I am 18 days post-op and I feel mostly normal. I generally only sit with a cushion and I haven't tried driving yet because I haven't had to go anywhere. I had pain that felt like a generalized burning pain a few days ago but it went away. I am a little bit worried about that since it felt like what it felt like pre-surgery. My doctor said it is probably just the nerves readjusting, or something like that.
I was concerned that I might have an infection because I was running a low grade fever (99-100) for a few days and noticed some swelling on my left labia. However, when I went in to the doctor the next day of course the fever was gone and so was the swelling. She said that the healing looked great and that I shouldn't be experiencing much pain anymore. I haven't had a recurrence of the swelling but I have been running a low grade fever for the past couple days (though not today).
Another problem I had was bleeding from the rectum every time I had a bowel movement. My doctor wanted to make sure that there wasn't a stitch in my rectum so she examined me on Tuesday and said that there wasn't. She also did a CBC to make sure all my blood counts were normal, and they were. I've been continuing to take Colace 3 times a day and drink a lot of prune juice, which I actually like! The bleeding has since gone away (knock on wood).
Right now I'm having a pain that feels kind of deep and at times shooting or pulsating around what I think is the 4 o'clock position. I looked down there and I didn't notice any swelling but my labia looks bruised compared to the other side. Hmm... I feel like I email my doctor all the time and I feel bad about that! I see her again on the 6th of December.
I'm also wondering if it looks the same down there as it did pre-surgery... I don't really remember what it used to look like, though!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
I am day 7 post-op and I'm feeling a lot better overall. Walking is not difficult. I went on a 15 minute walk earlier this morning. I have pain but it is more of the stretching pain. My doctor says I should not be in much pain anymore.
I have pain but it isn't localized to the 6 o'clock position. It's more around the 4-7 and it's just a general stretching pain. My doctor said she didn't think I'd need them as my "vaginal girth" seemed fine and I don't have any muscle issues but right now I can't think of putting ANYTHING in my vagina. I think it's kind of funny that on my discharge papers it reminds me not to have sex for 4-6 weeks, AS IF I'd even think about that...
Right now I do have some itching. My doctor told me to take benadryl 50mg every 6 hours or to even put benadryl ointment on the site but I think I'm going to just take oral benadryl. She also said she could prescribe me a steroid ointment if the itching continued, but that she would want to see me in her office before doing that (my post-op follow-up isn't until after Thanksgiving).
To those still considering surgery, I think it's important to know your doctor beforehand and know how available he/she will be to answer your questions, especially after the surgery. When I first met my doctor, and especially after a few appts, I knew that if I was going to have this surgery I would want her to do it. It was just a feeling I had about her and it is difficult for me to explain it. My doctor told me she had only done between 10-15 of these but I still felt comfortable with her. I think what stood out to me was that she was extremely sharp with regard to current treatments and efficacies of those treatments. She's only a few years out of her residency and I think, in general, that is a time when doctors are at their best.
There was another doctor in her department who had done "hundreds" of vestibulectomies but he was also really old and a man, which didn't make me feel comfortable. I'm not saying that a man can't do this procedure or be a good ob/gyn, but for me it has always been important to have a female ob/gyn.
I think it can be confusing when we're on here discussing full vs. partial vestibulectomy because my doctor didn't use those terms- she mapped out using the q-tip several times and her fingers as well, exactly where my pain was. She ended up cutting from 2 o'clock to 10 o'clock so I think that is pretty close to a "full" vestibulectomy. I think each vestibulectomy is going to be different though. When my doctor was describing the procedure to the OR nurse she described it as a kind of like a "modified perineoplasty."
I think what is difficult for me is telling my family and friends. My mom is obviously sympathetic and I'm sure she's told my dad but I also have brothers and when I told my older one his response made me feel more alone-- he thought it was TMI. But my younger brother was a lot more understanding and didn't make me feel judged. My female friends and family have all been sympathetic but they don't truly *get* it.
I have pain but it isn't localized to the 6 o'clock position. It's more around the 4-7 and it's just a general stretching pain. My doctor said she didn't think I'd need them as my "vaginal girth" seemed fine and I don't have any muscle issues but right now I can't think of putting ANYTHING in my vagina. I think it's kind of funny that on my discharge papers it reminds me not to have sex for 4-6 weeks, AS IF I'd even think about that...
Right now I do have some itching. My doctor told me to take benadryl 50mg every 6 hours or to even put benadryl ointment on the site but I think I'm going to just take oral benadryl. She also said she could prescribe me a steroid ointment if the itching continued, but that she would want to see me in her office before doing that (my post-op follow-up isn't until after Thanksgiving).
To those still considering surgery, I think it's important to know your doctor beforehand and know how available he/she will be to answer your questions, especially after the surgery. When I first met my doctor, and especially after a few appts, I knew that if I was going to have this surgery I would want her to do it. It was just a feeling I had about her and it is difficult for me to explain it. My doctor told me she had only done between 10-15 of these but I still felt comfortable with her. I think what stood out to me was that she was extremely sharp with regard to current treatments and efficacies of those treatments. She's only a few years out of her residency and I think, in general, that is a time when doctors are at their best.
There was another doctor in her department who had done "hundreds" of vestibulectomies but he was also really old and a man, which didn't make me feel comfortable. I'm not saying that a man can't do this procedure or be a good ob/gyn, but for me it has always been important to have a female ob/gyn.
I think it can be confusing when we're on here discussing full vs. partial vestibulectomy because my doctor didn't use those terms- she mapped out using the q-tip several times and her fingers as well, exactly where my pain was. She ended up cutting from 2 o'clock to 10 o'clock so I think that is pretty close to a "full" vestibulectomy. I think each vestibulectomy is going to be different though. When my doctor was describing the procedure to the OR nurse she described it as a kind of like a "modified perineoplasty."
I think what is difficult for me is telling my family and friends. My mom is obviously sympathetic and I'm sure she's told my dad but I also have brothers and when I told my older one his response made me feel more alone-- he thought it was TMI. But my younger brother was a lot more understanding and didn't make me feel judged. My female friends and family have all been sympathetic but they don't truly *get* it.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Day 5 Post-op vestibulectomy
I just wanted to update everyone on my progress. I am currently Day 5 post-op (I had my vestibulectomy on 11/9/10). Days 1 and 2 post-op were the easiest and days 3 and 4 the most difficult. I think a lot of the anesthesia and the IV pain meds didn't really wear off until the end of day 2. Anyway, today is the first day (evening, actually earlier today I wasn't) that I've been able to sit at my desk and use my normal computer as opposed to my laptop. I am sitting on a very comfy chair, however. Besides that it has been difficult to walk far. Right now I am in the least amount of pain I have been so far.
My doctor did call me on 11/10 like she said she would- she just called later in the evening. She said she had done the procedure from basically the 2 o'clock position to the the 10 o'clock position. She said she did not want to risk going farther up because it was too close to my urethra. The ice has been a lifesaver but I finally don't need it all the time anymore. Now I have more of an intense itching sensation. It really helps to use the bottle of water to rinse the area with when I urinate. Sitz baths also help.
I had a bowel movement on the morning of Day 4 and it did not hurt (I had been taking colace for about a week) but it did cause some bleeding. The bleeding quickly stopped though. I had been worried about "popping" a suture/stitch but my doctor told me that this was not possible. She said she used a mix of some very deep stitches and then some superficial sutures. The area she cut was about 5mm deep and 1cm wide. I read the path report yesterday and it just stated that there was chronic edema (swelling) and inflammation in the sample.
I am a little bit concerned because one of my labia seems to be bigger than the other, but I'm not in any pain. Things do feel tight down there.
I think it is important to emphasize that everyone heals at their own rate and it is really difficult to predict how one will handle the procedure. I am lucky in that I didn't have any issues with the muscles down there, nor did I have more generalized pain down there. I think (I hope) for me that it was really just this localized pain that this procedure will take care of. My doctor is very hopeful too.
I don't know about going back to work about a week after- I don't think I'd feel comfortable sitting at my desk all day, but I can work from home at my leisure so I am fortunate in that regard.
I will be coming back and giving periodic updates on my progress.
My doctor did call me on 11/10 like she said she would- she just called later in the evening. She said she had done the procedure from basically the 2 o'clock position to the the 10 o'clock position. She said she did not want to risk going farther up because it was too close to my urethra. The ice has been a lifesaver but I finally don't need it all the time anymore. Now I have more of an intense itching sensation. It really helps to use the bottle of water to rinse the area with when I urinate. Sitz baths also help.
I had a bowel movement on the morning of Day 4 and it did not hurt (I had been taking colace for about a week) but it did cause some bleeding. The bleeding quickly stopped though. I had been worried about "popping" a suture/stitch but my doctor told me that this was not possible. She said she used a mix of some very deep stitches and then some superficial sutures. The area she cut was about 5mm deep and 1cm wide. I read the path report yesterday and it just stated that there was chronic edema (swelling) and inflammation in the sample.
I am a little bit concerned because one of my labia seems to be bigger than the other, but I'm not in any pain. Things do feel tight down there.
I think it is important to emphasize that everyone heals at their own rate and it is really difficult to predict how one will handle the procedure. I am lucky in that I didn't have any issues with the muscles down there, nor did I have more generalized pain down there. I think (I hope) for me that it was really just this localized pain that this procedure will take care of. My doctor is very hopeful too.
I don't know about going back to work about a week after- I don't think I'd feel comfortable sitting at my desk all day, but I can work from home at my leisure so I am fortunate in that regard.
I will be coming back and giving periodic updates on my progress.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
I am SO glad to be on this side of the surgery! I feel such relief. I was terrified before but now I realize there is nothing to be terrified of. My pain today has ranged from 0-3/10. I am able to walk around just fine-- going from laying down to sitting up is a bit painful (a 1 or a 2) in the 6 o'clock position but once I actually sit up correctly I am fine. I try not to sit for too long since I am only on day 1. My doctor did not call as promised, which made me feel irritated but I don't have any questions that can't wait until tomorrow. It just makes me disappointed, I guess, when someone important says they are going to call you and then I have this expectation and then they don't.
I didn't have ice on for most of today. I have it on right now but I don't think I really need it. Urinating is not painful at all and having that squirt bottle to cleanse the area really helps. There is not much else for me to report- uneventful day... not as painful as expected and starting to feel that stretching feeling, which is not painful just a bit uncomfortable. I also haven't looked down there with a mirror yet because I don't want to position myself in a way that could cause pain until I talk to my doctor and okay it with her. I'm supposed to apply estrace cream but I want to talk to my doctor about that-- I think I read on here that someone had used it and it seemed to cause her period to begin early. My period is not due for another 3 weeks and I would like to keep it that way!
I will update you all again once my doctor finally calls me back.
I didn't have ice on for most of today. I have it on right now but I don't think I really need it. Urinating is not painful at all and having that squirt bottle to cleanse the area really helps. There is not much else for me to report- uneventful day... not as painful as expected and starting to feel that stretching feeling, which is not painful just a bit uncomfortable. I also haven't looked down there with a mirror yet because I don't want to position myself in a way that could cause pain until I talk to my doctor and okay it with her. I'm supposed to apply estrace cream but I want to talk to my doctor about that-- I think I read on here that someone had used it and it seemed to cause her period to begin early. My period is not due for another 3 weeks and I would like to keep it that way!
I will update you all again once my doctor finally calls me back.
Hi [name removed],
My doctor also believes that surgery is the only way to cure my vestibulitis. Like you, I only had pain with sex. I used to be able to manage with lidocaine, but as time went on it became more and more painful. Finally, after going to PT and being told that my muscles were essentially normal (when it comes to mind over matter I can do it-- I can relax my muscles for a speculum exam even though I know it will be painful, also same with sex, etc... however, I can't control the pain signals that my vestibule would send to my brain when touched so I decided to have the surgery). I am currently day 1 post op and honestly I feel fine. My pain overall is maybe 2/10 and I don't even have ice on right now. I did take a Vicodin 5 and 800mg ibuprofen but that was a few hours ago. I just walked up and down two flights of stairs to go check my mail and felt completely normal.
Now, obviously I cannot have sex or exercise much beyond walking and other light exercise for the next 4-6 weeks until the incision wound heals, but I'm not on 100% or even 50% bedrest either. My doctor said that I would only be in a lot of pain for the first couple days and then after that I would feel more of a stretching feeling like some women feel after childbirth. I haven't talked to my doctor yet, but I believe that I only had a vestibulectomy from right above the 3 o'clock position to right above the 9 o'clock position (mostly the posterior vestibule).
I know some people on this board and elsewhere have, unfortunately, had complicated, painful recoveries, but it is not that way for everyone. Everyone has a different back story- some people on this board seem to have a pudendal nerve problems, or PFD, or more generalized vulvodynia. I only (so far, knock on wood) had vestibulitis localized in the positions I mentioned above. I could use tampons without pain. I grew up horseback riding. But, for me, 10 years of having pain with intercourse was enough. I didn't want to live/waste another year of my life with that pain. I want to be able to enjoy sex with my hypothetical/future partner as much as a "normal" person. My doctor said the wound would take 4-6 weeks to heal and that the total healing process (e.g., being able to have sex) would take between 4 weeks and 6 months. I've definitely gone longer than 6 months without sex before.
I am generally in good physical shape (i.e., fit) and eat well and this surgery isn't going to change that. I know you mentioned that you were very active and worried about not being able to be active after surgery. I guess it really depends on your doctor and what kind of surgery he/she would do on you. I also noticed that you mentioned your husband would become "angry" when you were not able to finish intercourse yet he does not want you to get "cut" either. This worries me-- I am not a mental health professional-- but anger is a defense mechanism used to control. I can see where he might be frustrated (my longest boyfriend was with me for one and a half years and he was often frustrated, but never angry- especially not during sex. He could be the biggest jerk a lot of the time, but never during sex. He understood that it was simply too painful for me to finish, but there were other ways for him to "finish.") I would encourage you to include your husband on consults with your doctor and have him express his fears so that the doctor could possibly address and allay them. You might also want to see a sex therapist with your husband.
I think it all has to do with getting to the place where you've just exhausted yourself emotionally with the painful intercourse frustration and that kind of pushes you toward being mentally prepared to want to have the surgery. I hope you get there.
I have no idea if my surgery will be "successful" but I am hopeful, and if it not I am sure my surgeon can go in and adjust whatever is not right. Don't resign yourself to a life of painful sex when there are other options. I wish I had had the guts to confront this surgery a year ago but I was in denial to some degree. I kept thinking that this cream or that cream might help, but none of them did. I'm only 29 but I feel like I wasted a decade of my life and that my condition caused all my relationships to fail because what man wants to be with a woman with whom he can't even have sex?
My doctor also believes that surgery is the only way to cure my vestibulitis. Like you, I only had pain with sex. I used to be able to manage with lidocaine, but as time went on it became more and more painful. Finally, after going to PT and being told that my muscles were essentially normal (when it comes to mind over matter I can do it-- I can relax my muscles for a speculum exam even though I know it will be painful, also same with sex, etc... however, I can't control the pain signals that my vestibule would send to my brain when touched so I decided to have the surgery). I am currently day 1 post op and honestly I feel fine. My pain overall is maybe 2/10 and I don't even have ice on right now. I did take a Vicodin 5 and 800mg ibuprofen but that was a few hours ago. I just walked up and down two flights of stairs to go check my mail and felt completely normal.
Now, obviously I cannot have sex or exercise much beyond walking and other light exercise for the next 4-6 weeks until the incision wound heals, but I'm not on 100% or even 50% bedrest either. My doctor said that I would only be in a lot of pain for the first couple days and then after that I would feel more of a stretching feeling like some women feel after childbirth. I haven't talked to my doctor yet, but I believe that I only had a vestibulectomy from right above the 3 o'clock position to right above the 9 o'clock position (mostly the posterior vestibule).
I know some people on this board and elsewhere have, unfortunately, had complicated, painful recoveries, but it is not that way for everyone. Everyone has a different back story- some people on this board seem to have a pudendal nerve problems, or PFD, or more generalized vulvodynia. I only (so far, knock on wood) had vestibulitis localized in the positions I mentioned above. I could use tampons without pain. I grew up horseback riding. But, for me, 10 years of having pain with intercourse was enough. I didn't want to live/waste another year of my life with that pain. I want to be able to enjoy sex with my hypothetical/future partner as much as a "normal" person. My doctor said the wound would take 4-6 weeks to heal and that the total healing process (e.g., being able to have sex) would take between 4 weeks and 6 months. I've definitely gone longer than 6 months without sex before.
I am generally in good physical shape (i.e., fit) and eat well and this surgery isn't going to change that. I know you mentioned that you were very active and worried about not being able to be active after surgery. I guess it really depends on your doctor and what kind of surgery he/she would do on you. I also noticed that you mentioned your husband would become "angry" when you were not able to finish intercourse yet he does not want you to get "cut" either. This worries me-- I am not a mental health professional-- but anger is a defense mechanism used to control. I can see where he might be frustrated (my longest boyfriend was with me for one and a half years and he was often frustrated, but never angry- especially not during sex. He could be the biggest jerk a lot of the time, but never during sex. He understood that it was simply too painful for me to finish, but there were other ways for him to "finish.") I would encourage you to include your husband on consults with your doctor and have him express his fears so that the doctor could possibly address and allay them. You might also want to see a sex therapist with your husband.
I think it all has to do with getting to the place where you've just exhausted yourself emotionally with the painful intercourse frustration and that kind of pushes you toward being mentally prepared to want to have the surgery. I hope you get there.
I have no idea if my surgery will be "successful" but I am hopeful, and if it not I am sure my surgeon can go in and adjust whatever is not right. Don't resign yourself to a life of painful sex when there are other options. I wish I had had the guts to confront this surgery a year ago but I was in denial to some degree. I kept thinking that this cream or that cream might help, but none of them did. I'm only 29 but I feel like I wasted a decade of my life and that my condition caused all my relationships to fail because what man wants to be with a woman with whom he can't even have sex?
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