Posted , 41 users are following.
Hello Everyone, I’ve been suffering from piles for some time now. I’ve been told about the Rafaelo procedure, as it suggests, will the surgery be painless. Please advise or share story of those who have had this particular procedure please. Thank you for any help.
1 like, 189 replies
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Rhinosorearse nabila79762
Posted
Thanks Alison! Day 10 and things are improving. Less BMs and less pain. Am off the codeine now and just sticking to Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. am hoping for a reasonable sleep tonight too. Its been a pretty nasty week but I am still convinced its not (quite) as bad as the full surgical alternative. I just hope it worked given what I've been through!
alison81882 Rhinosorearse
Posted
Oh that's good to hear! fingers crossed. The surgical alternative does sound horrendous. If my hems ever come back I'd probably hope to have the rafaelo again before I ever considered surgery. It might even be on the NHS by then!
ian86684 Rhinosorearse
Posted
Good luck with the recovery. They definitely downplay the aftermath in the marketing material, but compared to stories of the full surgical alternative (potentially months of misery out of commission) I think it's the way forward.
Great username!
Ian
Rhinosorearse ian86684
Posted
Day 16 and feeling a lot better. BMs still uncomfortable and pain afterwards but am pretty much off the painkillers as its mostly manageable. Still not sleeping through the night but no night sweats last night. Hoping to go to work tomorrow after 2 weeks off...
Peter3260 Rhinosorearse
Posted
I had this procedure completed 8 days ago at the private hospital in Solihull. Each visit was a 400 mile round trip for me. therefore 1200 miles so far, even before my follow up.
I had a general anaesthetic and everything went very well on the day. It turned out that I had 7 haemorroids mainly grade 3.
The day after my operation I felt good and had no pain at all. Day 2 following my first bowel movement the pain started. On day 9 and still suffering extreme pain post each movement.
I am still optimistic that this procedure will be worth both the miles and the pain so far.
will update with progress....
markapla Peter3260
Posted
Hi Peter, how come you had to travel so far? I've suffered with haemorrhoids for 15 years and booked into see a consultant next week at Spire Parkway. Where did you have your treatement? Best Joel
Peter3260 markapla
Posted
I had mine done at the Spire Parkway.
I read an article in the Daily Mail about the procedure and thought that's for me as it sounded so much better than surgery. The article gave both the patient and surgeons story. The featured surgeon completes the procedure at the Parkway.
I live on the Cornish border and chose the surgeon I wanted based on the article, hence the journey. The procedure is not yet available in Devon and Cornwall as far as I know.
Good luck....
Peter3260 nabila79762
Posted
I had this procedure completed 8 days ago at the private hospital in Solihull. Each visit was a 400 mile round trip for me. therefore 1200 miles so far, even before my follow up.
I had a general anaesthetic and everything went very well on the day. It turned out that I had 7 haemorroids mainly grade 3.
The day after my operation I felt good and had no pain at all. Day 2 following my first bowel movement the pain started. On day 9 and still suffering extreme pain post each movement.
I am still optimistic that this procedure will be worth both the miles and the pain so far.
will update with progress....
Rhinosorearse Peter3260
Posted
Hang in there Peter. I'm 4 weeks post-op and am pretty much completely better and my grade 4s have not been at all bothersome so hoping it was all worth it. I recommend ice packs between your cheeks and hot baths. Also paracetamol and Ibuprofen.
Ben4421 nabila79762
Posted
Hi All
its time to book my HALO procedure fairly soon. ill get christmas and new year out the way then think about having the procedure.
can anyone update me on how their HALO procedure went and how you guys are now?
it seems an endless long road to recovery...
dirk00606 nabila79762
Posted
I found this forum after having the Rafaelo, kinda wish I'd found it earlier though...
I've had hems for nearly 25 years but never the bleeding kind thankfully, pretty much twice a year one of my hems would upgrade itself to a 4 and then thrombose. This then stopped me doing most things for a couple of weeks while it would heal itself.
Anyway after the most recent episode end of October I wanted to finally sort myself out so I could go on a Ski trip end of December and just not worry a flareup. I heard that the recovery was short and I'll be fixed in no time sort of thing....
Had my procedure on 5th December under sedation on 3x grade 3s. I would say it was painful and uncomfortable but it was over quickly.
I'm on Day 6 today (day 4 was worst so far) and have had quite a few days where I've been in 8/10 of pain but for short parts of the day I'll have no pain at all. For me it appears to be when I need a BM as everything seems to swell up before and after and then for hours after I'm bedridden. I'm on laxatives so pretty much all I pass is watery mush with blood and pain.
I'm hoping things will improve as worryingly last night and this morning I've started to notice something permanently prolapsing and is tender, at the moment it's small but I think it's getting bigger. Reading this forum it seems to be too early to be a skin tag and I'm hoping it's just part of the swelling of one of the hems and part of the healing process.
With a ski trip coming up in a little over 2 weeks I really wish I'd found this forum earlier and waited until the new year to have this procedure. Recovery is worse and longer than I read in the literature, I genuinely thought I would be playing football again after a few days post op...
geoff03695 dirk00606
Posted
I think everyone is different but it was a good 6 weeks before i started to feel normal again. Its not been the success id hoped. A year has passed and the same problems are returning
Peter3260 dirk00606
Posted
Hi Dirk
I am on day 19 post procedure. I have to say that the pain has been so much worse than I expected. I still get 4 hours plus of intense pain following a bowel movement. Still taking pain killers every 2 hours each morning. However even though its hard to notice any improvement yet, I don't have pain afternoon and night time which is an improvement when I compare to a week ago. It seems for some that its a long and slow recovery process with regards to the pain element improving. For me its the morning BM that starts my pain and it is incredibly painful until it finally relents in the afternoon.
All the best, its slow but you just need time to pass
dirk00606 Peter3260
Posted
Peter, just wondering if things have improved for you. I appear to be having roughly the same recovery as you. I'm on day 17 now. Morning BM while initially a bit painful I'm fine for about 30 mins and then the pain kicks in and I'm in quite bad pain until early afternoon and them I'm fine for evening and nighttime. Just wondering when/if this stopped for you?
Rhinosorearse nabila79762
Posted
I'm 6 weeks post Raf now and still not back to normal. Daily pain across lower abdomen after BM. Not always bad enough to take painkillers but sometimes it is. Finding that i have to do 2 BMs most mornings. The second one is normally an hour or so after the first. Very annoying to say the least. Saw my surgeon yesterday who said he could see the improvement, prolapses gone and externals are smaller. Just think its going to take more time to get back to normal. I'm off skiing in 2 weeks! Hoping for a speedy improvement.