Has anyone else also had an anterior and posterior repair?

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Originally Posted by Lindasch I had both anterior and posterior and found recovery to be very painful from the pelvic repair. I too stood while I ate. I was only comfortable laying or standing. I am now on week three and finally able to sit and pain free. Week three was a good turning point. Now, I feel like a pulling sensation in my right side, anyone else? Anyone experience this kind of feelin?

Yep, pulling on the right at times..pulling on the left..lots of different pings and pangs..nothing unbearable though..I had my ovaries removed though so not sure if that had something to do with it...If it bothers you too much I recommend seeing a doc of course.

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Originally Posted by Princessdebula That's right LoLo320, and just one more reason I sometimes question my sanity for living here, but Minnesota easily trumps Toronto for cold! It's downright balmy here compared to Minnesota. Every winter I swear I'm moving to warmer climes, and then I never do. Still, this seemingly endless arctic vortex we're currently experiencing has made it a little easier to justify snuggling with my cats on the couch burning through netflix the last few weeks, so there's some consolation.

Yep..going back to the deep freeze here..thank goodness..gives me more time to deal with all of my non healing issues..Princess D...do you mind if I ask if you went through menopause before your ovaries were removed? I seem to be having worse symptoms after this surgery due to the fact that I seem estrogen starved even though I am post menopause...my doc gave me the impression that if I was post menopause it was a non issue to remove ovaries as they were only producing very little hormones and other glands were still producing estrogen and testosterone...?

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Originally Posted by LoLo320 Yep..going back to the deep freeze here..thank goodness..gives me more time to deal with all of my non healing issues..Princess D...do you mind if I ask if you went through menopause before your ovaries were removed? I seem to be having worse symptoms after this surgery due to the fact that I seem estrogen starved even though I am post menopause...my doc gave me the impression that if I was post menopause it was a non issue to remove ovaries as they were only producing very little hormones and other glands were still producing estrogen and testosterone...?

Hi LoLo,
Yup, I was already menopausal, hadn't had a period in 3 years, and I was given the same line, "you aren't producing any hormones and since we're in there and you have a cyst on one we might as well take them out". I went along with them, since both my oncologist and my surgeon were saying the same thing and I do have a history of lymphoma. Wish I'd done a little more research in hindsight, since studies now show that even tho you're not menstruating, your ovaries are still producing some hormones, and that those hormones talk to your other glands and organs and protect you from cancers and heart disease, so by taking your ovaries, you're actually setting yourself up for the very diseases taking them out is supposed to be protecting you from. It's a done deal now, so we have to live with it, but I wish I'd had all the information beforehand so I could have made an informed choice. If you want a better explanation, go to hyst.blogspot.ca and look at 'ovaries'. I noticed I've had a few mild hot flashes at night since the surgery, but other than that, not much else, so I was probably still producing something. I didn't have my hormone levels checked before surgery, so have no baseline from before. Sounds like you may have been producing more than me if you're experiencing worse symptoms. Not all is lost tho, because as your doc said, your belly fat and adrenals still produce some form of estrogen, so you may be able to get by on that, but it's dependent on what other demands your body is placing on those glands how much they produce. There will no doubt be an adjustment period. My naturopath put me on Astragalus to boost my immune system a number of years ago, and interestingly, it helped a lot with the horrible hot flashes I was having, so might be something to try, but get it cleared by your doctor or naturopath before you do. It's not supposed to help with menopause, but for some reason it did for me. Maybe boosting my immune system took some of the pressure off my adrenals, so they could function better and the side benefit was less hot flashes? Strictly anecdotal, but thought I'd mention it. You never know what works, and Astragalus can't hurt taken in the correct dose. You could always try Black Cohosh or other traditional supplements for symptoms if it's really uncomfortable. That also seemed to work for me, but not as well as the Astragalus. I'm probably older than you (59 in a few weeks!), and my history is different, so what works for me may not work for you, but you'll never know until you try.

Hi Princess D...Sorry to hear about your lymphoma history...You are not much older than me...I am 57..just turned. . .2 years post menopausal. .I regret everyday I didn't do more research on this. I hope this thread helps someone else out because as you said it is a done deal..but my doc also acted like no big deal...that the negatives only affected maybe 2%... .I have to say, I went with my gut to remove them because of my past history with breast cancer and melanoma. But the strange thing is the symptoms are not hot flashes (those have actually decreased) since surgery... they are the same burning and urinary pain that I had before surgery.. .So perhaps I still have not solved that problem....and without the pain of the cystocele/rectocele's the burning is perhaps a bit worse. . .Strange thing happened in regard to hormones.....after surgery all my hot flashes stopped completely for 2 months. . .then when I started the estrogen they started up again, almost immediately... but very infrequently and never as severe....it just didn't make sense to me...so I asked doc...she looked at me and said...,."makes NO sense at all." And that was that..end of conversation....I am going to look into the astragalus. I'm sure my immune system has been down for the last two years. . .Do I need to find a naturopath for that? I have a bottle of Black Cohosh never opened in my cupboard...perhaps its time to crack that baby open..Somehow we'll get through this...I remind myself it could always be worse...and was humbled today when a customer came in today, a young woman..maybe late 30's....she has a rare form of lupus they can't diagnose and her system is shutting down and she hurts everywhere..won't go into details but made me realize I should be grateful that I only have pain in one area... It is still absolutely amazing to me how many of us on this site keep asking the docs the same questions and they just shrug like they have never heard what we are asking them before...thanks again for all your advice!

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Originally Posted by LoLo320 Hi Princess D...Sorry to hear about your lymphoma history...You are not much older than me...I am 57..just turned. . .2 years post menopausal. .I regret everyday I didn't do more research on this. I hope this thread helps someone else out because as you said it is a done deal..but my doc also acted like no big deal...that the negatives only affected maybe 2%... .I have to say, I went with my gut to remove them because of my past history with breast cancer and melanoma. But the strange thing is the symptoms are not hot flashes (those have actually decreased) since surgery... they are the same burning and urinary pain that I had before surgery.. .So perhaps I still have not solved that problem....and without the pain of the cystocele/rectocele's the burning is perhaps a bit worse. . .Strange thing happened in regard to hormones.....after surgery all my hot flashes stopped completely for 2 months. . .then when I started the estrogen they started up again, almost immediately... but very infrequently and never as severe....it just didn't make sense to me...so I asked doc...she looked at me and said...,."makes NO sense at all." And that was that..end of conversation....I am going to look into the astragalus. I'm sure my immune system has been down for the last two years. . .Do I need to find a naturopath for that? I have a bottle of Black Cohosh never opened in my cupboard...perhaps its time to crack that baby open..Somehow we'll get through this...I remind myself it could always be worse...and was humbled today when a customer came in today, a young woman..maybe late 30's....she has a rare form of lupus they can't diagnose and her system is shutting down and she hurts everywhere..won't go into details but made me realize I should be grateful that I only have pain in one area... It is still absolutely amazing to me how many of us on this site keep asking the docs the same questions and they just shrug like they have never heard what we are asking them before...thanks again for all your advice!

Yup, it's amazing to me too how the surgeon's seem uninterested in any feedback regarding quality of life issues after surgery. They only seem interested in their small area of expertise, ie: did the surgery part work, but then that's always been my experience with Western med. My acupuncturist, chiropractor, and naturopath are far more interested in treating me as a whole 'system', which tends to get the job done, but I have to admit, Western docs are the ones to go to in a crisis. I opted for chemo with the lymphoma, and I'm still dealing with the side effects and late effects (which the docs NEVER mention) 4 years later, but I'm still here to complain, so there's that. I wonder if the big C returned if I'd do it again tho. Might try alternatives, like Turkey Tail mushrooms (look for Paul Stamets Ted talk on that, really informative!) because I couldn't help feeling chemo was like doing brain surgery with an axe. Kill the cancer just short of killing the patient!

I get what you're saying about being more aware of the bladder pain now that the repairs aren't so painful. Hard for me to tell what's going on where now, since the pain is so global at the moment from the silver nitrate treatment, but the area just above my pubic bone is still super sensitive to touch and seems to have a direct line to my poor bladder. It is slooowwly improving tho, so I'm assuming in time it'll be gone.

Astragalus has very few side effects and is pretty benign as far as I know, and I vet my supplements pretty thoroughly now. With our cancer history, anything that improves the immune system is a bonus in my books, and if there's any added benefits, all the better. I also take CoQ10 for my heart (there was a bit of damage from chemo, but no longer), and it improved my energy levels a lot. The usual vitamins and minerals are on my list as well, B, C, D, Zinc, Magnesium, and Calcium (you need to get the proportions of those last 2 right tho!). My eye doc has me on Hyaluronic acid now as well and the added bonus is it helps with my aging joints. I just love taking supplements that do double duty. You don't always need a naturopath to figure out what to take, but because I was having so many issues after chemo, and there is a danger of interactions, even with 'natural' supplements, I found a good naturopath to help me. Hope some of this is helpful.

As for your mystery hot flashes that started up after starting the estrogen...it could be that you were not producing much before surgery, and the loss of your ovaries kind of put you into instant total menopause, but when you started the estrogen, your body would have reacted the same as it would had you still been producing much more on your own, much like the last few months or years of your natural menopause? I know that for the 3 years previous to stopping my period entirely, whenever I'd have a period, which happened maybe only 2 or 3 times a year, those months prior to that my hot flashes would be more severe. Could it be the sudden influx of hormones threw you back into pre-menopause? I'm not taking any estrogen, given the research on hrt, so I'm wondering why you decided to go on it, especially if you were already post menopausal? Was this on your doc's recommendation? Did she explain why? Just curious, since none of my doctor's suggested it to me, not that I would have done it anyway, but it seems odd to suggest it if you're no longer producing on your own?

Princess D...thanks for all the helpful tips....your advice is practical and makes sense...and I do agree with you about the 'natural' supplements...found out while treating back pain I was allergic to turmeric (in concentrated form) so best to be cautious. I did not have the chemo...but have known those that have..good analogy on it...radiation wasn't all that pleasant but I know nothing compared to chemo. ...As for the estrogen it is not the oral HRT...but a vaginal suppository (vagifem) that delivers a small amount to the surrounding tissues and bladder..It is localized only and is not systemic, therefore safe to use as very little gets into my system..asking oncologist on next visit to be sure...Interestingly, however, since I began it I sleep like a rock..again, asked obgyn if related...nope she says...must have been a coincidence...there isn't enough to get into your system to do that...I'm glad to hear things are improving for you..even if slowly...at least there's progress :-)

Well ladies, I thought I'd give you an update, if for no other reason than as a cautionary tale. Yesterday, I decided I couldn't stand the mess any longer and asked the boys to tidy up, however, not content to leave well enough alone and let them do the work, I decided to 'help'. It was bad enough that I was still in a lot of pain from the silver nitrate treatment, but by the time I realized I was doing too much the damage was done. Started bleeding bright red about 10:30 in the evening, and it continued to spot thru the night. Some small blood clots this morning and more pain than I've been in for weeks, but it's finally stopped (hopefully for good). I'm astounded at how little it took for this to happen. I have no idea if the silver nitrate contributed to this, or if it would have happened anyway, but if this doesn't start to improve I'm thinking it's time for the doc to have another look. The pain has been a steady 3 or 4 since the treatment, with no relief unless I take 2 tylenols. I had thought I was almost done with the pain meds, and now this. I feel like I've regressed 3 weeks, and it's depressing to say the least. So, learn from me....DON'T OVERDO IT!

Oh no! Sorry to hear that PrincessD! I do hope you are feeling better by now...Perhaps you should see the doc just to make sure that all is still healing well.?? It is easy to overdue..I vacuumed one day (about the same healing stage), thinking I was being pretty easy with it and not lifting it and only using the wand but boy was that a mistake...I was very sore the next few days and could not get out of bed. Hopefully everyone is heeding the warnings to not overdue..it's just not worth it! Take care and slow down let your bodies heal. I have just started to do chores again..like vacuum, clean floors...carry laundry up stairs...etc. .and still don't lift heavy objects..Please let us know how you are doing!

Thanks for the concern LoLo320, but a TCM remedy my acupuncturist had given me came to the rescue! (being a landscaper I tend to injure myself regularly and needed something to reduce swelling and stop bleeding since I rarely have access to ice in the field, so this was her solution for that) It only occurred to me to use it when the bleeding continued, so I decided to check my notes on the herbs in it to see if it might work in this instance. Turns out one of the herbs specifically stops heavy bleeding and another is specifically to stop uterine bleeding! Seemed tailor made (despite the fact I no longer have a uterus, but I was hoping its powers extended to the vagina?) so I did one spray on my belly and waited. Stopped it almost immediately!

I'm not recommending anyone rush out and get this without seeing a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor first and doing their research, but apparently this stuff was used by the US army in Vietnam to stop their soldiers from bleeding to death in the field. It's truly amazing stuff, but I recommend caution. I am not a doctor and my experience may not be yours, and there's always the danger of allergies. I trust my acupuncturist implicitly because she's never steered me wrong yet, but I wouldn't just go out and buy this without having a TCM doctor who is familiar with you vet it first. There are a number of herbs in this, and I've used it a number of times when I've banged my shins or been cut or fallen and it stops bleeding and bruising in it's tracks (and I tend to bruise very easily). In case anyone is curious, it's called Yunnan Baiyao.

I only used it yesterday out of desperation, but in hindsight, it was probably meant for just this type of bleeding if the monographs are to be believed. At any rate, it seems to have done the trick. I made myself a celery juice cocktail, had my first warm bath, and went to bed with a good book. Today I feel soooo much better. Still tired, and still sore, but the pain is down to a 1 and I barely have any discharge and zero bleeding. The damage from the silver nitrate on the outside is healing nicely and I can finally sit again with only a little discomfort. Things are looking up!

I've given hubby notice that laundry and cleaning are off the table, and I'd appreciate more help so I'm not tempted to do stuff I shouldn't. I think I've finally learned my lesson about doing too much (although I'm pretty sure I've said that before)!
I'm just happy I've avoided yet another visit to the doctor. As my oncologist said when my treatment was over, "As long as we leave you alone, you should be just fine". Here's hoping.

Wow..I am impressed! I have always believed in non-traditional homeopathic treatment for everything and I loved hearing the success story! Pretty sure I need to find a TCM...sounds like you have some good alternative medicine people on your side. But like you said...when in a crisis..western meds are the ones to turn to...at any rate...glad to hear things are healing up...I have some good news myself...was able to cut my overactive bladder meds (oxybutynin) in half once more. the urologist cautioned to not go cold turkey and recommended I stay on for a few months..but the side effects were getting to me..dryness, racing heart..sluggish bladder...sooo after going cold turkey..(I know..can't help myself...hate drugs) I waited about two days and then got scared..was having lots of weird spasms and pain and that was when I decided to go on half the dose to let my body adapt and taper off...2.5 mg.....the dryness is a big side effect of this drug..and my vaginal dryness completely disappeared once I cut the dose..so I'm self guessing that while it was helping it was hurting too...gee..you would think the docs could figure that out right? I'm actually starting to feel almost normal again...almost...I take one day at a time but the heavy pressure in my bladder seems to have taken a leave in the last two days as my burning of the entire area..yay. . .At 31/2months... progress... maybe... finally?