Association for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Support - APOPS

01/06/2026

Men should be made aware of common female below-the-waist health conditions and women should be made aware of common male below-the-waist health conditions.

I am always happy to hear questions from the men in audiences. In the first two years of providing speeches to the lay community about pelvic organ prolapse, I was pretty surprised that a few men attend the presentations. I'm guessing some wive's coerced them to attend to clarify their experiences. One man was a caregiver for his mother. One mentioned a sister suffering in silence.

Industry presentations to educate sales reps clarified they knew the POP basics, but little about the quality of life impacts. Questions come through APOPS website from men on a relatively regular basis.

Just last week a male family friend who knows about my POP nonprofit backdrop reached out in my kitchen, stumbling around a question related to intimacy, until I straight up asked him if he meant what I felt he was hinting about. In general, I find males don't experience POP personally so they are generally not as embarrassed to ask the most personal questions.

APOPS educates women about POP all day every day. It fills me with hope when men ask about POP. Every question from a man clarifies one step forward in leveling the stigma playing field.

01/05/2026

Whether or not women are sexually active, the pelvic organ prolapse impact to sexuality is real.

Body image is a marker of self-esteem. I wonder how many women are asked about their sexuality during routine wellness exams. It should be a standard query during most below-the-waist exams (for both women and men), and especially pelvic exams. Thrilled this study included both sexually active and inactive women.

Fresh off the press. I would love to see this study in the 30-50 age range. Thanks for tossing it my way Paul Nelson, LMHC Nelson.

https://academic.oup.com/smoa/article/13/6/qfaf100/8379499

01/02/2026

TGIF

01/01/2026

Good afternoon mover/shakers. Sending the most +++++ vibes for an awesome 2026 your way!!!!!!

01/01/2026

You know what you want. ~FEEL IT~

12/31/2025

Ladies do you recognize that you are the Movement?

You are POP-Stars:
Advancing women's health directives.
Increasing awareness.
Clarifying shortfalls in screening and best practice.
Shining a light on what's working and what's not.
Bringing attention to co-existing conditions that complicate care.

Pelvic Organ Prolapse Destroys Women's Self-Esteem 
We are Restoring Women's Dignity Together

Your Voices, Your Hearts, and Your Support Help APOPS Lift Women Up all day every day!

I hope you are all ringing in a New Year filled with hope for yourselves as well as the future of women's health! I adore you all and keep you in my heart all day every day!!!!

https://youtu.be/ByTPeJFgf3U

Ever, Sher

Women often suffer in silence prior to being diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse because they hesitate to share the symptoms they are experiencing. Help APO...

12/30/2025

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and pelvic organ prolapse pirouette side-by-side as though they attended the same dance class. Rarely a week goes by I'm not reflecting on how many women with this intersect struggle for years to get a diagnosis of either condition because POP awareness is not optimized and EDS is insufficiently screened for. When I see intussusception in a POP case report, my EDS flag goes up immediately. Warning graphic surgical imagery in link.

https://www.cureus.com/articles/441868-anterior-only-sacrocolpopexy-complicated-by-obstructive-enterocele-should-both-compartments-always-be-repaired #!/

12/29/2025

Overlooked, under-evaluated; postoperative urinary retention (POUR) in the pelvic floor space rarely gets the attention it deserves. While not everyone experiences the sensation of urine retention, it's extremely uncomfortable for others. Should urine retention be a standardized assessment post-surgery?

"Across a broad range of procedures, postoperative voiding dysfunction is a recurrent physiological response tied to anesthesia, perioperative fluid administration, local edema, postoperative pain, and pharmacologic effects....Bladder overdistension has been associated with urinary infection, recatheterization, impaired recovery, unplanned healthcare utilization, and increased likelihood of subsequent intervention"

This Cureus editorial - Postoperative Urinary Retention: A Call for Objective Assessment and Standardized Postoperative Protocols - screams common sense in healthcare that a simple ultrasound would easily assess.

Hat tip to Caroline Eggemann and Leandro Nóbrega.

https://www.cureus.com/articles/448984-postoperative-urinary-retention-a-call-for-objective-assessment-and-standardized-postoperative-protocols #!/

12/26/2025

TGIF

12/26/2025

In the early days post pelvic organ prolapse diagnosis, women are passengers along for the ride. But taking a deep dive to understand the what, why, when, where, and how of POP empowers women to take the wheel and steer the drive in the way that suits them best.

12/25/2025

For those of you alone this Christmas, a whisper just for you! 🥰

12/24/2025

According to MediaRoom, about 59 million adults in the US have provided ongoing caregiving for another adult with a health condition, disability, or aging-related need in the past year.

Medical/nursing assistance.

Daily care coordination, med appointments & practitioner communication.

Transportation.

Medication management.

Emotional support.

Dementia navigation.

And when caregiving tasks are done, these caregivers address the needs of their immediate families.

No days off. Do they get any extra thank you over the holidays? Rarely.

Does anyone make them a plate of food so they can sit down and rest at holiday gatherings?

Does anyone bring them home made cookies they no longer have time to make?

Does anyone offer to pick something up for them when heading to Walgreens to fulfill their own shopping list?

Doubtful.

I applaud the efforts of ALL caregivers; THANK YOU! And THANK YOU AARP Foundation for respecting the needs of those who first served us. I have zero doubt many women in APOPS Association for Pelvic Organ Prolapse Support space are making every effort to address parental needs while trying to figure out how to address their own pelvic organ prolapse concerns. I am keeping you in my heart this holiday season.