This post is for anyone developing the symptoms I developed after a big surgery. What I went through was all over the place and didn’t quite make sense to either the urologist or my surgeon, but it apparently is common to develop any of these issues after a big surgery concerning your lower organs.
Like the title states, I had a lot done to save my insides. On May 26, I underwent a 5 hour surgery to remove stage 4 endometriosis covering my lower organs as well as fibroid removal (several small and one big fibroid that smooshed my bladder, intestines and uterus). To top everything off, they removed a group of nerves that conducts the pain signal from the uterus to the brain.
The surgery itself went well. Sadly the recovery became chaotic. A week into the recovery period, the pain got so bad I went to the ER. I developed bladder retention. I wore a Foley catheter for nearly a couple weeks and was going through bladder spasm pain and struggling to gain control over my bladder.
Halfway through the catheter usage, I started having an overreactive bladder. I was literally peeing into the catheter and outside of it. My symptoms were baffling my surgeon/obgyn and his nurses. Even after I finally removed the catheter, I was still peeing constantly. I had to get a lot of incontinence pads. I was miserable.
I was referred to an urologist to figure out what was going on. I was still dealing with bladder spasms and bladder/urethra pain. The pain flared when I had to get a cytology. The urologist saw a couple abnormal areas on my bladder during this procedure.
He had me make an appointment for a biopsy procedure with a fellow urologist. This procedure also led to a lot of bleeding. I literally was on and off antibiotics for a month and a half at this point because of all the hematuria.
I received my biopsy results on August 3: Cystitis cystica. Literally my bladder got fecked up by the catheter and then again from the biopsy procedure. I was on antibiotics for 7 days after I had blood in my urine again. My bladder was still over-reactive, but the way the urologists spoke made it sound like it would resolve itself.
Luckily, it did. August 11, my bladder stopped releasing constantly. And I was able to hold my pee and to release it on command. No more incontinence pads. Woo!
Now the only issue I have at the moment is a long period. It started on August 16 and has been continuing since then. I’ll be seeing a gynecologist on the 5th. I know that long periods is a possibility after a laporoscopy but I’d like to check with my gyno. Last time I had irregular periods, I had to take birth control to regulate it. I’m not sure if I’ll have to do that again, but hopefully it’ll regulate on its own.
Sincerely,
Jenn
Methodical Magpie 