Hi There,
I found this Board through the post about surviving the surgery and I know it had been going on for awhile but I have some questions for anyone else who has gone through this if the moderators don't mind.
I had a sphincteroplasty, rectocele repair, cyctocele repair and bladder sling done all at the same time. Obviously childbirth was not kind to me!
The surgery was Nov 2006 and I still have ongoing issues with the anus bad enough to require pain pills sometimes. I have several other health problems so that may be complicating my results.
I have control over my stools most of the time. If I have the runs I can't hold it. I also have chronic leakage, enough to stain my underwear and give me a "diaper rash" most of the time. There is also a portion of the scar that tears often. When it tears it's like a razor blade slicing me every time I poop.
It tears from sitting, walking, exercise, coughing, lifting. When this happens the only way to make it better is to lay down until it's better. This is a bit difficult with a 5 and 3 yr old. I deal with it most of the time with lots of dermoplast, cottons swabs and pain relieving antibiotic ointment. If I put a dressing of some sort between my cheeks it just makes it irritated.
When I get my period every month it also seems to be worse then. I'm going to see the surgeon in April to see if there is anything they can do.
My questions would be how do you deal with this, does anyone else have chronic tearing, difficulty with sitting, etc., wearing pants, pain, rashes.
Also has anyone had the surgery and then had another surgery to improve the sphincter repair? Did it work? Is there any hope or is this as good as it gets.
I know there are people out there who are in much worse shape and I feel fortunate this is my biggest problem right now but it affects my life every single day and I can't work at all.
Thank you for your responses and for allowing someplace to not feel embarassed! It's awful because I feel ike a liar constantly when I have to bail on people and plans. I don't want to say "gee, sorry, I have to rest my anus today" so I'm always making up other things.
Have a good day.
aland
