what to expect with tvh, a&p, bladder sling

I am scheduled for a tvh, a & p repair, bladder sling for thursday morning at 7:30 a.m. I am getting very nervous and anxious. I do not know what to expect. I was told hopefully I could go home the next day, if all goes well. What should I take to the hopsital? I assume just an overnight bag, My urologist told me no driving or riding for 4 weeks, this seemed excessive, I thought gyno said 2 weeks but what do I know. Also I have to come home with the cathater for about a week. That will be a new experience. I was told the rectocele is large and they will need to graph cadaver tissue in to fix it, anyone had this? My bowel prep is two day liquid diet, milk of magnesia (yuk) and possible enema if needed the night before. I hope the liquid diet clears things out! Any advise or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated, I am a nervous wreck and know no one who has had all this done.

Hello bg325,

I've had it 'all' done too - TVH, a&p repair (with mesh) and TVT bladder sling on 15th Sep, so I'm nearly 6 weeks post op.
Firstly I want to say that it is normal to feel anxious and nervous. Your surgery will be a BIG deal, and it WILL take some time to recover. 4 weeks is definitely NOT excessive recovery time for what you're going to have done. In fact, I'm in my 5th week currently and I am definitely NOT near a state of recovery that I would consider myself all better and just waiting to build stamina.
I'm still on regular pain meds, still sore (not crippling or anything, but sore never the less), still fatigued easily, have good and bad moments, still struggling with constipation (not a good thing on the posterior repair), still have significant discharge and still can't predict from one day to the next if I'll be feeling ok so planning to do anything has been difficult. My doctor had extended my return date to work to 8 weeks, and now even further to 11 weeks, to make sure I'm all healed up. (but I do have a very physically and mentally demanding job)

As for the pre-op I didn't have to do the bowel prep, but I'm sure someone will come to offer advice/experience on that.
I didn't have any cadaver tissue to fix the rectocele but had mesh instead.
I stayed in the castle for 4 days, I have no idea how you'll be going home the next day, it boggles me frankly.
I had a PCA with morphine for 48hrs and I NEEDED it. I had a catheter for day & half, then I had to prove that my water works were working ok. For a couple of days I had no sensation of starting a pee, I would sit on the toilet and try and "will" for it to come and it would eventually, but I had no control of starting or stopping it. It was a little frightening thinking that's what it would be like forever, but its fine now.
As far as what you'll need at the castle, the HS's has a great compiled list that I found very helpful, titled 'What to take to the Hospital for Hysterectomy' and here's the link to it
https://www.hystersisters.com/vb2/article_96849.htm

Wishing you all the best in your surgery, and I STRESS that this is my experience and yours might be completely different - free of hassles and straightforward.
Well, that's what I wish for you anyway.

Hi bg325
I had a very similar surgery to what you'll be having. I don't think mine was quite as extensive maybe. (((Iwona))) has shared some good info. With this surgery I think it's best to be prepared to rest for several weeks. I want to stress again that we are all different and heal at different rates, but it's so much better to head into surgery understanding that the work you're going to have done is major surgery and will require time and rest to heal well.

I had a hard time sitting and used a donut pillow and cushions. Even then I had to limit sitting time. I commend your dr for limiting car rides right up front. You will probably find them to be painful and will gladly avoid them for a while. I found I did fine if I just kept my sitting to a minimum. I used the recliner and would recline for a while them sit on a soft surface for a bit. Right at first I didn't have a laptop so I knelt on my knees in front of the computer to post here. (Some things just have to be done. )

I hope you will have help when you come home. I found being on my feet for any length of time was hard. I had to listen to my body and rest as soon as I started feeling that aching pressure through my pelvic floor. It's a dead give-away that you've been up too long.

Try not to worry. Your body will heal, you just have to give it what it needs, which is lots of rest. I'm so glad I had the work done that I did. I don't have any of the problems that caused me to need surgery. At the time I fretted some over the time out from life that it required, but now that I'm looking back I can see with a better perspective that it was an investment in my health and toward having more quality in my life.

I hope your surgery goes smoothly. Listen to your drs and we'll be here to cheer you on through your recovery. We'll keep an eye out for you in post op.
Rita

I noticed on my insurance pre-cert. it said I was approved for 2 days. I hope to get home Friday but looks like Saturday at the latest. I plan on being off 6 weeks from work, I have an office job, but I do travel between 11 branches. The cadaver tissue has me a little freaked out, but Dr. says this is the strongest fix, and less chance of your body rejecting it. I iwll have plenty of help, daughter and husband are pretty good at helping out and they work different shifts thank you very much for the response it helps to get information from someone who has experienced this.