His and Her Health

I had a vestibulectomy 18 days ago...I did the bedrest and ice for the first week, then went for a really long walk to the bank. I don't have a car and live alone...then on day 8, the contractors fixing my building left a notice late in the day that I had to have all the stuff moved from in front of my windows on Monday...on days 10 and 11 post op I did A LOt of lifting, moving, bending and stepping up and down off a stool...by the end of the 11th day and on the 12th day, I felt that something had "pulled"...I now have a worsening severe pain on the left side with lesions on my iinner labia...

this all had to happen during the holidays, I was freaking out between day 12 and 18 as this worsened...to me it feels WRONG...a deep pain...as if there is an opening that should not be there...I was seen by TWO male doctors today...one one call from my GP made a house visit to see if it was infected..he barely looked at it and said it was fine and to take ADVIL, but he didn't seem to know about the proecedure...

then I went to EMERG at the hospital where it was done, hoping they could contact my surgeon...the second male doctor looked at it more thoroughly and said it was not infected, there was no open wound and it looked fine to him...but it hurts like hell! I am taking the Tylenol 3s they gave me post op to kill the pain and it does not fully relieve it...

I just have to get through this night so I can go to my family doctor's office in the morning and hopefully be looked at more carefully by somebody more accustomed to dealing with women's reproductive health...

my Hymenal tabs are enlarged, hard and have no feeling....I didn't even understand what had been done for the first week, until I started getting in the tub...the sutures have not dissolved and are poking me in this deep recess on the left side...I am scared and regretting having this done...I am worried I made the problem worse and that my vagina is disfigured forever...

Alone, no car, christmas holidays, renovations...walking, lifting...I feel after waiting so long for the surgery the whole thing got ruined...I wish my surgeon could look at it because she knows what to look for...

Oh this really sucks and it's nearly 4 a.m. only 51/2 hours till they open I am really scared and alone...

I replied to your first post before I read this one.Being alone and going through an operation and recovery period with no help sucks. I hope you have gotten to see your surgeon . Don't give up , you are going through a bad time . Recovery takes longer for some than others. Try to give your self more down time and no more lifting! Ask a neighbor ,call a friend.
Good luck

hi there

i can imagine very well how you feel because I'm in a similar situation....still in pain although I had the vestibulectomy almost 4 weeks ago....when I touch the area it still feels sore and it looks scary....my docto is also on vacation until 11th January and I don't know what to do...what if the surgery didn't work? I'm also alone..
I wish you good luck and hope the pain will go away soon.

Both of you ladies are very brave to go through the operation with out help or a friend or family member to assist you. It will get better .I wish you had more access to your Dr. Did not the Dr. on vacation leave someone to cover for him? Good luck to both of you and hang in there.

Hi there...thanks for your post...try to just hang in...because of the holidays, I couldn't see my surgeon...

I saw two male doctors on Wednesday and they both said it looked fine without infection, but they also had never heard of the procedure and kept asking why i got it done! Overnight it just kept getting more painful, so the next day I saw a doctor at my family doctor's clinic and she thought it was early bartholin gland infection and sent me to emerg to see the gyny on call...she was there with a resident...so all told, by the end of day thursday, I had seen 5 doctors! And finally they gave me an anti-biotic, saying they didn't think it would help, that I had indeed strained my pelvic floor muscles, pulled the stitches apart and that I had to start from square one in terms of resting and icing and taking it easy....

I was given Tamacet for pain and told I could take 2 of those and 2 extra strength Ibuprofen (advil) every 4-6 hours...that seemed like a lot, so I stuck to one of each except for the first night...well, within 24 hours I developed an allergic reaction to the Tamaset and had difficulty breathing...I went in an ambulance to emergency last night and got to see a doctor after 5 hours...I'm okay, but it's been such a stretch...during the holidays all the specialists and surgeons go away...and you have to see whoever you can just to make sure it's not a flaming infection....i feel the anti-biotic must have helped, because I haven't taken any pain meds for nearly 24 hours and my pain level is manageable...before i started taking the anti-biotics, it felt like the whole left side of the buttock, and flesh under the vagina was throbbing and inflamed...now it is just a localized pain in the area of the sutures...

If you feel that your pain level is really unjustified, then try to see any doctor in emergency....go during the day so they can refer you to the gynecologist on call...the gynecologist told me that it all looked fine...that pain is normal to have...that the hardened hymenal tabs were not alarming...the stitches would eventually dissolve....

It is very important to have sitz baths for 10-20 minutes 2-3 times per day... pour table salt into a tub of warm water and soak the area....to soothe and disenfect...use gel cold packs from freezer for pain and regular advil and ibuprofen unless you're sure you don't have an allergy...tylenol 3s and tamasec obviously didn't agree with me....

I guess it's normal to look scary at this point....you are only 1 week more advanced than I am...I would just do the baths...keep taking it easy, avoid any lifting at all and rest...if you have worries or severe pain try to see gynecologist through emerg, if that's covered through your insurance...otherwise it's probably fine...for all my stressing and worrying, I had 5 doctors say it seemed okay...

hang in there...it's got to get better!
from British Columbia, Canada...

!! Ooo another Canadian on the board!

Re Artchick- did you have your surgery in the States? Every physician and resident (I know a few gynecology residents, one of which is in Vancouver) that I've seen/known in Canada has no idea of the surgery. The ones who have heard of it say it is bad : S I'm still going to get it, one day or another!

I'm LyndiCan, and LyndiCan2 on here @^_^@

Good luck with your healing ladies, and thank you for sharing your stories with us who want the surgery!

Hi, no I had the surgery in Vancouver through the UBC hospital women's clinic at Vancouver General Hospital...

mvprogram.org/Home_1378.htm

there is only one doc in town doing the surgery right now...Dr. Leslie Sawdonik...

My pain is subsiding and I think the anti-biotics helped...at three weeks, the sutures are finally getting thinner and softer....my right side has healed very well, but left side is taking longer...painful and enlarged hymenal tabs look strange and have no feeling...all enlarged and hard...hope that will disipate...emerg gyny seemed to think so....

Good luck...I will update as it goes....

How did everything go with your doctor? hope all is well. I am recovering from an abdominal hysterectomy and also feel like I'm doing too much and need to relax more.

I wasn't able to see my surgeon...pehaps this week when she returns from vacation...howver, I was seen by several doctors who did not know the surgery I had...they said I looked normal....I finally saw a gynecologist in Emergency and she said the sutures where pulled apart from the strain of liifting, but that everything looked okay...she told me (last Wednesday) to just start over in terms of post-op protocol...no lifting....

It's really hard to avoid lifting, especially if you are used to picking up heavy stuff and never giving it any thought....

At this stage, I really regret haviing the surgery...I hope it will heal nicer and not look so monstrous in a few weeks....

My stitches hes have not yet dissolved.

It's pretty hard to lay low, but I learned the hard way...just do it! Better to be inactive than to delay healing time anothe 2-3 weeks due to strain, or worse yet, wound dehiscience (when the healing part pulls apart)....

I can't imagine what you must be going through...My surgery was minor by comparasin and I am miserable....

Just hang in there! Things have to get better!

Thanks. I hope you take it easy now. NO LIFTING!!! you want to heal the right way. You also want to avoid or at least minimize scaring. Scar tissue can be very painful, and long-lasting. I have been taking aloe vera juice. I don't know if it is helping, but my research says that it is supposed to help with healthy cellular tissue growth. But the main thing is to not strain or pull until you are healed, which in my case can be 6months to a year!!

So, be very careful, so that you can heal the best way possible and prevent further complications.

And take it easy

I checked out the MVP program in Vancouver, BC (that artchick mentioned) and sadly they only treat BC residents. Just so other Cancan girls know : ) Note to self. . move back to BC. I hope your healing is going well everyone!

Okay..I just had my 6 week post-op appointment today....everything is doing well...

I was in crisis writing my previous posts and I want to take you through the vestibulectemy so you know what to expect...

Post op you will be feeling some pain and discomfort which is alleviated with pain meds and ice packs...

MAKE SURE TO DO 2 WEEKS OF MODIFIED BED REST...DO NOT EXPECT TO SIT, TO WALK ANY FURTHER THAN AROUND YOUR DWELLING, TO LIFT ANYTHING HEAVIER THAN YOUR DINNER PLATE, OR EXERT YOURSELF IN ANY WAY OTHER THAN READING, WATCHING TV OR SURFING THE NET....

Don't make the mistake I did, walking all over, running to catch a bus, lifting all kinds of heavy shit, etc...or you will seriously delay your healing time....

DON'T GET YOUR SURGERY ANY LATER THAN DEC 1...you don't want to be dealing with any complications over the holidays when nobody is around.

Expect your vagina to look like a scary monster for at least 4 weeks post op...there will be stitches poking you - that's why it's important to LIE STILL for 2 weeks...this will allow the wound optimum healing time and prevent and separation or painful pulling of sutures or poking.

Expect that the topography of your vagina will seem alarmingly different post op...when they excise the horsehoe shaped skin, they pull flesh from inside the vagina towards the opening, therefore the lumpy little hymenal carbuncles inside your opening will be pulled more towards the surface...because of the stitches at their base, they will be hard, numb to the touch...THIS IS NORMAL...the tissue will soften by 6 weeks and regain it's normal colour (mine seemed orangey)...normal sensations will return....

It took more than 4 weeks for my sutures to dissolve...I was uncomfortable for almost four weeks, but I think it would have been better without the physical activity...

At 6 weeks, my vagina looks pink and healthy, the sutures are gone, the wounds are healed and you wouldn't know to look that I had surgery...I still feel some stinging in the areas that bothered me pre-op, and it's hard to know if it was a success yet...it will still take some time to heal, but the initial trauma is over...my Q-tip test had me at 5 or less on a pain scale in those areas...mostly 3 or less which is normal...

Okay...so now comes the news that NOBODY ever freaking talks about with regards to vulvar pain...

The main cause of pain is diet and the main aggravating factor is SUGAR. All forms of SUGAR, including fruit...if you really want to have relief, either with or without surgery, it is essential to cut your sugar intake...I can't site any scientific study other than my own experimentation for many years...I did not have the willpower to rely solely on diet for outcome, so I have had the surgery as an incentive to follow a good diet...I feel that with the excision of the sore tissue, in addition to having zero yeast aggravation or disturbance of PH balance, that I stand a better chance of success. I have also noticed that caffeine and spicy foods affect the problem, and since no specialists seem to be able to say WTF the bartholin glands are, I say they excrete whatever you eat and drink and cause irritation of the areas implicated in vulvodynia...

So...I will report back as to whether the operation was a success, but for now I am fully healed and looking normal and it took between 5-6 weeks to get to this point...just for your reference...

Best of luck!

Hey artchik, How are you feeling? Have things gotten better since this post? How has your healing been? I just had it done so I'm looking for people's experiences, thanks!

Also, how do you know about this diet thing? You're saying a person who has VV doesn't need to do the surgery, but getting rid of sugar from the diet will be good enough to cure us?