To say I was devastated when I discovered a rectal prolapse less than six months following the surgical repair which led to my requiring a blood transfusion was an understatement. I had the transfusion, abscess, and now a complete failure of the surgery itself. My body was exhausted, my emotions depleted, and the correct surgery was definitely major surgery.
It was in-hospital with a five-day stay. The incision went from belly button to bikini line. I don't recall the exact medical steps but it was basically pulling the rectum up. I was told some of my colon might have to be removed and a very small part of it only, thank goodness, had to be excised. A mesh sling holds my colon up so it doesn't place pressure on the rectum. In preparation for the surgery, Dr. McKenna recommended an epidural for pain. I had always been terrified of anything going into my spine.
The day of my pre-admission testing and consultation, I argued ardently against it. The anesthesiologist said the pain would likely be unbearable without it. I relented and signed the release. The morning of surgery I was terrified of the epidural because it had to be done while I was wide awake. I was taken to a room where I was surrounded by good looking young interns. lol. One person reassuringly held onto me and told me everything that was going on. Honestly, there was no pain. I was so relieved to hear "it's in". Apparently having an epidural was a procedure not often viewed by interns or they had a new class but I had plenty of reassuring looks and hand holding.
Following surgery and for the next four days, I was amazingly pain free. The wire had actually just come loose and I was feeling around for it when Dr. McKenna's team came in for their daily rounds. They said they were there to see if the epidural line should be removed. When I said I thought it had just come out they said that was highly unlikely and the team leader went behind me. He held up the wire that had indeed come loose and announced, "The epidural is officially removed." Another lol.
A morphine drip was hooked up immediately. From no pain to OMG pain in a matter of hours. I requested oral painkillers about six hours later because the morphine seemed to do nothing. Pain was manageable with the oxycodone or hydrocodone, whichever they gave me, and I was released on Day 5.
After several follow up visits, I realized there was still some weirdness which turned out to be a mucosal prolapse. Dr. McKenna had warned me that, because of what Dr. DeLeo had done, he wasn't able to guarantee the outcome. Had he been the first to repair it correctly, he could have pretty much guaranteed there would be no more prolapses. This secondary prolapse was not as large and was manageable. While the doctor had described what he could do to "fix" it, he must have been having a bad day because it was something he would have done in his office without anesthesia. He stated it rather gruffly leaving me to believe I was a pain in his *ss. I was not going to have anything to do with a repair without anesthesia. I hoped exercise over time might tighten the muscles and lift it naturally. It did create pressure from the inside; however that didn't become as noticeable until after my bladder therapy.
While I was urinating up to 20 times a day, I kept being advised the bladder would have to be the last of the three orifices to be addressed. Finally I was referred to the bladder specialist.
P.S. More to come about Dr. McKenna and repair of the mucosal prolapse. He became very caring and respectful with help from my family doctor. Dr. McKenna was, to me, like Dr. House. The best surgeon...no bedside manner. I wouldn't have wanted anyone else doing the repair.
Showing posts with label rectal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rectal. Show all posts
6.08.2011
Connecting the Missing Dots
It has been so long since I've kept this blog up to date. I reread my posts and realized there is a blank ending at the end of the 12/22/08 post where Dr. DeLeo had read my MRI, informed me of an ovarian cyst, and scheduled a laparoscopy to remove the cyst followed several weeks later by the rectocele.
When I awoke from the laparoscopy, she informed me there had been no cyst but she "cleaned things up" and I would be fine. All okay for the next surgery. In retrospect, Brian would say she viewed me as her "cash cow". In my earlier post I explained what happened following her rectocele. I was hospitalized requiring a transfusion due to hemorrhaging during surgery. A week after surviving that ordeal, I experienced a rectal abscess.
Brian had called Dr. DeLeo's office a week after the botched up rectocele. I had already made the decision to take myself out of her care but Brian thought she was the one who needed to determine if what I was experiencing was a post surgery issue. All I can say is that I had painful burning. Her office told me I was to do nothing. Later that day, the burning had intensified to where I was crying. I called the Penn State Medicine after hours nurse triage line. They told me to go to the emergency room right away and they would call ahead to say I was coming.
I had only a half-hour wait in a packed waiting room. Via CT scan, an abscess was identified. A drain had to be put into my back and I was in the hospital about five days with no food. I had to return home with the drain still in my back. I was a physical and emotional mess. The drain was finally removed and I had a follow up appointment with the doctor in charge of the colo-rectal department, Dr. McKenna. By that time I was so fearful of the previous surgeries handled by Dr. DeLeo. I asked Dr. McKenna if everything else looked okay in my pelvic area.
He replied it looked okay except for a cyst on my ovary.
To be continued in next post.
When I awoke from the laparoscopy, she informed me there had been no cyst but she "cleaned things up" and I would be fine. All okay for the next surgery. In retrospect, Brian would say she viewed me as her "cash cow". In my earlier post I explained what happened following her rectocele. I was hospitalized requiring a transfusion due to hemorrhaging during surgery. A week after surviving that ordeal, I experienced a rectal abscess.
Brian had called Dr. DeLeo's office a week after the botched up rectocele. I had already made the decision to take myself out of her care but Brian thought she was the one who needed to determine if what I was experiencing was a post surgery issue. All I can say is that I had painful burning. Her office told me I was to do nothing. Later that day, the burning had intensified to where I was crying. I called the Penn State Medicine after hours nurse triage line. They told me to go to the emergency room right away and they would call ahead to say I was coming.
I had only a half-hour wait in a packed waiting room. Via CT scan, an abscess was identified. A drain had to be put into my back and I was in the hospital about five days with no food. I had to return home with the drain still in my back. I was a physical and emotional mess. The drain was finally removed and I had a follow up appointment with the doctor in charge of the colo-rectal department, Dr. McKenna. By that time I was so fearful of the previous surgeries handled by Dr. DeLeo. I asked Dr. McKenna if everything else looked okay in my pelvic area.
He replied it looked okay except for a cyst on my ovary.
To be continued in next post.
12.20.2008
But she's the doctor...she knows
As Dr. DeLeo told me I had no evidence of a rectal prolapse but clearly had a bladder prolapse, I was speechless. I was pretty darn sure I knew which orifice was my rectum. The definition of the prolapse was that the bladder pushed into the vaginal wall causing pressure to occur in the vagina. I had no problems with urination. Since my body has always been weird, I figured maybe the bladder had caused pressure over to my rectum? I didn't ask those questions. I didn't speak of the photo out of embarrassment.
"Why would my bladder have fallen out?" The doctor assured me it was common in women over 50, especially women who had lots of babies. When I informed her I had never given birth, she was silent. She said she would be unable to repair the bladder the next day when she did the colonoscopy but scheduled a date for the cystocele, an outpatient procedure.
Walking out the doctor's office with Brian, I sarcastically noted that my bladder must have prolapsed on the walkway into the office. Surprisingly, since that visit, I no longer noticed the rectal prolapse but did have increased frequency of urination. Whatever happened, she must have been right. The colonoscopy went well, or so she said. For some reason I didn't get photos of my colon like Brian had after his. I didn't think much about it at the time.
With the cystocele already scheduled for June 29. I returned to my full work schedule not thinking much about the surgery. The cystocele went well. I had very little pain. I was discharged with a catheter that would be removed a few days later. My thinking was that she did an excellent job with minimal pain. The catheter was removed in Dr. DeLeo's office during the afternoon of July 3. The morning of July 4, the rectal prolapse returned.
"Why would my bladder have fallen out?" The doctor assured me it was common in women over 50, especially women who had lots of babies. When I informed her I had never given birth, she was silent. She said she would be unable to repair the bladder the next day when she did the colonoscopy but scheduled a date for the cystocele, an outpatient procedure.
Walking out the doctor's office with Brian, I sarcastically noted that my bladder must have prolapsed on the walkway into the office. Surprisingly, since that visit, I no longer noticed the rectal prolapse but did have increased frequency of urination. Whatever happened, she must have been right. The colonoscopy went well, or so she said. For some reason I didn't get photos of my colon like Brian had after his. I didn't think much about it at the time.
With the cystocele already scheduled for June 29. I returned to my full work schedule not thinking much about the surgery. The cystocele went well. I had very little pain. I was discharged with a catheter that would be removed a few days later. My thinking was that she did an excellent job with minimal pain. The catheter was removed in Dr. DeLeo's office during the afternoon of July 3. The morning of July 4, the rectal prolapse returned.
12.19.2008
New health issue reveals itself
It is not easy to identify a rectal prolapse. Especially when we don't know such things exist. Most people want nothing to do with discussions about this area of the body. What happened to me should be mandatory education for women before it happens. What is supposed to remain tucked up inside the body, begins to fall out. What should never see the light of day, becomes quite prominent as well as physically and emotionally uncomfortable.
Some of my symptoms that had been dismissed for months were feeling like I had to go or still had to go when nothing was there. I'd had lower back time for many months but chalked that up to sitting most of my working day. I also had a pinpoint pain on the left side of my body that wasn't quite forward in my consciousness. I had begun to pee more frequently, although I thought it was my body adapting to my therapy schedule. Each hour in between clients. I was six months into menopause so was having no vaginal symptoms. Nothing in my mind put anything together.
Once I spotted blood, I became more aware of what was going on with that orifice, especially after elimination. One day, a week before my colonoscopy, I had been waiting for what seemed about 20 minutes because I didn't feel as if I were finished. I reached back to check (understanding I don't recall ever really exploring my anus) to find about a golfball sized "balloon". It felt rubbery and had no excrement on it whatsoever. In a panic, I quickly cleaned up and ran to the computer.
Initially I searched the symptoms and body part...rectum, balloon, outside. That's when I first learned of rectal prolapse. I had the symptoms. At the stage it becomes visible (on the outside of the body), is the final stage. Some women choose to live with the prolapse that undergo surgery. Once mine came out, it sometimes retracted on its own. Sometimes I had to push it back inside on my own (ewww). Sometimes I could feel it outside the body while I was in session and had to completely ignore it to focus on my clients.
I had called Dr. DeLeo the day I discovered the prolapse. I wasn't sure if the colonoscopy needed to be delayed or what other doctor I would need to see. She gave me an appointment the day before the colonoscopy. While I often had cautioned my clients not to self diagnose from the internet, I had found images of a prolapsed rectum on the internet. Being the inventive person I am, I placed my camera on a stepstool and stood over it while the prolapse was fully exposed and took a picture. It was identical to the internet photo. I did not think to bring the photo with me on the day of my appointment. In fact the whole topic was totally embarrassing. The fact that I took the photo still surprises me. I'm glad I did it though.
When I saw Dr. DeLeo, she asked why I thought I had a rectal prolapse. She claimed she found no evidence of one while in a Pap smear position. She had me stand up and probed my orifices. She proclaimed me to have a bladder prolapse.
Some of my symptoms that had been dismissed for months were feeling like I had to go or still had to go when nothing was there. I'd had lower back time for many months but chalked that up to sitting most of my working day. I also had a pinpoint pain on the left side of my body that wasn't quite forward in my consciousness. I had begun to pee more frequently, although I thought it was my body adapting to my therapy schedule. Each hour in between clients. I was six months into menopause so was having no vaginal symptoms. Nothing in my mind put anything together.
Once I spotted blood, I became more aware of what was going on with that orifice, especially after elimination. One day, a week before my colonoscopy, I had been waiting for what seemed about 20 minutes because I didn't feel as if I were finished. I reached back to check (understanding I don't recall ever really exploring my anus) to find about a golfball sized "balloon". It felt rubbery and had no excrement on it whatsoever. In a panic, I quickly cleaned up and ran to the computer.
Initially I searched the symptoms and body part...rectum, balloon, outside. That's when I first learned of rectal prolapse. I had the symptoms. At the stage it becomes visible (on the outside of the body), is the final stage. Some women choose to live with the prolapse that undergo surgery. Once mine came out, it sometimes retracted on its own. Sometimes I had to push it back inside on my own (ewww). Sometimes I could feel it outside the body while I was in session and had to completely ignore it to focus on my clients.
I had called Dr. DeLeo the day I discovered the prolapse. I wasn't sure if the colonoscopy needed to be delayed or what other doctor I would need to see. She gave me an appointment the day before the colonoscopy. While I often had cautioned my clients not to self diagnose from the internet, I had found images of a prolapsed rectum on the internet. Being the inventive person I am, I placed my camera on a stepstool and stood over it while the prolapse was fully exposed and took a picture. It was identical to the internet photo. I did not think to bring the photo with me on the day of my appointment. In fact the whole topic was totally embarrassing. The fact that I took the photo still surprises me. I'm glad I did it though.
When I saw Dr. DeLeo, she asked why I thought I had a rectal prolapse. She claimed she found no evidence of one while in a Pap smear position. She had me stand up and probed my orifices. She proclaimed me to have a bladder prolapse.
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