Tan discharge 5 months post hysterectomy (Recap of Lost Posts, Topic Created by Denise66 on Dec 27,

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This recap includes posts that were lost during CSN's data outage from 10/29/18 to 1/30/19.

Denise66

Dec 27, 2018 - 6:03 pm

I’m 5 months post hysterectomy.  I was put in surgical menopause. I had 3 rounds of Brachy which finished early November.  After the Brachy, I felt really sore. I had my follow up with the oncologist NP and she recommended Revaree. It’s a vaginal supposatory which lasts for 3 days. It also helps your body secrete more fluid in the vagina.  I decided to give it a try last Friday when for the first time I used my dilator.   Then on Monday and Tuesday had sex for the first time since my hysterectomy.  I could not believe the amount of lubrication that I had. I was shocked. Also, thankfully I did not bleed. However, since this All happened over the past week, I’ve been getting like a watery discharge iintermittantly.  After 6 days of this occurring I saw the NP at my oncologist office. She did an exam and said the tissue looks great. She did not even see a pool of fluid. She said the exam was completely normal. That the discharge is not related to cancer because the tissue looks 200% healthy.   She did say there was a small area in the vaginal cuff that was not healed 100%. So she applied some silver nitrate.   

She said what they are concerned about is bleeding.  She followed  up and said the majority of time that’s not related to cancer.   But that’s her major concern is bleeding.  She did not even take a biopsy since everything looked great.  She said there was nothing to biopsy.  She does not know what is cauing the discharge . But, kept on saying it's not cancer related.   

My question is have you experienced any watery discharge post hysterectomy?  If yes, what caused it?  Did your doctor say anything about this syptom and what causes it?  Have vagina suppositories caused the same issue?  I’m concerned they may be missing something.  Also, after getting home from my appointment my Underwear is wet.   Not just a spot or two.  But, a large area of wetness.  Not sure if this is related to the issue I went in for.  Or from the gel used during the exam which leaked out.  Do you experience this after a pelvic exam?  

I even spoke with the Nurse who was in the exam room with the NP.  She talked with for for 5 minutes. she said everything looks great   She also said some women get a dry vagina from menopause and some don’t.  

Update 12-28-18 -  - I work up this morning with think yellow mucous like discharge.  The NP did used silver nitrate to cauterize the small part of the vaginal cuff.  I'm not sure if it's related to that or something else.  Of interest, I did recently switch my laundry detergant out.  I was using basically a baking soda detergant.  I recently switched over to Tide. 

 

Forherself

Dec 28, 2018 - 7:17 pm

At least a reply

I don't know why no one else has replied.   I can say I did not have any discharge after my hysterectomy.  I think it is reassuring that it only started after your vaginal suppository.  People react differently to medication.   ANd yes I have wetness after a pelvic exam.  The NP probably wanted to be sure to use lots of lubricant so as not to cause pain during exam.   She could probably tell by looking at your tisue that there was an area not healing.   Cancer lesions look different.    If you are still frightened about them missing something, call the office.  I think people treating cancer are used to dealing with the fear we feel.   

 

zsazsa1

Dec 28, 2018 - 10:11 pm

I have had a lot of discharge post-hysterectomy

And I too was worried that it could be a recurrence.  I had blood, too.  My surgery was in early October, and about 6 weeks after surgery, I began to have clear discharge, which became cloudier, then blood-tinged, then frank blood.  Seen by NP at about 8 weeks, was told my vaginal cuff was not yet healed, but otherwise all looked well.  I went on bed rest for 6 days, and the discharge and bleeding stopped.  Recheck with MD, vaginal cuff not healed, two absorbable sutures still visitble.  They said this delayed healing was common for those who have chemo after surgery (and I am on chemo), and told me it would probably take another 8 weeks to heal.  I'm waiting on brachytherapy until totally healed.

So the takehome message that I got was that vaginal discharge was common during the healing, not to worry.  If you are not yet completely healed, you really need to speak with MD about the advisability of vaginal intercourse before you're completely healed.  The reason that I was so willing to go on bed rest was that I was terrified of having a vaginal dehiscence, necessitating more surgery and an interruption in the chemo.

 

Denise66

Dec 31, 2018 - 6:05 pm

Thank you for replying.  I

Thank you for replying.  I did not have chemo.  it all started the day I used the vaginal supossatory and dialator.  The discharge is like a very faint yellow.  I used 2 different dialators.  One very small and another pretty large.  I wonder if I did something to the cuff when I inserted the large dialator.  I had a check up with the NP a month ago.  She never mentioned anything about the cuff healed.    

The NP kept daying the tissue looked great.  She does not know ehat caused it.  Interesting, I took an epson salt bath today.  About an hour later had more yellow fluid discharge.  

 

Harmony09

Jan 02, 2019 - 4:28 pm

Hi Denise66!

I hope all is well with you It seems as if there's almost exactly 1 year's difference between our journey. I had my hysterectomy in August of 2017, and I am assuming you had your's in July. My experience with the discharge is very similar to yours, and it SEEMS to me that there's nothing to worry about. However, I completely understand the fear, especially since I have Stage IV Grade 3 adenocarcinoma with serous and clear cells in the histology. Peace of mind is hard to come by these days, so if you are still worried about it, by all means, make an appointment with your doctor or even a second opinion  

I also had tan/pink/copper/and clear (changing) discharge for MONTHS after surgery. I had developed a seroma at the vaginal cuff. The surgeon told me that he had a hard time creating the vaginal cuff, because there wasn't adequate tissue left after removing the cancer that had spread from my uterus through the cervix to the top of the vagina (and wrapped around my bladder). I had my 1st post-surgical exam 6 weeks after the surgery, and I didn't really expect them to clear me for intercourse. It was then that they told me about the seroma and scheduled exams for every other week to ensure I was heading in the right direction (healing vs not). I remember the anticipation before every appointment, hoping to be cleared for intercourse, but it literally took months. I was cleared for 2 weeks, then proceeded to have the brachy treatments, which took almost 2 weeks. I was then told that I had to wait for 8 weeks after the last brachy treatment to be cleared again. By that time I was going through chemo again, and sex was the last thing on my mind Anyway, the brachy seemed to make the discharge increase a little despite the fact that it had almost stopped. I'm pretty sure I asked my doctor and nurse about the discharge every time I went. They told me that discharge of any color, except for frank blood, was nothing to be concerned about. Discharge of fluid is actually essential for healing, and indicative of good circulation AND, anytime we irritate (rub/push/stretch) tissue that is still healing, we aggrivate the process, which causes mild trauma and the production of more fluids (plasma, proteins, wbc's, and sugars). Perhaps you are still in the end processes of healing? I'm no doctor...just a Veterinary Nurse with knowledge and 20+ years of surgical experience in that field. It's been my personal experience with the hysterectomy that I over did it cutting the front and back yard  at 8 months post-surgery, and the mild, tan discharge changed to bright red discharge for 2 days. I called my doctor, and he told me that if it ever did it again, unrelated to over-exertion, that I should make an appointment for an exam. I'm 1 year and 4 months since the surgery now, and I still sometimes have a pink/tan tinged discharge after using the dialators and after an exam (which I get every 3 months). However, I finally don't experience it on a daily basis. I'm not sure if my experience is similar to yours, but maybe mine helped ease your mind. Please keep us posted. We all care about each other and wonder about each other in between correspondence. Best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Stacey

 

Northwoodsgirl

Jan 04, 2019 - 8:51 am

Well said

Stacey, Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sure it will bring peace of mind to Denise66. Your veterinarian medicine perspective makes perfect sense in relation to how our mucous membranes and other tissues respond during the healing process. 

Lori

 

Armywife

Jan 05, 2019 - 5:48 pm

Denise

My doctor told me that most discharge is completely normal - that our vagina is like a self-cleaning oven!  I'll never forget that comparison!

 

Denise66

Jan 07, 2019 - 4:13 pm

Thanks everyone for replying.

Thanks everyone for replying.  I followed up with my Radiation oncologist who examined me last Wednesday.  He said my vaginal cuff is not fully healed.  However, it was healed in November.  I think I totally over did it at the gym, my 2nd day back to weight lifting, plus having intercourse for the first time as well as using the dialator for the first time.  That happended all in 2 days, the week before X-mas.  I remember leaving the gym and noticing wettnes.  That's the first time it started.  The radiation oncologist told me that when the vaginal cuff is a little bit open, it's like a wound that oozes the yellowish fluid.  He was not concerned at all about it.  He said if it does not heal, a procedure can be done to close it up.  I see him again next week for a checkup. 

I must say, the discharge was getting less and less after my visit with the radiolgosit.  However, I had intercourse over the weekend and while it's still not as bad as it was, I'm seeing a little more discharge than I had on Friday. 

Thanks so much for your insight on this.  Stacey, you are so right that over exertion can cause this issue!  Thanks so much for sharing your experience. 

I feel so forunate to have folks that I can post questions. 

Tresia23

Vaginal discharge experiences

This topic is so useful for many women. I can recall when I first joined this forum, one of the ladies posted about ‘moisture’ pre diagnosis. As I recall she was around menopause and said it was her first real indication that something had changed. As women we are so attuned to subtle changes in our bodies that it is perfectly natural to wonder what is happening now! Sometimes I think doctors and nurses could be more open to having a discussion on this topic, which would be most helpful. We all seem to have had various experiences with this problem. Wondering if there is any research around this?

zsazsa1

This is useful information

This is useful information for me.  I just finished chemo, the cuff is supposedly finally healed, just had markers placed for brachy soon, and I was thinking that maybe it might be time to try to resume having intercourse.  However, I really don't want to open up that cuff!

I feel so unattractive right now, I cannot imagine how my husband would want to.  Previously, we never had any problems in that department.  He jokingly says, "All cats are black in the dark!", but I know he means that he is willing and ready.  But he admitted to me that he is afraid of hurting me, and he's also afraid that causing increased bloodflow in that area could lead to a recurrence!  I don't think that is possible, but how I'm going to convince him, I don't know.

Anyway, if there's a risk of re-opening the cuff, maybe we'll wait a little longer.