Hi there,
Im sorry this might be a bit of a rant I need to get this off my chest - If anyone at all has any words of wisdom I would be so so thankful.
Im 23 years old, have just had laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy to repair internal rectal prolapse and rectocele. Ive had this problem since having glandular fever which lead to chronic fatigue when I was 18, although everyone I saw - and I saw doctors, gastros etc etc just told me it was IBS. I would leave with tears welling after telling them there was something definitely wrong, something out of place I could feel it... and they would just tell me to learn to live with IBS.
I knew something else was going on because I have a good amount of fibre in my diet - im sorry for the details - my stools were never hard, always soft, but I would spend 30min-1hr plus trying to evacuate. It got so bad I was relying on water enemas most days, and even then it felt like there was still more I could geet rid of.
I just need to say I look after my health, exercise when I can, follow a healthy, well planned vegan diet. I dont eat junk food, I make sure I have adequate water -I try so hard to do everything right, and have done so since getting chronic fatigue. I am weirdly flexible and can even sublux some joints, I dont know if this has anything to do with it?
Finally after years of being palmed off from doctor to doctor I was diagnosed, and 3 weeks ago had a Laparoscopic Ventral mesh Rectopexy. My recovery has not been smooth sailing.
It was 7 days post op before I had a movement - this was after taking large quantities of movicol, using microlax enemas, I even drank 1 litre of bowel prep - nothing worked until I tried a fleet enema. The pain was almost unbearable and I looked about 8 months pregnant.
Since then I have only been able to go once without a fleet enema... and that was after three days of not passing anything (fleet enemas are very hard to find it seems and I ran out of supply) and when I did go it wasn't complete evacuation. Im sorry if I gross anyone out, but I dont understand why I cant go by myself, I know things are there ready to be moved because the tip of the enemas dont come out clean. I get painful cramps and gas build up telling me its time to go! But nothing happens.
I am sick of getting around with a painful swollen belly, sitting on the toilet with nothing happening and not being able to just GO when i need to. The more forums I go on the more freaked out I get with peoples unsuccessful stories. I am trying hard to stay positive but I feel like Ive lost my youth to these problems, often I just cant leave the house, and this surgery doesnt seem to have helped at all.
Please can anyone tell me of their post op experiences or any advice at all? I would be so ridiculously grateful. Im just at a loss right now. I know I should feel lucky really - so many people have much bigger problems than I do and Im sorry for such a long post.
You kindly commented on my post and you are clearly having a rough time of it. I can appreciate your frustration and anger at being fobbed off for so long. Your experience of taking ages to have a BM when it is soft and shouldnt be difficult struck a chord. I did an irrigation (water enema is the same I imagine?) a few days post op because I was terrified of constipation - I was very gentle and used small amounts of water. That worked ok. Odd thing was, I did a second one so that I could use more water but not overbloat my stomach and the water didn't evacuate later. I was scared in case I had done damage, but I think it could have been that my body needed the water and soaked it all up!
The bloating has been horrendous - I know they fill you full of gas in theatre, but I expected it would have passed by now. I feel really miserable - expected to feel better much sooner, under estimated the seriousness of the surgery.
Pain killers don't seem to be working too well. Will try to get an appointment with GP tomorrow, but have to ring at 8 am for an emergency appointment, which is pot luck! Will see how I feel in the morning.
I went into hospital on 9th May for a LVMR for exactly the same problem, unfortuneatly they cut into my rectum so had to revert to adominal surgery. The mesh could not be put in because as the contents of thr bowel escaped there was too much risk of infection in it so they lifted it as much as they could and stiched it in place. The pain from the wind was really bad but I can't help with the other question. I had to stay in hospital for 9 days, and after all that it did not work and I am still taking Movicol which has now been supplemented with Fibregel. I did not go for 8 days after the surgery but I was not allowed to eat and could only have sipps of water for 5 days, so that probably delayed things.
veggieM, I had the ventral surgery too and it made my bowel problems much worse. However on the other hand many people find their bowel problems get much better with this surgery once things have settled down. How are you now, please?
I'm so sorry for my ridiculously slow reply. These days pain wise I'm better most of the time but function wise things have not really improved. Still need to use enemas to be able to go and they are often unsuccessful anyway. I quite often bloat so much I look about 7 months pregnant. I am doing physio exercises now and trying to stay positive, but as with any long term health issues there are down moments. I know this operation is a godsend for some people but I honesty couldn't recommend it to anyone from personal experience.
Do you find in time you are improving, even if a little? I'm so sorry it wasn't successful for you - I know it's a bit heartbreaking. I am wishing you all the best and thank you for taking the time to reply to me.
I went into hospital on 9th May for a LVMR for exactly the same problem, unfortuneatly they cut into my rectum so had to revert to adominal surgery. The mesh could not be put in because as the contents of thr bowel escaped there was too much risk of infection in it so they lifted it as much as they could and stiched it in place. The pain from the wind was really bad but I can't help with the other question. I had to stay in hospital for 9 days, and after all that it did not work and I am still taking Movicol which has now been supplemented with Fibregel. I did not go for 8 days after the surgery but I was not allowed to eat and could only have sipps of water for 5 days, so that probably delayed things.
Hope you are both feeling better soon
Maddie
Maddie that sounds horrible. How are you going now? Much better I hope.
How are you getting on now veggiem? Did you improve after surgery at all? I am still very bad.
Im still bad too im afraid...still trying to find someone/something that will be able to help, so if I find an answer I'll let you know! Have you found anything that helps you, even a little?
Well....not really. I take huge amounts of milk of magnesia to try to deal with my problems after surgery, have you tried this? Ditto movicol, unsure what it is called in Oz. Are your problems different at all post surgery- better, worse, or just really the same?
Have you tried peristeen irrigation or glycerol suppositories? Methylcellulose fiber is another good one.
My problems are no better im afraid, Im still relying on 5ml enemas every day to be able to get anything going, and sometimes thats not very effective anyway. This seems to be regardless of what I eat or what supplements I try. Although I havent tried milk of magnesia so I will have to give that a go thank you! My physio exercises don't really seem to be doing anything much either, so its a bit of a puzzle to me. But yeah the operation seemed to be a bit of a flop really. How long has it been since yours? I hope things turn around for you very soon!
