1 more question about my bladder surgery recovery?

[justlisa1972]

okay, so now I am peeing without help from the straight cat all of the time. but now, in the mornings when i go that first time, i sit, pee what i feel like is all of it, stand up and get ready to walk away, only for it to hit me again and then when i sit down, it feels like i never went and i go again. i eventually empty out completely, and all on my own, but why is it doing this? is it a good thing? i mean it almost seems like my bladder is trying to get back in to the full swing of things, and it is getting there, but it's been very slow at it... my doctor did say that some people take more time to fully heal and recover. oh, i also did have a slight urinary tract infection, but a little bit of macrobid is helping to clear that right up. other then this little thing i feel great!! thank God!! =)

[sherrieP]

I'm so happy to hear things seem to be shifting forward now! And REALLY glad you are done vacuuming until you are completely healed up! Sounds like you are working your way around picking up son too; it won't be long and you'll be able to get back to your  normal activities. Smart thinking on adjusting the timing of your fluid intake at night too. Give me a shout after your 6 wk check to let me know how things are.
Sher

[justlisa1972]

Thank you so much Sherrie. I know those 1st several days after the surgery were completely miserable. I even asked the nurse who did my discharge from the hospital if I needed to be concerned about the fact that I had not had a bowel movement, and she said no that it was fairly common to go several days after surgery before having one. I did start taking a stool softener, but on the same day that I had the hard one and got all messed up. They are going to address the mesh being loose when I go for my 6 wk post op. I really do not want to have to under go any more surgery, at least not for a while and so I am hoping that it will not require any further down time. I have found now that if I stop drinking anything after about 6 pm in the evenings, and make sure to go to the bathroom before I go to bed at night, when I get up in the mornings my bladder is not as full and so I have been able to empty completely with no problems for the past couple of mornings. Vacuuming on Sat. for the 1st time was very difficult, and it exhausted me and so I have no plans to do that again any time soon. My husband said he'd take care of it as long as I needed him to bless his heart, so that is covered, and like I said I do sit in my chair and just let my little boy climb up to me, but I think I need to find a different way to get him up in his crib for nap and bedtimes, my husband works some crazy shifts so that is/has been my biggest problem as far as really lifting him. I've resorted lately to just letting him climb up to me in my bed and just letting him sleep with me until I can lift more. I've also noticed here in the past week that my stitches have dissolved and disappeared. And I feel a little itchy down below so I am hoping that is a good sign of healing. I am scheduled to go for my 6 week post op next Friday, so by then I should know a lot more about what to expect, and how much longer it will be until I am fully recovered... Thanks again.

[sherrieP]

Oh hon, I"m so sorry to hear things went so sideways with your procedure. They should have warned you to take stool softeners and eat lots of fruit while on pain pills after surgery, those meds are so constipating. Because of this (compounded by the lifting of your child and vacuuming), it's going to take a bit longer. Is the loose mesh going to be addressed?

I know it is so hard to not pick up your child and you are doing a great job recognizing that you can stoop down to kid level or let child climb up instead of you picking up. Please continue to "do the right stuff" as much as possible until you are completely healed. It's probably going to take a while longer now because of the complications. If after 3 months you are still not "back to normal", the physicians should address if something should be done to make an adjustment. I also wonder if a treatment called myofascial release therapy may be of some benefit down the road, you may have a bit of scar tissue built up because of post-surgical damage and MFR is great at addressing this. Take it one step at a time however and give yourself more time to heal. Keep up the great work with pumping water and cranberry juice!

Sher

[justlisa1972]

it was actually 2 gynocologists, my regular doctor did the hysterectomy, and the other who specializes in bladder sling surgery did the bladder.. and the doctor who did the bladder sling part says that the reason that it is taking me longer to heal is because the Wed. right after my surgery I still had not had a bowel movement, and was having a hard time having one, and late that night I finally tried and when I did it was horrible, it was so hard that I strained and pushed way too hard, started bleeding profusely, and actually blew out the foley catheter that I had in place. My parents actually ended up having to take me in to the ER so that they could put it back in. I went in to my doctor to let her check me the very next day and she said that it set me back a while as far as recovery. I also had pulled a few stitches loose, and she could see a little tiny bit of the sling that had come loose.. I do drink a lot of water, that is my drink of choice any way, and since I found out that I have a uti I have been drinking cranberry juice. Also, I just started doing a few of my household chores, ran the vacuum for the 1st time on Saturday.. And as far as lifting, well, I guess I am guilty of that, I have a 1 year old who is right at 20 lbs. I try not to lift him, but occasionally I have to, but I never just bend over and lift him, I sit in a chair and more less let him climb up on to me. So, I think these are the reasons why it is taking me so long to recover.  

[sherrieP]

You never mentioned if it was a gyn or urologist or urogyn who did your procedure or what type of procedure you had done (sling, mesh or no?). I'm glad you are communicating with your dr on this, it has really been a pretty long heal curve. There are a few people that take longer to level off, the bladder does need to "wake back up" but this time frame seems extreme. Are you drinking lots of water to keep your urine diluted? Are you drinking cranberry juice to keep the urethra balanced? Do you lift children or vacuum daily (heavy lifting impacts heal curve). I'm glad the other aspects of repair are healing well!
Sher