after all.
I'm sorry, but you're asking too much of yourself. When my prolapse was discovered at a routine smear test, the doctor said this would mean a major operation and 12 weeks off work. I put the op off till I retired as I didn't want to be off work for so long, and I'm glad I did.
I don't know if hormones come into it, but you definitely get a bit up and down. As well as the physical pains you have to deal with the enforced rest, when you're used to being busy; the annoyance when the person helping doesn't do what you want when you want or how you want, and you can't say anything without sounding ungrateful; the anxiety about your ongoing aches, pains and discharges; the worry about the repair from reading about all the things that people have had go wrong (people who have sailed through tend not to join these forums, so you don't hear the success stories); the sheer exhaustion (healing uses energy).
Be good to yourself ~ just accept you're off the treadmill for a while. As you can work from home, can you do an hour on a good day, or does it have to be planned in advance? Most employers should accept that major surgery takes time for recovery, and this is a very personal surgery
Thank you !oir? I think you Rep right. Unfortinately I did not realise how I would feel and when I was told 6 weeks I thought I would be feeling so much better. It's a bit of a roller coaster physically and emotionally. It's hard to slow down but ultimately it's the best thing to do.
sorry, meant Moira!!
Yes! Spent all of Friday crying.
Realised it's again because I did too much
Since when did R&R (rest and recuperation, not rock and roll hahahaha) mean that we had to apologise for that?
I remember spending time after an op (in the 80's) being waited on and enforced, nay nagged, to sit down in a proper convalescence home. The
nurses in that home were very serious about recuperation and thankfullyour local physio is too. The result was that I recovered fully and went
back to work in the way I needed to; in good health with no complications ; I was in public services then so had be signed off as fit for duty.
However, there was a woman who I made friends with who had the same type of gynae op who insisted that she *just couldn't expect others to do a good job* and she ended up back in, with major complications.
So, to combat that thinking where I'm watching for cobwebs etc I've used my brain for more creative pursuits; I've just crocheted 300 flowers for a local charity to sell and I'm looking at learning new ones to make.
I'm not nagging here, but for someone with a constant *go button* - to save my sanity I've had to look elsewhere for enjoyment or I would surely
explode.
Worry hinders healing as our brain chemicals are using the fight and flight ones that just keep us alive, rather than thrive. So housework is far
down on our list of priorities, and if you can't write love in your dust then you're not enjoying your life xxxx big love