Getting Surgery for Prolapsed Bladder

I am 63 now. I had a vaginal hyst when I was 35. It was the best day of the rest of my life. No more cramps and bleeding! I had a good helper at home. At the time, the kids were 9,5,3, and 21/2. I never had much pain, but I was not cut, through the abd wall, so no muscles to heal. I was not to lift for several weeks. I don't know anything about the sling. However, if it keeps you from dripping, it will be wonderful. How extensively have you spoken with the doc? Is this something he does routinely? Does he always have success? Can you speak with some of his prior patients? Good luck.

Hi C.,
I'm 44 and had this surgery 2 years ago. Although I didn't have the sling, I had the bladder tack which is WONDERFUL! I only had one child (23 years ago) but I'm overweight so I'm sure that didn't help. Not having to wear a pad or panty liner for leakage, even when I cough, is great. And not having a period with the mess and pain, well...having the hysterectomy was the best thing I'd ever done.
I had my ovaries removed as well since the hormones were what was causing me to have migraines.
I won't lie, I did hurt, and I bled for a month (vaginally) but I had my surgery laproscopically and they removed everything vaginally. I had one small incision at my navel that took awhile to heal. (again, i think my weight was the problem as it would pull apart).
But I would have it over again if I knew it would be this nice.
I was out of work 6 weeks (and I had a desk job) I think I had a wonderful doctor though (in Pueblo, CO). And I'm not taking any hormones at this time. I used some herbal remedies (one AM/PM formula) that I'll give you info on if you want it.
I think you should do just fine. I'm a whimp when it comes to pain and it wasn't untolerable. Motrin became my friend. :)
But I was tired the entire 6 weeks, so get your rest and take any help that is offered to you. (I didn't have any kids at home (step or otherwise) when I had my surgery and my husband was a big help.
I hope this helps.
K.

Hi C.: I had bladder surgery like you many years ago. Of course, every person is different and responds to pain on different levels. It's not a walk in the park, but if you have had your children naturally, you will deal well with it. My suggestion is not to be afraid to ask for pain meds if you are in that degree of pain - it's only for a short time and will help you heal better. My other suggestion is to do whatever your doctor recommends as part of the healing process. After you are on your feet, don't forget to exercise. The stomach muscles are extremely important in keeping your bladder in place, especially after the surgery. I wish you much luck - you will be fine.

Hi, I am S.. I had a complete hysterectomy in 2000. They had to tack up my bladder and I have not had any complications from it at all. That has been 8 years ago and no problems. They have sutured mine and attached it to my hipbones...... When they did mine, I was cut from hipbone to hipbone. 72 stitches..... and let me tell you this, I was in so much pain before, that 2 days after I came home, I cleaned my front porch furniture with sos pad and water hose.... but the pain from surgery was nothing compared to what I felt for 2 years before..... Hope it all goes good for you....

I have not had this procedure done but if you went through natural child birth four times I do not see how this procedure could be more painful than that.

Honey............if you can have four kids all natural, you can endure most anything!!

I had a hysterectomy and too k a long time to recover. I also had the sling put in and it did not heal properly and I had to have it removed. It really works and I want to try again. The hysterectomy was the best thing that ever happened to me healthwise. My health improved and my back never hurt anymore. My blood was stronger, no menstrual cycles. My intimate life improved due to no worry of pregnancy and I was able to go to work standing on my feet more. You have m ade a good health decision.It will take about three months to be back to normal, but I doubt you'll regret the decision. There is some pain, but it is bearable and the Dr.'s are senstive to your needs there. Will remember you in prayers.
I am 51 , raised 5 children, and have 9 grandchildren.

i have not had this procedure, but i did work in a nursing unit that treaded many of these and similar surgeries. most people seem to feel that it is like recovering from a c-section. a very sore belly, and some sharper pains when rising from a sitting or lying position. with the bladder tack, you will probably have some bladder numbness, so you may feel like you always have to pee, or that you never have to pee, even when you are full. make sure you try to pee every two hours or so after they remove your catheter. most people stay in our hospital about three days after this, and go home with the soreness, but not the sharper pains. all i can recommend is that you take the meds offered you when they are offered, don't wait for the pain to get bad first. it is much harder to control bad pain than prevent it. good luck.

I had a similar surgery nearly two years ago. It was minimally invasive, I took one days worth of pain meds and then set them aside. I was out of work for five days. I schedule it so that two of those days fell on a weekend, despite the doctor advising seven (I worked at an assembly plant at the time, was on my feet all the time, working with heavy items). The first few days there was mild/moderate discomfort and I had to sit down very gingerly. Laying on my tummy was impossible. When I returned to work, I could not pressure at all on my midsection without some mild twinges.

I had perfect results for 6-9 months and then began having occasional issues again. I elected to go to physiotherapy (?) for six weeks to learn how to correctly do exercises to strengthen the pelvic floor. I took Detrol up until about a month ago (on and off) because I still had urgency issues and had 'trained' my bladder to go frequently, as a preemptive strike of sorts, prior to the surgery.

All in all, the surgery went beautifully, was very quick and nearly painless. It wasn't a perfect fix for me but it was a huge help. I'm sure you'll do great!

I'm editing this to add that my doctor and surgical team was wonderful. The procedure was done outpatient, from the time of anesthesia and going under, the actual surgery was only 45 minutes. I stayed in recovery for two hours after that and then went home.

I was 42 when I had a hysterectomy and sling in August 2007. Do NOT go to the hospital in Louisburg. Everything that could go wrong did.

Everyone I had talked to before my surgery had said very similar things as the other responses - it was bearable, the pain was tolerable, they loved the results. Don't let my story scare you - just make sure you have someone intelligent looking over everyone's shoulders.

1st - make sure you have NO latex allergies. It was written all over my charts that I was latex intollerant. The standard catheter is latex. The only person who paid any attention was the surgeon. So, the first day out of surgery, they took the non latex catheter out - and replaced it with a latex one. Not once - but FOUR times!!!

2nd - I left the hospital with a bacterial AND viral infection.

3rd - the drugs they gave made me horribly horribly constipated.

4th - you will probably need something for hot flashes and depression. Do NOT let them prescribe Lexapro. It makes you gain weight!! Now why would any doctor who is trying to alleviate depression give a woman something that is going to make her gain weight??? Like being fat isn't going to depress me further!!?

I am sure I am the exception to the rule - just hope your husband/family/friends are more on top of things than mine were.

Good Luck
H.

C.....i had the procedure done a few yrs ago. It is a big procedure and you will have some pain. They usually give you an epidural and may have you on a pain pump after surgery. I also had what is called a superpubic cathater inserted. This is to drain your bladder and it is clamped for so many hrs. To help relieve the stress on the bladder for a few days. I went home with this. They have you clamp it off and then drain it when you feel full. You increase the time of clamping as the days go on. Your dr. Has probably talked to you about this. I have a strong pain tol. And was uncomfortable but it didn't feel like pain ...i asked the dr. And he suggested i take some pain meds...boy, did that help. I didn't have a pain pump. Make sure you have a doughnut pillow to sit on. I spent most of my time on one hip or the other. Make sure you have some help, esp. Since you have a little one. I certainly feel better after having the surgery. Good luck to all of you.

I had both done at the same time and vaginal repair and the surgery was not hard to recover from but did take all of 6 weeks. I obeyed the doc and stayed in bed etc. and it was a good recovery. I also had all my 4 kids naturally and the last at home with a mid wife. Never drugs so I think you may be like me and get thru it with minimal pain.

Must be a new procedure, I've never heard of it. I know when I had my hysterectomy, he also tied my bladder up, did something with a hernia and repaired a tear in my rectum. When I woke up I asked if I had stitches and he laughed and said you have stitches where no one can see them. I was pretty medicated and it did hurt. I told one nurse that it felt like I needed to pee..all she said was it was my packing..I really got to hurting later on and thank God for the next shift nurse...she reached under my gown and said I don't understand why they tape these catheters to the leg, untaped it and I filled a whole bag up...what a relief..the doctor was upset when he came by the next morning..he said I just tied your bladder up, you didn't need that..I got to go home after like 3 days...which I then had a bladder infection..which he prescribed an antibiotic, but then my daughter came down with chicken pox..and my step mother wanted my husband to come get my younger son...and all I could say was Daddy...I've just had surgery, I've got a bladder infection, my husband is leaving out for his job on the road in two days, his Mom is leaving the same day, my daughter has the chicken pox, if my son comes home now, he'll also get chicken pox...I can't pick him up, or anything...but she insited that he come get him...so he came down with it too..and here I was all alone...I had a terrible time...but I lived thru it and well, I can say met a new neighbor which helped me tremendously with giving my son a bath and etc. because I couldn't pick him up and my little 4 yr. old daughter finally came around with helping Mom out too...but I was really mad at that doctor because I was 38, didn't want any more kids and wanted my ovaries out too. My Mom died with ovarian cancer but he wouldn't do it...said I needed my hormones..went thru the hot flashes anyway...he wouldn't give me anything for them either...I finally got my M.D. to give me something...which helped for awhile...then I went to a less stronger hormone pill, it was a little red pill, which I found out I was allergic to the red in the pill which broke my face out with zits like I was a teenager...lol..finally got the smaller dosage and it was a white pill(Cenestin)..then I just finally quit taking them altogether...it wasn't the easiest surgery due to everything else he had done but I'd have it over any day compared to a torn rotator cup surgery...now that's the one from ----! That's the worst surgery I've EVER had and hope to never have again! I guess what scared me the most was not knowing if he was going to cut me or do it vaginally and he said he couldn't tell me until he got in there...but luckily, I had it done vaginally. but good luck and maybe this new procedure is better than just getting tied up. Probably be my luck I'll have to have it later on too...L.Watson