Althouse: "Once I got past being mortified..."

November 9, 2009

"Once I got past being mortified..."

"I can laugh about a lot of this now..."

(This story is a lesson in the consequences of failing to seek medical attention when something is wrong.)

22 comments:

MadisonMan said...: Well, I can say with confidence that'll never happen to me.; 11/9/09, 9:33 AM
Bob_R said...: Grew up on a sheep farm. Trying to repair a prolapsed vagina and/or uterus is about as awful job as I can remember. Cured me of wanting to go to med school.; 11/9/09, 9:35 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Jeez - just the story's title should require you put a 'NSFME' [not safe for men's eyes].; 11/9/09, 9:49 AM
traditionalguy said...: So she was takes advice from Yoga practitioners but never mentioned this obvious malfunction to a doctor thru a delivery and thru a surgery for an appendix problem. It sounds like her reasoning prolapsed out of her mind.; 11/9/09, 9:51 AM
former law student said...: Agree with AJL -- needs a "not for the easily squicked" tag; 11/9/09, 9:54 AM
Wince said...: Thanks for sharing. So much information.

The description made me think of a monkey's butt, but I'm not sure this is a cure.; 11/9/09, 10:03 AM
Joan said...: I understand some people would rather live in denial than face reality, but this woman's story amazed me. The combination of prolapse, cystocele, and rectocele affects so many aspects of a woman's life I can't imagine how she (and her husband) endured it for so long before she had it treated.

It really is something, too, that she's willing to talk about it. I had the same thing back in 2003 (needed only one surgery, thank God) and mentioned it a few times on my own blog, but it's not something you ever hear about.

wv: angra. I'd be angra at my spouse if he had an obvious medical problem that he ignored for so long.; 11/9/09, 10:08 AM
Andrea said...: That sounds like one of those old-Southern-lady stories. "Whoosh! My parts just fell right out!" The best part, of course, was being an invalid and having everyone's attention. And being able to say "My husband was a perfect gentleman." Which meant that when he wanted sex he'd go get it from his mistress instead of bothering his wife.

Seriously, this makes me glad I never took up yoga.; 11/9/09, 10:28 AM
Dustin said...: Joan's right. If my wife's vagina had an obvious visible problem, I would freak the hell out for her.; 11/9/09, 10:29 AM
Larry Davis said...: My Mom had this condition as well as a friend of mine. Not so rare.; 11/9/09, 10:40 AM
Beth said...: Not long after my hysterectomy this summer, I had some persistant pain in my abdomen. I called my doctor about it, and it was late Friday afternoon, with him on his way out of town, when he called back. "Gosh," he said. "Maybe the stitches in your cuff have failed. Come in Monday."

So I googled "failure stitches cuff" and freaked right the hell out. All weekend.

Luckily, it was nothing so dire. But man, the thought of your stuff falling out - any of that stuff - is just awful.; 11/9/09, 10:52 AM
Synova said...: I didn't have *that* but I ended up having to have surgery. I liked my surgeon but she definitely failed in the bed-side manner (which bothered me not at all)... but she *told* me that a nurse had looked at my chart and said "I'd be so embarrassed." And my doctor said that she said, "I told her that she wouldn't be embarrassed, she'd be in pain."

Honestly... men don't go to the doctor because they're tough... women don't go because they're embarrassed?

I suppose I can see a teenage girl reacting that way, but I really didn't think there was any "embarrassed" left after giving birth.; 11/9/09, 10:57 AM
bearbee said...: I don't get the 'embarrassed' thing when your guts are falling out.

Shades of 1950's mentality?; 11/9/09, 11:21 AM
Daniel Fielding said...: Madison-Man: I wouldnt be so sure about a prolapse every happening to you. :) My uncle just had surgery to have his prostate gland removed (he had an aggressive for of cancer. Then , shortly after his surgery, when he was back home, his rectum and part of his colon( I think), fell out!!! Had to be rushed at the ER, where they managed to fix the problem!!!; 11/9/09, 11:33 AM
vbspurs said...: That sounds like one of those old-Southern-lady stories. "Whoosh! My parts just fell right out!"

LOL. Perhaps in an adaptation of "Little Foxes" -- Allison Henry's role played by Bernadette Peters, due to the uncanny hair similarity.

Cheers,
Victoria; 11/9/09, 11:46 AM
vbspurs said...: wv: monherbe!!!

As in, I took mon herbes for my prolapsed vagina. Why are the word verifications strangely on point today?

P.S.: OMG. Mogyn is the wv now!!; 11/9/09, 11:47 AM
Angst said...: Thank you Ann.

As a male, this is not a "Yucky" post - it is about the our health - and just as importantly, the health of those we love.

My mother in law must have suffered a similar (though I hope not as sever) condition that neither my wife (nor any of her siblings) knew anything about until a physical exam during a late stage of her dementia.

We cannot afford to be squeamish about our bodies.; 11/9/09, 12:34 PM
holdfast said...: I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Serious stuff, really - but how could she be so clueless?

This is like the Army Medic who didn't get his hernia treated because he thought that he had just spontaneously grown a third nut one day. True Story.; 11/9/09, 1:30 PM
Kylos said...: Reading the WaiterRant site after the rules for servers post a few days ago, I came across a post in which the ranting waiter casually mentioned manually expressing a dog's anal sacs.

Amazingly, this post and that WaiterRant post have a most disgusting tie-in. Perhaps a year ago, I had the pleasure of witnessing my dog's rectal prolapse. When I noticed him licking and chewing at something unusual sticking out of him, I couldn't believe my eyes, but I knew it had to be what I thought it was. It retracted on its own, but the vet had to express his anal sacs to stop the constipation that was ejecting his rectum.

Sorry for the mental picture, but I figure that with the linked article, the damage has already been done.; 11/9/09, 2:59 PM
natatomic said...: This happened to my dog just last week, and it was an incredibly disturbing sight. And now just a week later I check this blog to read about a woman who experienced it. Oh how I hope there isn't a Rule of Threes thing for falling vaginas like there is for dying celebrities.; 11/9/09, 10:25 PM
cheddar said...: "I was referred to a pelvic floor specialist. She took a look and said, 'Holy crap..."

That part made me laugh.; 11/10/09, 11:58 AM
Largo said...: I wanted better thread for my Trots and Bonnie link, but I guess this one will do.

Bon appétit!; 11/11/09, 1:36 PM