Following is Robin’s story in her own words. She’s a patient who decided to get vaginoplasty after having 12 pregnancies. She shares her experience with meeting Dr. Litrel, the procedure and how her life has changed as a result.
See Robin’s accompanying video.
Meet Robin
Hello everyone, my name is Robin, I am 51 years old and live in Alabama.
In two weeks, I will be making the drive to Atlanta, Georgia to meet with my doctor. I am getting a vaginal facelift. Yes, a vaginal facelift. Can you imagine? My husband and I have been married for almost 30 years. We have had 12 children together, but not all of them have survived. We have five children that are living, but we have had a multitude of pregnancies and losses.
Finding a Doctor Who Will Truly Listen
As I get older, I am very disappointed by the way the healthcare system treats us, especially as we go through perimenopause and menopause. So, I decided to hit the road and find a doctor that would truly listen to me and truly give me what I want without all the extras like a hysterectomy or mesh bladder treatments to hold everything up. I think I found him, and you’re going to love him. I can’t wait to tell you, and I hope to answer some of your questions right now.
So, why vaginoplasty? Well, I am 51 years old, and I went to my OB/GYN about five years ago and told him that things weren’t feeling great down there. It was nothing in particular, just a lot of general discomfort that I can’t put my finger on. His response, as he was doing my yearly pap smear, was “Okay, well great. Let’s just do a hysterectomy, a bladder repair, a posterior-anterior repair, and we’ll go ahead and take care of everything.”
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Number one, I didn’t complain about a specific issue. I just knew I had an issue. And here’s this doctor who I’ve loved and respected for as long as my husband. He was my doctor for 30 years, almost as long as I’ve been married. He’s walked our journey with us through our whole reproductive years, and now he’s telling me that the next step is a hysterectomy, bladder tack, and some kind of posterior-anterior repair.
I just remember sliding off that table and feeling insecure. From that moment on, I felt really, really bad about myself.
So, Why Did I Decide to Get a Vaginal Facelift?
So why am I getting a vaginal facelift — or what the medical profession calls a vaginoplasty? How did I know I needed one? Well, I’ve had about 12 kids, 12 pregnancies, lots of miscarriages, and lots of loss in our reproductive years. But in particular, I had a forceps delivery with our fourth child that was very traumatic. I actually had a cracked pelvis, needed 20-something stitches, and couldn’t walk for six weeks. And then it took me a complete six months to heal from that birth. I never wanted to have kids again. It was so bad. But I did go on to have more children. So, I did eventually heal, but I was never quite the same down there. I can’t explain it other than when they use forceps on you, you know it’s going to make things different down there. And I really felt like it did for me.
