Well, I'm now living back in Australia, VIN is back after 6 years (originally treated in UK as well as for breast cancer), and I have to have a WLE on my fourchette.
Has anyone had this done? Do they cut lengthways or widthways? Recovery time? - I've only had punch biopsies before. When can I drive afterwards?
I now live in a regional small town, 200miles from Melbourne, so no support and little knowledge of VIN hereabouts, although my gynaecoligist did work in Winchester UK for a few years, which is a plus.
Jan
Hi jjtoo,
I am so sorry that your VIN has returned. Mine was very close to the fourchette and I would say mine was cut lengthways (towards my back passage). I didn’t ask, so I could be very wrong, but that’s how it appeared from my stitches. I was initially told my recovery time would be 2 weeks and at that point I could drive again. However they took more than planned and it was quite a large area, so it was in fact closer to 6 weeks. After my second WLE in the same place, I was able to drive after 6 weeks. I think it depends on many factors though, eg how much they take, how well you recover and if there’s any complications to slow the recovery down. I had a bad infection the first time and I bust a wound the second time, so both times my recovery was slower than if things had gone straight forward.
I wish you the very best of luck with your surgery and recovery. If you have any questions that I can help with then please do ask.
take care,
Hi jjtoo,
I am doing much better now thank you 
After my second surgery I was advised to use a bladder syringe to rinse the area each time I went to the toilet. I had no idea what a bladder syringe was but it’s just a large syringe that can be filled with warm water. I then just gently sprayed the water over the are before gently patting dry. I didn’t get an infection in my vulval wound the second time so that may well have worked. So you could get something similar to help clean the wound after using the toilet.
Best wishes,
