Robin,I'm not sure what "PM" means, but I'll go ahead an comment here. Please excuse me friends if I'm going into too much detail. I was just grateful that someone else did so I was able to get help.During all pregnancies I was severely constipated and strained terribly. Four years ago and five years after the birth of my last child, I noticed that when I would strain and go to wipe, white slimy strings were hanging down. The OB said not to worry (and probably rolled her eyes and thought I was nuts) and told me they were normal. My OB would recommend that I have a GI check me out because I was always full of poop. I went to a GI who didn't even examine me and just told me "more fiber". Last Feb. I went on a diet program called Optifast where I only ate powdered shakes and supplemented my fiber so I knew exactly how much fiber I was getting. The supervising physician was shocked and said that I needed to see a specialist. I put it off until my bladder problems got worse and I also went back onto regular food. I found that my system backed up again so badly and I was so uncomfortable...plus my bladder started losing large amounts suddenly, but without sneezing etc. I finally went when, like you, I found myself exploring other options to get the poop out any way that I could. With me, I felt like I was sitting on an egg or something buldging between my vagina and my rectum. If I pushed on it, it would move slightly then return. If I used my finger inside my vagina, I could push it back toward my rectum and I realized that it was probably stool, but I couldn't poke it out of my rectum. Getting very desperate (I needed to take my eleven year old son on an all day field trip) I used both hands and pushed from the vagina with a finger and used my thumb and three fingers to pull a hard stool out of this "pocket" that was blocking me entirely. Of course, I never even was able to tell this to my surgeon...you my friends...are the only ones on earth to know! The defagram: I still wasn't sure to believe what I read about on the internet. I saw the potty chair sideways on the x-ray table clamped with rusty c-clamps to the table. They had me lay on my side and hold onto the edge of the table. It lifted to a vertical position and they moved over two "live action" monitors where I could see my inner workings. When I pooped at first, about a third of the barium exited normally. When I did kegels, the floor of my pelvis lifted up quite high and he said I had great pelvic floor muscles (I should have...my OB kept making me try to do kegels even though I couldn't do even ten or hold one for 10 seconds). When I strained gently, a bit more would come out. They told me to completely empty the whole amount, and turned the screen away so I couldn't see what was left. I pushed and pushed. I told them that I was completely empty. He commented that he could see why I couldn't "pass the balloon" out in earlier tests and turned the screen toward me. Instead of the poop going down to my rectum, the straining caused my muscles to lift the pelvic floor a bit, redirecting my bm past my rectum and toward the front of my body. As I strained harder, the stool would press across my uterus area and out my vagina. This is where those "slimy strings" were coming from. It was the natural moisture from my body being pushed out on the rectocele covered stool, then wiped off when I would relax and the stool would go back in. When a lot of time would go by and the stool would harden, it would push so hard that my uretha was often blocked...but I wouldn't know it until I changed position and then it would all rush out. Also, the rectocele caused a problem my kids used to have but I can't remember the name. It would essentially block me up, and then skinny threads of BM would squeeze around the blockage for days...sometimes causing staining, a wet gas problem, or horrible gas smell. If I started to sweat and feel really clammy, I would have to go immediately home because it usually meant that the mother of all BM's was coming shortly. I would literally clog the toilet as I flushed continuously. My husband would even become annoyed...but I couldn't help it! Anyway...now that I've written a book that most people would rather not read!....after surgery...I feel much the same way...but think it's only temporary. I still haven't had a BM since last Tuesday and the pressure on the stitches is pretty bad. I'll give the real verdict when I either bust...or heal!Beth...hope this helped.