Hemorrhoid surgery recovery tips

Omg. I'm printing that off and hanging in the bathroom  

LOL! I saw this image of that monkey on my internet travels and INSTANTLY I thought, "That's how it feels to sit in the sitz bath after a hemorroidectomy!" LOL! I thought everyone could relate!

Well I am on day 7 post op for my hemorroids. My saddle block anethetic wore off in just a few hours and the pain was pretty intense - unrelenting. It was in the whole general area, anal, perinanal. Now it's calmed down in that respect. At first the first real BM was pretty intense and it has calmed down a bit but still pretty painful. Sitz baths are really important to have right after them. 

Also, I am not on a regular diet. I am eating soft foods, lots of water and metamucil. There is no way I want anything even close to normal. My BS are soft and I aim to keep them that way till the pain with elimination is over. Keep your diet soft and soft formed BMs and that should help. Good luck!

I'm sure hoping that your pain starts to ease up quickly.  What type of soft foods are you eating ?  How much Metamucil do you take? 

Also I was wondering about taking that regiment mixture they give you before a colonoscopy- that way nothing will be there to have to find its way out. My doctor doesnt require it but I think they should . I am scheduling mine for end of June And will continue to read on everyone's progress hoping it will give me confidence to still do it by then.  Carpal tunnel surgery and a colonoscopy are the only things I've had done so no major surgery experience and definitely terrified

Let us know if some of the changes help. I'm keeping a journal of all the helpful tips on this deal. I'm really thankful to have found this site and for all y'all out there unafraid to give your day to day experiences. I would hate to know I went into this thing completely unaware of the issues involved. Still on the fence. But I have till June. 

Cheryl, get off the fence, the sooner you do it, the sooner you recover, will it be horrible and include pain, yes, but the longer you leave it the worse it will get and the harder the rehab will be, After 2 years of being house bound to the toilet I am now about to start a new job! At one point I couldnt see that ever happening. I definitly recommend liquid only diet, protein shakes, smoothies, prior to the op, it will help your first bowel movement be less painful, I found it helps to remind ourselves that there are people in 3rd world countries who would jump at the chance to have this operation and not be worried about the pain. Go for it xxx and come in here daily to share how you are getting on

Cheryl, I was eating mostly white rice, carrots, parsley, swiss chard, chicken broth, some flax flakes, sweet potatoes, hard boiled eggs. That was for the first 8 days. Today I added green beans and boiled chicken so we'll see how that goes. I do three tsps of metamucil with my first meal and 2 for the second. You have to work your way up to that over a few weeks as it gives you bad gas if you don't and you don't want to make your intestines unhappy. I'd start with one tsp with the first meal and one for the second for the first week, then the 2 tsp and one for the second, then 3 tsp and one for the third week and then 3 tsp and 2 tsp for the fourth week. This was the schedule my surgeon put me on but seek out your own medical advice as every person has their own requirements on this stuff. I had grade 3 prolapsed hemmoroids with irritable bowel C & D.  

Before my surgery I fasted for three days. Was it a good idea? Well, it reduced my anxiety around making sure all the bowel matter was out of my system and would you believe I did one last bm just an hour before surgery after I had two enemas the night before and the morning of the surgery?! So, for that, it was very helpful.

Cheryl, the reason I decided to do the surgery is that I felt that those hemmorhoids, even though they were getting smaller, it was over 8 months that I had them and I was worried that if I didn't get it done, that it was a weak point and if I ever needed to lift something heavy or had a bad bout of the flu with diarrhea then it was going to blow up again and cause me a hell of a lot of pain again. Also, the cure rate with surgery is 95% so I decided to go with the odds and get it done. When the surgeon did the surgery he said that he only had to do two hems because one had gone away and that the ones that remained had gone down in size so that was good because it meant he had to remove less tissue and healing would be better. 

So, you have to make the call yourself. Once I am on the other side of this I will be able to say, for certain whether it was fully worth it or not. I am at day 9 and the pain is about half of what it was surgery and days 2-5 or 6. My surgeon said I'd have pain for 2 to 3 weeks and will be doing sitz baths 4+ times a day for 2 weeks. 

I have a lot of comfort each time I read your and a few others I'm following  posts. My anxiety level is down too. I have scheduled for June and I am already getting my need list together.  Also I am glad to see what you were able to eat. I actually like all those things in a regular basis now so yeah for me. I'm not eating anything that will stop me up ! 

Do you or y'all know if cereal would work those first few days ? I wasn't sure about how milk does . 

Again I'm so thankful for all y'all. I keep you in my thoughts and prayers for your recoveries to be speedy ! 

C

Cheryl, as for the cereal it all depends on what type I think. I found a cereal (gluten free as I can't have wheat, oats, etc.) that had flax in it and it really helped slide things out. The key is good fibre as in metamucil and lots and lots of water. As for milk, I am also allergic to dairy so can't speak to that. 

I am happy to hear your anxiety is down and I too am grateful to all of those who posted their experiences. It helped me to be prepared and to know that others have had the same thoughts, feelings and experiences. 

I would say that if you get your diet on point as in having consistent nice, soft and easy-out bms now then you'll be ready for the surgery. For me, as I described earlier, metamucil was key as was the water, also I incorporate ground flax into my diet - usually a few heaping spoonfuls into a glass of water and then let it sit and mix it ever few minutes with a spoon till it's a slippery concoction then I drink that. That lines the intestines and helps with the easy exit of bm. 

Is this surgery painful. Well, yes it can be, but it will pass and in not too much time either. That's life, right? Sometimes a little pain is necessary for long time positive gain. 

I am on my 11th day now and less pain overall. Had 4 bms yesterday. Three were at about 5/10 and one was at 8/10 for a few minutes then it settled after about 15. I took 2 tylenol and slept well after that (bm was just before bed). 

Hope this helps further. A friend gave me GREAT advice for the surgery, she said "Go in strong, come out strong". This was my mantra. I made sure I was in as good a shape as I could be going into this surgery (ie. getting my diet sorted, exercise both cardio and strengthening, and getting everything I would need for surgery post-op care). Also having a good friend to help you out in the first few days would be great too, but one could do this alone as well : )

Well, amazingly I did manage to fall asleep and it wasn't because of the pain killers as I couldn't take anything other than tylenol, but, I think the sedation they used with my saddleblock was still in effect and so I did fall asleep. 

And yes, it was some kind of painful. It does get better. Hang in there, drink a LOT of fluids, do your laxatives and sitz baths and rest. It will be over before you know it. I am on day 9 today and things are improving every day. I still have pain with bms but it's half of what it was. 

I am on Day 7 now.   The constant pain has gotten much better, but the BM pain is still 10/10....  hope it goes down soon!  How are you doing?

Well I am two weeks and one day post op. The resting pain has reduced considerably. Paid during a bowel movement has also reduced considerably. I am able to be up for a couple of hours straight but I have to be careful moving about. I overdid it the previous day and felt it both in resting pain and pain with a bm. I'd say things got much better in the second week, around day 10-11.

On day 6..... BM stings!! I'm finding that the pain kicks in a min or two later and normally lasts about 10mins. After a warm shower I'm back on my feet. I've little pain while resting (in more pain watching day time tv 😭.

Hope everyone is doing ok?