The Sky is Falling

Okay...really it's not the sky, just my uterus.

Warning...this post contains personal info and perhaps WTMI (way too much info) for some .

So, about 2 months or so ago, I started having a problem going to the bathroom.  My pooper was no longer functioning properly, basically I'd try to go and felt as if I was hitting a barrier and nothing could come out.  I was embarrassed and didn't know what the heck was going on.  I kept this issue to myself for a couple weeks and then finally confided in a nurse at work.  Over the next couple days she told me some things to try and then she said she thought I might have a prolapsed uterus.  So, I went to see my gynecologist.  Yes indeed...I do have a prolapsed uterus (it's falling out) and what's called a Rectocele (the lining between my rectum and vagina has colapsed...explaining my lack of poo issues).  These things are most likely caused by all my pregnancies.   My gynecologist doesn't do surgery so she sent a different gyno in to see me and I was so happy to see that she is female! (I really like having a female Dr).  Dr Rutan came in, I got to have another pelvic exam (two for the price of one!) and she also did a biopsy of my uterus.  She told me she thinks I should have a hysterectomy and she could also repair my bladder (it's also falling out)...meaning no more having to cross my legs everytime I cough, laugh or sneeze!!  and she will repair the rectocele so I can go potty!  She sent me out to see a urologist to make sure my bladder was normal and not in need of specialized surgery to fix it.  So, I went to the urologist....he told me he needed to "get a lay of the land" so I was scheduled for a Cystoscopy....this is a lovely procedure where I got to lay on my back with my legs in stirrups and a tube was inserted in my urethra so the Dr could get a "lay of the land"....ends up my land is normal and Dr Rutan can perform the bladder lift on her own.  But Dr urologist decides I should go see a GI specialist because he doesn't think that  rectocele is big enough to be causing all my poop problems (or lack of said poop).....so off I went to see a GI Dr.  I did not like the GI Dr at all...I actually saw a Nurse Practitioner and she was okay....just not real sympathetic or empathetic.  She called the GI Doc and he decided I should have several very invasive tests.....the Nurse practitioner told me about the tests I would be having, I sat with a scheduler, got them all scheduled (colonoscopy scheduled for Christmas Eve)...barely made it to the van where I promptly burst into tears.  I basically cried the entire day long...I slept for four hours and cried some more...by the time I got to work my eyes looked distorted and swollen.  You see the colonoscopy would be the easy test I had to do....for drugs are involved in that one.  The first test coming my way was a Defagram.....this was the biggest cause of my anguish that day...I could not fathom having to do what is required for this test.  You see, a Defagram is performed after the tech shoots barium paste up your hiney and then you sit on potty seat and poo out the paste while the radiologist stands next to you watching you do it on xray.  Now, I'm a very open person....but my poop has always been my business and something I don't share with anyone....not even my husband....it's private and the thought of doing this business in front of someone else just completely mortified me....I honestly thought there would be no way I could do it....but I did.  I made it through and now I'm even sharing about it on my blog!  After this test Dr Rutan called me and asked me how things were going...I told her I was so unhappy with the GI office.  She suggested I go see a friend of hers, who is a colorectal surgeon.  So, I did and she was so awesome!!  Her name is Dr Krier and she is wonderful.  She is so sweet and kind and she went to school in Utah...which is a big plus in my book :).  She was able to get my colonscopy and the other test I needed to have done (an anorectal manometry)scheduled on the same day, Dec 6th...so much better than Christmas Eve.  So I prepared for the colonscopy the night before, I'm sure my colon has never been so clean!  I arrived at the hospital at 645 and was immediately ushered into a little room to change into a gown.  Next an IV was inserted into my hand and then Dr Krier was there.  She was so kind to me and the nurses.  I laid on my side and had the anorectal manometry first.  This test is performed with a small tube like instrument inserted into your hiney...there is a small balloon like thing on the end of it.  It's performed to test the muscles in your rectum.  You have to tighten and push and it's all very fast, somewhat uncomfortable and embarrassing.  I'm assuming no one likes to have objects up their bum, I know I don't.....but by this point my dignity is gone and I'm almost getting used to people probing my orifices (almost being the key word here).  After that test it was time for my colonoscopy....this is where the lovely versed came into play....that and fentanyl.  Versed is a drug that helps you "forget" and fentanyl is for pain.  These are the drugs that make a colonscopy bearable...you don't really remember it.  I did remember just a couple things.  I remember saying "ow ow ow that hurts" and someone saying "give her more fentanyl.  I remember saying that but I don't remember actually feeling it.  I also remember "waking" up to see my colon on the monitor and Dr Krier removing a polyp.  Then I was recovering and just felt somewhat tired and hungry (after all that fasting and flushing out).  Aaron took me home and I slept til 1pm and felt just fine after that.  A couple days later I met with Dr Krier and guess what!!!  My uterus is falling onto my rectum and making it just about impossible for me to go poo!!  So, I went through all of that to be told exactly what I was told in the first place!!  The one good thing out of all this is that the polyp removed from my colon was precancerous and had I waited til I was 50 to have a colonoscopy it very well could of become cancerous.  I also learned that I can make it through things that I never thought I could and live to tell about it.    Surgery is scheduled for December 27th (saving a lot of moola having it before the end of the year)...having my uterus removed, my bladder lifted and the rectocele repaired.  So, what's the moral to this story???  Don't have a lot of kids cause your uterus might fall out!  (just kidding....I would go through all this and more for my kidlins...love them more than they will ever know.)    OH...and do your Kegels!!!!!