I had a grascilis muscle flap advancement on April 7 to repair a vaginal fistula. It's been 8 weeks since surgery and my leg is still killing me! How long does the leg pain last after this surgery? When will I feel "normal" again???

sorry nobody has answered, maybe post in general questions? i'm curious as i think i'm dealing with a vaginal fistula right now, should find out this next week. i've looked a little into the different 'fixes' and am sad to see you are still in pain with the flap. i hope you are feeling much better soon... xo

I'm sorry I don't remember just how long my leg hurt but I do remember it took a long time to stop aching. The pain should lessen quite a bit over the next couple weeks though and just feel like a sore area, no sharp pain. I had my surgery in march (a couple, years ago) and remember thinking in september of that year that I finally felt completely healed. I felt fine by June but 6 months before I didn't have any leaking or pain. It is a long recovery but I am so glad that fistula is gone gone gone!

My leg where the cut was made didn't hurt at all as they sliced right through a nerve but I would have pain inside my pouch and itching that I would actually feel inside my "leg" since the muscle is still connected so my brain thinks it's still my leg. That lessened after about 3 months but I still have the phantom pain there 11 years later if I'm being examined or something.

As far as when you'll feel "normal" that could take a while. Out of my 12 surgeries, this was the most difficult to recover from. I was on a walker for a while and then graduated to a cane. It took a few months if I remember correctly. I guess at least 3 months?

thanks, ladies. I had an appointment this week, and great news! The hole in the vaginal wall is almost closed now. It is tiny (like the size of a pencil eraser). Before surgery, it was larger than a 50 cent piece. Doc told me this week that a lot of the drainage and pain that I'm having now is actually an external wound (the "hole" that had opened up as the exit point for the fistula, where my rectum used to be). I'm packing that now with Aquacel, which is drawing out the drainage and has worked great on me before with hard-to-heal wounds. I go back in a month to have things checked again; hopefully wounds will be closed by then.

What a wild ride!!! I agree that this is the worst of all of the surgeries. At one point, I lived with a big drain tube sewn into my rectal area for 5 months. I thought that was awful; but this has it beat! I told my step-mom that if this fails, I am NOT having it done again. I would rather spring a thousand leaks and be a human sprinkler. This surgery has been a nightmare!!!! But it is nice to have you girls to share the experience with. It's good to not feel so alone.