How do you know if you have a fistula?

Tomorrow will be 8 weeks since my TAH. I was supposed to have a bladder sling but was not able to due to a couple of holes in my bladder. I had a catheter for 2 weeks post op. I have been doing fairly well. I have had to wear a panty liner because of a little urinary leakage.

Last Tuesday night I wet myself in my sleep. I woke up immediately. Thank goodness the bed did not get wet. Just a little while ago I realized I had wet myself again. Since last week I have been wearing a long thin pad just in case. This did not help tonight. I am now wearing an overnight pad.

Could this be a fistula? I have felt leakage lately, but I can not tell if it is from the urethra or the vagina. They are just so close together.

I will call my doctor tomorrow, but will not be able to see him before Tuesday most likely because Monday is his scheduled surgery date. I am really upset about this. I am a teacher and school just started last week. I really don't want to miss work due to problems right now.

So sorry you're having issues Have you research this site or visited the bladder & pelvic floor forum? What you are describing can be a fistula. Would you explain when you said you were unable to get a bladder sling because you had holes in your bladder? Where did the holes come from? Who has been following the healing process? What tests have you had? I'm assuming presurgical you had stress incontinence. Do you still have SI?
My humble advice is to make an appointment to followup with your surgeon but also start to research and find a doctor who specializes in fistula repair. The proper diagnosis is crucial to treatment. Successful treatment is shown to be directly related to prior experience. Look for a urogyn or urologist that has a large female patient population. Good luck and hang in there. You're not alone.

Hi (((homelight2001)))

I would definitely suggest calling your doctor. They may recommend something you can do at home to test and see if you are leaking from your vagina. Then you will at least know and can move forward from there. Hope you get an answer very soon!

Homelight I had a vaginal fistula. My appeared at 3 weeks post op!!! I started having leaking that became worse(was wearing depends & Pads) I know you can do a tampon & azo test(over counter UTI med turns urine bright orange) and see if any is on tamponcheck with DR because you just had surgery and may not need to be sticking anything up vagina. The only way to really know is seeing doctor. But it could just be the holes from bladder coming from uretha? How was your hyster done vag/lap/adom? Do you have a cath in? Hope for great news for you Prayers for you!!!

So sorry to hear what you are going through. I had complications one week after my surgery. I developed a seroma on the vaginal cuff and had alot of watery vaginal discharge. My physician did check me for a fistula too though because the discharge was urine colored. She put a catheter in my bladder, injected blue dye into it until my bladder was full, then put in a tampon. I had to walk around for about 15 minutes, then empty my bladder. Then she took out the tampon and checked to see if any of the blue dye was on it. Not sure if thats the typical test for a fistula, but that was my experience. Hope you get better soon.

Great news! No fistula! I do have to have the bladder sling done asap though.

Well, at least that's one less thing. Please keep us updated if you can!