Ladies-Any prolapse repair success stories?

[Tinijocaro]

Four big babies have done a number on my body and *things* are prolapsing. Everything that can prolapse, has.

Among other things, I will be having a hysterectomy in early May. I have been on the Hyser-sister site reading up on things and all I see are stories of prolapse repairs gone wrong. I really need to hear from people who have had it done and feel it was worth it and that the repairs held up. I'm just a little scared about the outcome.

 

[Heluvsme]

My mother in law had the same surgery.....hysterectomy plus prolapse repair, about 13 years ago, and she's not had any problems or complaints. Her recovery was fairly typical, no serious complications or anything out of the norm, and still today it's a success and she's doing great! She had to lay flat, or mostly flat, for several days. Even sitting wasn't allowed for approximately 4-5 days.

Good luck, follow the doctors recommendations (which I think is key in prolapse repair, so as to not allow gravity to undo the surgeon's work) and you should be fine.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm having this same surgery in May as well. I've been told about 30% of women have to have it done again at some point in time. A big factor is your age when you have it done the first time. I'm fairly young to have it done so my surgeon has warned me that I may have to have it again at some point. Another factor is how well you follow instructions after surgery/recovery. I've been told if I want to not have the stitches pop at any point in time in the future I have to modify or don't do some things like shoveling snow (we live in NE), any heavy lifting, etc. In other words, anything that might strain the stitches.

 

[yoopermom]

I only had a hysterectomy, not the repair, but I would reiterate that you MUST follow the recovery directions to the letter, and listen to your body. Family canNOT come first, make sure that spouse and kids understand that you are going to need however many weeks your doctor says (in my case six) to concentrate on nothing but making the best recovery possible. If you try to be Superwoman/mom/wife, and "push through" the pain, or lift, or stay on your feet when the exhaustion hits, you will do nothing but prolong your recovery and possibly undo the good that your doctor has done. If you can arrange extra help (my DM came and stayed two weeks), that's for the best.

It was the BEST thing I ever had done, but I was also "scared straight" when it came to proper recovery, as you can tell!

Terri

 

[Tinijocaro]

I'm having this same surgery in May as well. I've been told about 30% of women have to have it done again at some point in time. A big factor is your age when you have it done the first time. I'm fairly young to have it done so my surgeon has warned me that I may have to have it again at some point. Another factor is how well you follow instructions after surgery/recovery. I've been told if I want to not have the stitches pop at any point in time in the future I have to modify or don't do some things like shoveling snow (we live in NE), any heavy lifting, etc. In other words, anything that might strain the stitches.

I don't have my date set yet but I have one more urologist appt on March 25. Then we schedule from there-I have a concert with my students May 4th so I'm shooting for right after that. Is your surgery being done by a gynecologist, a urogynecologist, and/or a urologist? I was told I need a urologist to take care of the bladder and I read that you should never have a regular gynecologist do the rest-it should be a urogynecologist. Did you get a second opinion? I'm 51 so hopefully this will be the only time this needs to be done, cause I'll be too old to deal with this type of recovery if it happens again.

 

[Darcy03231]

I don't have my date set yet but I have one more urologist appt on March 25. Then we schedule from there-I have a concert with my students May 4th so I'm shooting for right after that. Is your surgery being done by a gynecologist, a urogynecologist, and/or a urologist? I was told I need a urologist to take care of the bladder and I read that you should never have a regular gynecologist do the rest-it should be a urogynecologist. Did you get a second opinion? I'm 51 so hopefully this will be the only time this needs to be done, cause I'll be too old to deal with this type of recovery if it happens again.

I'm scheduled for May 23rd and I'm 54. Both the urologist and the gynecologist have told me that I'm young for this surgery. My surgery is being done by a surgical gynecologist who specializes in pre, peri and post-menopausal women. She doesn't do any obstetrics. I've been with her for about 7 years and love her! I've also been to see my urologist. I had the urodynamic study done and don't need a bladder sling, so my surgery doesn't need to be done in conjunction with a urologist. If I needed the sling the gyn would have done her part of the surgery and then the urologist would have done his part after she was done. Make sure you really need the sling (purpose of the urodynamic study). My urologist told me that if he did the sling and I really didn't need it, I could have a problem with urinary retention and I'd have to learn to self-catheterize. I've decided to just take care of the uterine prolapse part now. If down the road I need a sling I'll do it as a separate surgery. The bladder sling surgery is much more minor than the prolapse surgery. Recovery time is about a week for that vs. 6 weeks for the prolapse surgery.

I didn't get a 2nd opinion. I've been examined by both the gyn and urologist and they both have told me the same thing. I love and trust my gyn so I didn't see the need for a 2nd opinion. In fact, I was scheduled to have a hysterectomy 2 years ago, but due to her schedule and mine it was scheduled pretty far out. She had me try conservative treatment in the meantime, which ended up working. She prefers not to do surgery if it can be avoided and would rather try other things first, so if she says I need surgery, then I trust her judgment.

 

[disneyseniors]

Had a total prolapse repair; major surgery; That was 2 years ago and have not had a problem since then.
I would not worry about it. It is needed and are mostly successful. People love to tell about their "failed" surgeries and all their problems.
I would not hesitate again. I did lose 20#'s so far, as I was overweight and didn't want the added weight pressure on my abdominal area.
I was 64 when I had the surgery. Hope this helps.