1st urogyno. apt- NERVOUS and excited! Need advice!!

Tomorrow I am scheduled to see the top urogyno surgeon in my area, thankfully I was offered someone elses cancelled apt (yay!) but I'm feeling a little worried about bladder issues and tests- I keep reading such horror stories! Any advice PLEASE, what was your first urology apt like?? thanks

My first appt. I met with the nurse practitioner. She did a very thorough pelvic exam, but was very nice and professional and spent a lot of time answering my questions. I was probably with her over an hour - only part of that time was the exam. Most of the time was talking, and explaining various options, etc. The second visit I had urodynamics testing, and the third visit met with the urogyn who would do the surgery. She also did a pelvic exam. None of my visits was bad at all, in contrast to some of the stories I've read on here. I feel very lucky in my choice of doctors. Take your list of questions with you. I'm sure all doctors are different in how they approach their appointments. I don't know if you'll get urodynamics testing tomorrow - I would think they need another appointment for that. Good luck - it will be fine, and this is your first step on getting things fixed.

At my 1st urology appt. he did a pelvic exam and then we discussed my options. At the next appt. I had urodynamics testing which wasn't bad, just kind of weird. The next appt. was a discussion about the surgery. He drew diagrams, and assured me that he does these surgeries all the time. He works with my gynecologist for her patients with cystoceles. The two of them are tops in their field any do many, many successful surgeries which put me at ease.
One thing that I did that helped me was I brought a notepad with all of my questions which I asked and recorded the answers. I sometimes get so nervous that I forget what to ask, and what they said.
You did your research and found the top urogyno in the area which hopefully gives you some peace of mind. You'll do fine tomorrow.
Let us know how it goes.

Thanks ladies
I called the office looking for a gyno consult and when I started ranting about being sick of my symptoms to the receptionist she said "oh honey, if you're leaking pee you need to see the urogynocologist, I'll put you on list and call if he has opening"...it pays to rant to whomever will listen-she got me in three days later!! does everyone automatically get a urodynamics test? I'm hoping I get a thorough exam.

My dr. said that the urodynamics test helps tell them whether your problem is stress, urge or mixed incontinence, and then they know what type of sling is most appropriate. My test wasn't bad - a little uncomfortable, but not terrible. My nurse was very matter-of-fact about the whole business - guess she does this all the time! She wasn't mean - others on this board have had much worse experiences, it appears. Mine did explain everything before she did it, which helps a lot. Don't worry about it - it will be OK! Be sure to write down all your questions - it's easy to forget things during the exam.

My first urology appointment (Sept 23rd) was also with a nurse practitioner. She did a pelvic exam with a weighted speculum and asked me to cough several times. Then she told me I had a fallen bladder. I asked if that was a cystocele and she said yes. She said it wasn't the largest cystocele she'd ever seen but it was large. She then left the room to talk to the urologist. Then the nurse came back in and did an ultrasound of my bladder to see if I was retaining urine. That test was positive. Then the NP came back in and told me that the Dr. had said he would be able to repair the cystocele during my hysterectomy.

She then told me I'd need the urodynamics testing (had it done yesterday and that's a whole other post in and of itself) and the cystoscopy (scheduled for Oct. 28). I asked her what procedure would be done to repair the cystocele and she said something that sounded like Interior Repair. She had a very strong foreign accent and it was hard to understand, but I know now that what she said was Anterior Repair. She also said something vague and unclear about mesh being used as part of the procedure. I felt like I was having to drag information out piece by piece because it wasn't being volunteered.

After that I made the appointments for the tests and I went home. I tried to ask questions but was told "you'll have to discuss that with Dr. X at your cystoscopy appt". Being unclear about the "mesh" question I googled it. Has anyone else ever googled "transvaginal mesh"? The results are really frightening. Google came back with at least 2 pages worth of lawyers handling lawsuits because of horrific complications from transvaginal mesh. Add that to the horror stories you can read here and I've been freaking out about this bladder repair for almost a month. I've seen a few success stories about bladder repair here but I don't understand enough about what my treatment will be to know if those success stories even apply to me. From what little information I've been able to find for myself, almost no procedures involving this transvaginal mesh turns out well and when it goes wrong it goes horribly, catastrophically WRONG!

But am I having this awful transvaginal mesh to close/reinforce the cystocele? Or will I have one of the mesh/tape urethral slings? Or are they the same thing? I have no idea. I have a million questions and concerns and fears. I tried to ask questions of the urology staff when I went in for the urodyn testing but the only answer I get is "you'll have to wait and talk to the urologist about that". His staff get about a half-a-star for communications. But my surgeon's office swears by him. Apparently this guy and my surgeon do these two procedures together on a regular basis and my surgeons office says he's the best. Best at what I'm not sure. I feel like I'm locked into having this particular urologist do my cystocele repair.

So I'm still freaking out about the possibility of bladder repair doing more harm than good. But I'm trying to relax and just wait until my appt with the actual urologist next Thursday. My husband is going with me for the cystoscopy.

Hi Phenyx,
My anterior and posterior repair will be done using a biological dermis graft, not mesh. The graft forms a matrix with your own skin to strengthen the tissue. My uro and gyn both report excellent results with it without the erosion problem sometimes seen in with the mesh.
The urethral sling is a separate procedure. It is done with a thin ribbon of mesh.
Good luck on your upcoming cystocopy. I haven't had that test. After your last appt., it's good that you asked for sedation.