So, Yeah, That Happened

The surgery I had to correct my bladder leakage seems to have altogether failed, which has caused me no small amount of grief.

One night as my partner and I were getting intimate he discovered a bit of wire protruding into my vagina. At first I thought this wire was from my bladder sling from ten years ago but the urologist who did the surgery found that it was her suture. A suture meant to keep my new bladder sling in place. She believed the sling shifted and that could also be why it stopped working.

During her exam she discovered my uterine fibroids are putting a lot of pressure on my bladder which may be contributing to my urge incontinence issue. She is passing that information along to my OBGYN who will no doubt want to see me. I’m also pretty sure it will take a month or two to get an appointment. But I digress…

As for the issue at hand my urologist needed to explore…I got pretty lucky with appointments. I reported the issue to my urologist’s office on a Wednesday and had an appointment the following Tuesday. That almost never happens but there was a last minute cancellation.

It was at this appointment she discovered that her suture had moved. She said we would need to do surgery to see if she can correct it and she would maybe add a filler to bulk up my urethra, which should also help with the stress incontinence. I would have to wait until early January but she was going to put me on the OR schedule.

I started thinking that my Christmas would suck, I would be uncomfortable with this stupid wire hanging around in my vagina. I got a phone call this morning from her office. There was a cancellation for the OR for tomorrow morning due to covid. I was excited and terrified at the same time.

I arrived at the appointed day and time.as it turned out there was a miscommunication and I was on the schedule for the next day. I was told someone would call me with a new time. I received no phone call but I sill showed up first thing (6:00 am). I was then told it would be a while because I wasn’t on the schedule until 11:30 am. I was furious and my anxiety hit the roof! There would be no sense in complaining so I said nothing.

Thankfully, I ended up going straight in for the surgery but I can’t say I’m happy with the result. I have a urinary tract infection, so I have to take antibiotics, again. There was scar tissue forming around the new sling so it could not be moved but there is opportunity to do another sling in a few months, if need be. She did not bulk up my urethra, she wants wait and see how I do with the antibiotics and follow up in six weeks.

There’s nothing I can do but wait to hear back from her office and from my OBGYN’s office for appointments. I’m stressed, my nervous system is in overdrive and I need to calm it and try to stay smoke-free.