Hi ladies. I recently received an e-mail with a couple of questions about both the physical and emotional aspect of what one may experience post-procedure. Specifically, in the immediate days following the procedure, is it normal to experience soreness/discomfort and also, is it normal to experience increased emotions (i.e. anxiety, etc.)? This was my response:
It’s entirely normal to feel some discomfort w/the dilators and also very emotional. This is expected seeing how much you have been through in such a short amount of time. It’s called the let-down period and I absolutely experienced this as well. Ellen was super, super helpful to me with this and also very supportive too. Also, Dr. Pacik told me that the soreness was from all the traffic down there and was to be expected … very, very true for me. For me, it was almost like never ever working out and then doing boot camp for 2 straight days. At the end, your muscles would be sore from all the running, jumping jacks, etc. Here, too, my muscles were a bit sore from the dilating (very normal and expected). And, my anxiety also went way up and down post-procedure too b/c of all the build-up to it and then giant sigh of relief afterwards. It’s like when I was studying non-stop for an exam. Our instructors told us that we may catch a cold or get a little sick following the test b/c we built up to it for so long and the stress associated with this. Again, entirely normal and expected.
To the veterans, what have been your own experiences both physically and emotionally in the first few days following the procedure? Do you have any specific advice that may be helpful to those recently treated or awaiting their treatments?
