Questions for May and June 2014 Patients

[Heather34]

Hi ladies. For those of you who have your procedure coming up in May and June, please feel free to ask any questions at all that you may have pre-procedure. It can be anything at all from what it is like to do the dilating to what fun things there are to do in New Hampshire, Boston, and the whole New England area while you are here. I live right outside of Boston and would be happy to share. I look forward to reading your posts.

[heather123]

Hey, it’s another Heather! Nice to meet you 🙂

I’m a June patient…very nervous…excited though after reading the successes of others and hoping I’ll get to join the team and not stay on the bench another four years…

My big worry and fear is the post procedure when I wake up a dilator inside me.
When I tried dilating myself before learning about Dr. Pacik’s services, the hardest most painful time I had was getting the dilator OUT. It was like a vagina indian burn….big time.
If a huge dilator is inside me at the procedure, will it be difficult to pull out? 🙁

[Heather34]

Hi Heather. I am so, so excited for you to be having your upcoming procedure in June. The time will fly and it will be here before you know it and everything is going to go so, so well for you. I, too, was very nervous about all aspects of dilating prior to my procedure in June including the removal. What helped me so much was using a very liberal amount of surgi-lube/lidocaine mixture on the dilators.

Other useful tips from Dr. Pacik include:

1. Using a silicone lubricant first, then water based on top of this. The silicone based lube will remain on the dilator.

2. Try using olive oil as a base on the dilator, then the water based lube.

3. Twist the dilator before removing to break the seal.

And, further useful tips include:

“What I try and do, apart from using more lube, is pull out the same way I push in – with kegels. I squeeze and release, and on the release it’s easier to pull out the dilator a little bit.”

I hope these help. Are you making your visit to NH into an extended trip at all? June is an absolutely beautiful time to visit all of New England (i.e. Boston, New Hampshire, the coast) and the weather is gorgeous!!!

[KatieG07]

Hi Heather & Heather.
I am a June patient as well 6/9. I actually am local and live here in Manchester, NH so things will be easy for my 2 days off work for this procedure. I’m more excited to have this procedure done then be nervous. Plus Dr. Pacik and my OB and PCP tell me I’m an “easy” patient with a less severity then some patients with Vaginismus. I’m not one to jump off the exam table at any given appt. Finally a cure to my husbands and I’s issues that hopefully will lead us down the road to getting pregnant. My big goal! Although hearing the words dilation does make me a tiny bit nervous. It was helpful to see what you wrote in the last message Heather about dilation thanks.

Hopefully I don’t confuse the names since your both Heather 🙂

Heather if you need any recommendations of fun things to do in NH or the surrounding areas let me know. Hopefully it warns up and you can make it to the seacoast. That’s always a nice get away for me when I need to relax or de stress. Look forward to chatting with you girls more in the next coming weeks and meeting others on here going through everything. We are all here together 🙂

Katie

[Heather34]

Hi Katie. I am so, so excited for you to have your upcoming procedure in June. As I wrote to Heather, the time is going to fly by and it will be here before you know it and you both will then be on the other side of vaginismus. I, too, was very nervous about dilation and everything that came with it but I found after going through it that my pre-procedure fears and worries were the worst part of all and the actual waking up with the dilator and then dilating was nothing like I had imagined/dreaded and ended up being fine. You, too, will both see this. Sending you both hugs and support!!!

[Hanna]

Hi there, I am another June patient (6/2). I am at the polar extreme to Katie in that we are travelling a long way from overseas to have this procedure done – 3 flights, 29 hours total – just to get to New York! Then we are driving to Boston for the weekend, before making our way to Manchester on Sunday night. All very exciting!

My biggest fear is that I don’t wake up with the dilator in place. Like I am going to be the one person it won’t work for. I guess that is a common worry, since we are used to being disappointed!

Anyways, would love to hear if anyone else has 6/2 as their procedure date…

[Alice14]

Hello Everyone!
I am also a June patient! 6/2 to be exact. The same day as you, Hanna! I am traveling from across the country (West Coast) for this procedure and will be extending my stay one day on the front end and two days on the tail end. My husband and I have never been to New Hampshire and we are excited to explore the area!

I, too, am VERY nervous about dilation! I have not been able to have an exam or have anything penetrate down there and have one of the most severe cases. I am also nervous about going under anesthesia. I have never been under any anesthesia before and I am worried it won’t knock me out all the way! Probably a silly fear, but a fear nonetheless.

Also, to Heather who has already gone through this, how did you do with keeping to a dilation schedule post procedure once you got home? I am a nurse and I work long hours and have to get up really early for work and I sometimes don’t get home till around 8pm. How much time did you spend dilating per day?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions! I am very excited for the procedure and look forward to meeting the other women who are scheduled on the same day as me.

[Hanna]

Hi Alice!

It’s so nice to hear from another 6/2-er! Can you believe that in only 5 weeks the procedure will be done?! I’m so excited and nervous all at the same time.

The anesthesia fear is not silly at all – I feel exactly the same. I have never been put under anesthesia before either, and I worry that I will be semi aware of what is happening. I don’t like the thought of being completely out of control so I feel like I might instinctively fight it? I was getting quite stressed about it (also have huge fear of needles!), but somehow I have come to terms with it. I just keep thinking about how cool it is going to be to wake up after the procedure. This is going to be life changing!

Look forward to meeting you soon!

[KatieG07]

Hello Ladies

It’s great to meet you all doing the June procedure is there any 6/9 ladies here?? It’s great to see how far you will travel to have this life changing procedure done. I’m excited to have this done. I’ve been under anesthesia for dentist appts before so it can’t be any worse. Remember we are all in this together. And for those girls who are going the week before me I’m excited to hear a few days after how everything goes before mine takes place 🙂

[Heather34]

Quote:

Quote from Alice14 on April 28, 2014, 21:37

Also, to Heather who has already gone through this, how did you do with keeping to a dilation schedule post procedure once you got home? I am a nurse and I work long hours and have to get up really early for work and I sometimes don’t get home till around 8pm. How much time did you spend dilating per day?

Hi Alice. I am so, so excited for you to have the upcoming procedure in June along with the other ladies. I know it will go so, so well. Your question about finding the time to dilate is excellent. I, too, returned back home and had a very busy work schedule. To accommodate this, I would often dilate for 2hrs in the late evening time daily with the medium (purple), and larger (pink), and largest (blue) and I would sleep with the medium (purple) every other night – All Pure Romance Dilator Set. This worked very well for me but, now, with the creation of the new glass dilators, it opens a world of possibilities as they are much, much more comfortable and allow you to go about daily activities while dilating. In fact, some women have even posted that they have gone shopping while dilating.

In a prior thread, Dr. Pacik has also commented on this excellent question:

“The Pacik glass dilators http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus/vaginismus-aids/pacik-glass-dilators-set-of-3/ help somewhat in making the dilation process more convenient by allowing the woman to be more mobile during this time. salvarez91 first suggested the idea of being able to go shopping while using the glass dilators and this has caught on for a number of our patients. http://www.vaginismusmd.com/vaginismus-md-forum/?mingleforumaction=viewtopic&t=104 Simply do a search for “glass dilators” on the Forum and a number of posts will appear. Treating yourself to create a positive association to dilating sounds like a great idea and this could be anything from treats to music, to dilating in a warm bathtub, candles, a glass of wine, etc. My patients have heard it many times: “Five minutes of dilation is better than 0 minutes.” It is normal for the vagina to respond quickly to dilation once treatment for vaginismus has been done.”

Sending hugs and, again, I seriously KNOW that your procedures are going to go so well!!!!

[Heather34]

Quote:

Quote from Hanna on April 27, 2014, 21:24
Hi there, I am another June patient (6/2). I am at the polar extreme to Katie in that we are travelling a long way from overseas to have this procedure done – 3 flights, 29 hours total – just to get to New York! Then we are driving to Boston for the weekend, before making our way to Manchester on Sunday night. All very exciting!

My biggest fear is that I don’t wake up with the dilator in place. Like I am going to be the one person it won’t work for. I guess that is a common worry, since we are used to being disappointed!

Hi Hanna! I am so, so excited for you to have your upcoming procedure in June and I know it is going to go excellent. I think it’s so, so cool that you are traveling from overseas and will visit NY and Boston in addition to NH. It will be a wonderful trip in ALL ways! Regarding your fear of not waking up with the dilator in place, I shared this same fear too prior to my own procedure and was just so nervous about being disappointed. When I felt like this, I shared with my hubby and he was truly my ROCK during this time and helped me so much. I was also very nervous about having the procedure itself and the anesthesia and arrived in NH sweating, trembling, and freaking out. I met with Dr. Pacik, who was so, so sweet, and he provided me with IV Verced which took away these physical symptoms of anxiety that I had always experienced. I promise you that you will never meet a more genuine, caring, and compassionate Doctor than Dr. P and he, along with all of the staff, go out of their way to make you feel calm, comfortable, and supported for your entire time in NH. And, so importantly, they thoroughly understand everything about the condition of vaginismus more than any doctor or group that I have ever met.

I wanted to also share a couple of other posts from 2 treated patients that I think may be helpful:

“I was treated on Jan 20th, and the months prior to that I was definitely scared of the procedure, and even just getting the IV! What really helped me was having someone there who was completely involved and supportive. That could be a close friend, sister, mom, boyfriend, husband, etc.. Whenever I started feeling anxious, it was so good to have someone physically there to vent to or even just to tell me that everything will be okay. I also felt more confident after reading Dr. Pacik’s book “When Sex Seems Impossible” and also the experiences of others on the forum. This goes through the entire process step by step so there were no surprises. I knew exactly what to expect.”

“I am the biggest baby ever when it comes to pain and fear and I was so afraid of having the procedure. But honestly, Dr. Pacik and his team were amazing. They gave me a mild sedative to take the night before and the morning of and when I got to my appointment with my sister everyone was so kind, understanding and loving. When I started to get anxious they gave me something in an IV that helped me to feel calm and not so anxious. The procedure itself was a piece of cake as I didn’t remember anything. And afterwards I woke up all wrapped up in a nice warm blanket and I just couldn’t believe that I had the dilator inside of me without any pain. The entire two and a half days I was there everyone was so kind and helpful.”

Sending you and all of the other upcoming patients in May and June huge hugs and support and I KNOW your procedures will go so well!!!

[sandy]

Looks like I’m going first among the ladies here on this thread! My treatment date is on May 5th.. not even a week left. I will be coming in from the west coast. I’m excited/nervous/anxious and a whole lot of other things! I am really scared of needles and have not been able to dilate successfully or have an exam yet. So I’m really hoping everything goes well- fingers crossed!
Heather, I’ve communicated with you earlier via email. Thank you for being so very encouraging =)

[KatieG07]

Thanks Heather for posting those links. Makes me more and more excited for this procedure. The toys to use after look great! I love the glass dilators yet I fear I’d drop it on the bathroom floor and break it. But the idea of being more active (shopping my weakness) and dilating rather then sit at home on the couch dilating sounds wonderful,! I actually was reading old email forum posts from a few years back and one of the ladies having a bad day topped it off by dropping hers on the bathroom floor and braking it. A fear :-/

I am looking at these toys in a whole new way. I’ve been to 2 toy parties in my life and I dreaded buying something that I might never use. I actually have a few toys sting in a box collecting dust I bought this summer at a bachelorette party. I’m excited to dust them off and use them with my husband once I’ve had this procedure 🙂

[KatieG07]

Good luck Sandy! Keep us posted on how everything goes…Excited for you!

[Hopeful57]

Hello, all. I am a May patient. My procedure is just in a few days. May 5th to be precise.
Like you, I am a mixture of excitement and fear. I have a great deal of anxiety about the pre-op exams, the findings during the procedure, and the post-op exams. I truly believe that God has lead me to this. Are there any others out there who will be having their procedure on the same day that I will?