Hemorrhoidectomy recovery experience
Posted , 93 users are following.
I had a hemorrhoidectomy a couple of years ago and I used this site quite a lot during recovery for tips so i decided id finally share what happened with me in case it helps others.
My piles were BAD. they didnt cause me pain but they eventually got to a stage where they were bleeding CONSTANTLY. I had appointments with the hospital (UK- NHS) on and off for about 18 months and was repeatedly told that they're been banded and i should be fine.
The problem continued and I kept going back. After one particular sigmoidoscopy the nurse was wheeling me back and was saying everything was fine. It was at this point i had to stop her and said no, everything wasnt fine. I explained id been in several times before and I kept getting told i was fine only to go home and bleed profusely. The bleeding was excessive to the point that I was anemic and was on verge of a transfusion.
Upon hearing this, the nurse took me back into the surgeon who said he would have another look. I dont know HOW differently he looked but he told me I had an extreme case of circumferencial hemorrhoids that were actively bleeding as i was on the table and that surgery would be required.
I had a weird sense of dread and relief. FINALLY they've found the problem but OH GOD, SURGERY.
I woke after the surgery and was discharged soon after having been told that i may have some discomfort but healing time would be 2-3 days.
I say this with no exaggeration or dramatics but that was just absolute inaccurate bullsh*t. I was in excrutiating pain when the morphine wore off. I couldnt move without severe pain, I couldnt walk or stand up or do anything without help and severe pain.
I didnt need to go the toilet until the following day and every single minute motion caused severe pain and the act of actually passing my stool was almost unbearable.
To give you some perspective on me and my threashold. I've been knocked over by a car and fractured by skull, I've broken my hip, pelvis and elbow in a bad fall, ive had tattoos etc etc....NOTHING comes close to how painful this was.
I dont tell you this to put you off....i tell you this because at one point i found myself sat on the toilet almost in tears (LOL i have to laugh at this now!) wondering if this pain would ever actually end and it was in this mood that i came across this website. It was a weird relief to read that other people have had horrendous experinces too and that it was not just me. I read about having sitz baths and what foods could help with toilet visits etc and I actually had some hope that I would get better.
The only thing that helped with toilet visits was showering after. I cralwed into the shower after each visit and let the warm water wash me up and it soothed the burning pain considerably.
I was bed ridden for 3 weeks and even when i could move around a bit easier on my own, i had these muscle spasms that would come on unexpectedly, cause a short blast of pain and then disappear.
All in all i experinced pain to varying degrees for around a month. I had on and off bleeding for around 1 - 2 months to the point that the doctor actually recommended i wear sanitary pads which i did!
The recovery obviously depends on how serious the piles are but if they ARE serious, you can expect a horrible bumpy ride after. I say this....because I wish someone had told ME this so i at least knew what to expect other than being told id be out of action for 2-3 days. I could have prepared myself a bit for it.
Do I regret the surgery? No way..... it was a month out of my life that wasnt great but its given me a lifelong solution and i've never had problems since.
SO my advice is, get the surgery but mentally prepare yourself for a crap ride afterwards but look forward to being rid of them for good! hurrah!
7 likes, 1223 replies
joola26 neil31417
Posted
I am now 18 days post op and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It was worse than I was prepared for. The pain meds wouldnt work. I tried almost every single thing recommenended here by posters. Some things worked for me and some didnt. I have cried, cursed and felt suicidal with the relentless pain. Now......I am hardly taking any pain meds, my BM's are painful but reasonably manageable. It has definitely been one step forward and two back all the way. Don't get me wrong, I am not healed by any manner of means but I have come from hell and am coping OK. I don't know what I would have done without this support, so thank you to every single person who shared their experience. I have a way to go yet and it is early days, but I am going to be positive that I can have a reasonably painfree recovery.
carl43580 joola26
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Hi - I'm really pleased you're recovering. I'm 4mths post op & ive healed well but still got a couple of issues going on.
💩 hurts a bit, so I may have a fissure (tho it feels like I'm too small, yet the 💩 Isn't that big, so not sure what's really going on. Plus it seems to have gone lazy and it's a struggle, so I have to manipulate my cheeks from the outside to push it out!!
I never imagined I would have any of these problems, as the complications was never discussed with me!! I go for my check up tomorrow, so there's a few answers I want!!!
Good luck with the recovery...may it continue
melissa45115 carl43580
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carl43580 melissa45115
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tonya1963 carl43580
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Hi girls and guys. Well back to work today for me. I'm nervous as hell because one trip to the loo can turn my day to sh*t, literally.lol.
I'm doing half days today and tomorrow and not starting til lunch time, which will give me time to recover from the dreaded morning BM'S.
I'm 6 weeks post op from the second surgery and had a good day on Saturday, I felt like my old normal self again, because I hadn't been to the loo for almost since Friday morning. Then Saturday night late, the dreaded 💩 and horrible pain. I took the strong pain relief which I have been avoiding because it causes constipation, but it helped me get some sleep.
oh well, I can only but try. I see the surgeon again tomorrow to work out how the pain can be managed with returning to work.
I really do think he's living in fantasy land. He truly has no idea about the recovery time for this op.😊
jesshouston joola26
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Joola26 thank you for sharing. My surgery was on Dec 29 (5.5 weeks ago). My doctor told me I should be fine in 12 days. Here I am on day 38 and I had a bleeding episode this morning. 4 days ago I noticed a bump around my anus and it grew (swolled) over the last 4 days. I assume it it a hemorroid. Will this hemorroid go away? I thought I had the surgery to get rid of hemorroids. This morning after my second BM, I noticed a little bit of blood (not much). This was a big step back for me. Other open wounds have healed nicely. So yes, a step forward and a step back. I continue with my sitz baths and keep the area clean. My BM are difficult at the start but later the stool softens up. I started working last week and I feel more comfortable every day. I will be seeing my doctor 10 days from now. I hope things are better by then as he intends to do an endoscopy to see inside my rectum. Can't wait to be abe to say, " I feel normal again".
tonya1963 jesshouston
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Hi Jess
I gave myself a small haemorrhoid when I was on the cruise from straining after not being able to do a BM for 3 days. I was devastated, but it went away after a few days. Glad to hear your return to work is going well. I'm hopeful that my return to work today will give me some normality and will help me return to some sanity.😊
jesshouston tonya1963
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tonya1963 jesshouston
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jenniferslice jesshouston
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Yes, I still use my sitz bath on occasion if I've had a difficult 💩 and as of today, I'm 12 weeks post op. It's a nice relief that doesn't involve popping pills or using prescribed ointment.
melissa45115 jesshouston
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Jess I stopped using my sitz bath after two weeks. The only reason I quit though was because I just hopped into the bath all day long lol. I enjoy hot baths so that worked better for me. I will say that lasted almost two months. I had an expensive water bill. That hot bath was my saving grace at the time. Now a bath doesn't make a difference anymore but my surgery was Nov 1st. It's been a while for me.
jenniferslice joola26
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Joola, congratulations on getting thru the first 2 weeks. Yes, they are terrifying and incredibly depressing. Now comes the time for all the surprises. It seems all of us have had issues that we never expected to last as long as they did. I hope you have few, but we're here if you need is.
/J
jenniferslice carl43580
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Carla, can't wait to hear what your doctor has to say today!
jenniferslice tonya1963
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Best of luck.
carl43580 jenniferslice
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Hi just got back from the docs. I came out in a hot sweat coz he used some contraption to go inside and have a look lol. Basically I'm still not fully healed, but there's no fissure, so that's good.
He said it's probably the skin tags that are irritating me, but as the anus is a sensitive area & im not fully healed, he will assess in another 6wks, but I'll be looking at 12months before he'll do anything down there - which is what I was thinking myself, as I know I need to be healed before I go through any more pain!!
He said I've got some thining of the passage, which is why my stools aren't back to the normal size and he's given me a dilator to use a couple of times a day for the next 6wks.
I do feel better knowing i haven't got a fissure, I'm just a bit fed up that the passage has gone small. I kind of knew it had but was hoping it would sort itself out.
I did ask about my stools not coming out properly towards the end and me having to manipulate my cheeks to get it working, but he kind of avoided answering me and just said I'm still healing and give it time.
Maybe when he originally told me it would be 2 week recovery time, he meant 2 years ha!!! I don't mind if it is 2 years in total, as long as it all heals back to normal and that's me set for life with a designer butt hole
x
joola26 jenniferslice
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Thank you Jennifer. I don't know what the. Next few weeks and months will bring but I know I can come here and get support if I need it.
melissa45115 carl43580
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Well CArla that's great you don't have a fissure. Hopefully you will heal soon. It's such a long process. I'm starting to be able to feel scars around my butt hole. I still haven't looked down there since I had the surgery. I'm a little worried. I remember when I looked at my hemmies I felt that I had seen something and would never be able to unsee it again. I regretted looking lol. So I'm hoping that when I look again it won't scar me for life lol. Hope you all are having a great day!
carl43580 melissa45115
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I was traumatised when I first looked. I'm glad to report it looks normal down there. When the tags go I'll be really pleased!
I've tried to use this dilator, omg it's painful and it's not even very wide. I can't see me using this, I'm just gonna have to have thin 💩's !!!
jenniferslice carl43580
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An internal and a dilator?! Is your surgeon a sadist?!!!!! LOL
I don't blame you for deciding against it. Maybe after you heal some more....
tonya1963 jenniferslice
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Well first day back at work was exhausting after 9 weeks away. I only worked 5 hours and was stressing the whole time because the toilet is at the other end of the building. I've been given a desk that allows me to stand, which is good for a while, but not practical all day.I still have trouble sitting for any longer than an hour.
I am now psyching myself up for day two. The pain from my 5.30am BM is still lingering at 7.30am, but I don't start til 11, so still time yet, just hoping I don't have another BM before I go to work.
Only working til 3.30 today so I can go see surgeon at 4.30.
carl43580 tonya1963
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Oh Tonya I feel for you. I still get nervous with the loo situation at 4 mths! Mind you at least now I have more time to prepare, at one point I literally had seconds!!
I know Jen!! He said I've got no problems with the hems, as they've all completely gone. I felt like saying they were less trouble than what I'm experiencing now - Grrr
tonya1963 carl43580
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The results of my visit to the surgeon yesterday revealed I have a fissure and an ulcer. I figured something was amiss because the pain for each 💩 has been horrendous. So more meds and anaesthetic creams. The wound itself is healing nicely and healthy looking. His examination nearly put me through the ceiling.
My second day back at work yesterday was actually quite good. I was able to sit for the 4.5 hours, which was good.
I'm on my way to work for my third day, not able to sit this morning though, so might be doing a lot of standing.
carl43580 tonya1963
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Oh Tonya that's not good, poor you. Hopefully now you know & it's being treated, things will improve.
Coz I've got some narrowing, I have to dilate myself. Omg it's so painful, I can't even get the thing in. If I'd of known about these complications I would never have gone through with it.
Is anyone else having slim 💩 and/or struggling to go the loo?!
I hate all this!!
melissa45115 carl43580
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Tonya that sounds awful. Hopefully now you will start getting better. Carla my 💩Is narrow also but my doctor didn't act like it was a problem when I seen him. I've quit taking miralax to see if it gets bigger without that. Since I've quit I have only had explosive diarrhea one time. So I'm waiting on a normal 💩To see how things go. I can't imagine having to use the dilator. Hope you girls get back to normal soon.
carl43580 melissa45115
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When my consultant did the internal examination he said it had narrowed, but was mild. I've been reading around anal stenosis and it's bloomin scary.
From reading, it looks like it's caused through scar tissue build up, which you can get after this type of surgery (my consultant failed to tell me this could happen!!). So gentle dilation can help stretch it.
Yes you definitely need 💩to start getting bigger as diarrhoea is not good. My stools are probably a 1/4 - 1/2 the size of what they use to be. Whereas some people have reported as thin as a pencil, so least it's not that severe.... still not good mind 😟
samantha1970 carl43580
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Hi Carla,
crikey, it sounds like your having a tough time. I know people who have used the dilatory for vaginal canal thinning. I hear you can buy a set online and they come in different sizes so you could try a smaller size maybe?
how is your bridge/skin tag coming along? As a thought I'm going to go and take a look at mine.. I know it's still there.
i met the gastric guy again yesterday on my follow up and he said I had the two internal small hems. I haven't bled for a week or so and my bm is back to normal size. I have no symptoms now from the op except still having the bridge/tag. It's been. 5.5 months so I'm not hopeful for a full disappearance 😒
carl43580 samantha1970
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Hi Sam, so you've still got 2 hems? That's annoying! I bet ur keeping them tho !! Sod any more surgery up there!!
Yeah I've got 2 skin tags which look worse than the 1 I had. Tho now I've healed into a shape, I can't believe how weird my butt looked b4 the op & it's a good feeling when I croutch down & nothing falls out 😂 Surgeon won't do anything to them tho for at least another 12mths, which is fine by me.
I do feel great except the 💩 I 'quickly' bought some KY gel today & hoped no body I know saw me haha.
When I go the loo I feel constipated, but it's the narrowing causing this problem. Lucky it's not too bad & its some thing I need to work on & hopefully sort out!! X
samantha1970 carl43580
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Hi Carla, I had the two external ones removed. There was never any mention of any internals until the gastric doc did the colonoscopy and he said I had two small internal ones and they were likely the cause of the bleeding.
I have to say I haven't (touch wood) had any bleeding for a good week. I'm keeping up my water intake and trying to be healthier. Therefore hoping they don't get worse. They haven't dropped.
so I had a much closer look and I don't think mine are skin tags as such but an excess of fleshy skin a bit like a dried apricot with fleshy bits around the inner part at times. Does that make sense?
im not going to do anything about them, maybe they will shrink in time, but I'm not going to cry about it now or go through an op as my butt is not in action!
yes the lube lube should help, or extra virgin coconut oil from food section oils. Good luck.
hopefully the dilation will sort you out. Google vaginal dialators and check out the different sizes 😀. Good luck, I'm sure it's painful x
carl43580 samantha1970
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Hi Sam they may band those internal ones, which i found to be is a piece of cake. Just feels like uve got 💩 there as it's a heavy sensation. But that only lasts a couple of days.
Yeah I've been looking at the different types of dilators & wondered if they would be better. Start small!! Lol This one isn't very wide but it's stainless steel & weighs a ton 😱 Oh the joys.
💩's are improving wk by wk so I'm keeping positive!!
My tags are around the outside of the anus & my surgeon did say there's still time for them to reduce, so yours may do too. Tho my surgeon is full of 🐂💩😂x
samantha1970 carl43580
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Hi Carla,
I'll go see him again if they start to bleed again, but I'm going to cross everything as he said they were small.
Oh dear, the dialators sound scary, see what you can see on amazon as that is where I know many people have bought the set.
its good that your 💩 is improving! Hopefully the tags will too. I'm not going to hold my breath... hopefully I can forget about this experience and move on... what a crazy few months it's been! Hopefully your surgeon is right lol! x
carl43580 samantha1970
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Yes I doubt these skin tags are going any where either!! They will be coming off at some point tho lol ??
I know, how bad has this journey been?! It shows how mentally strong we are, because it's been a real mental challenge!!
samantha1970 carl43580
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The part the doctors don't tell you about.... I don't think they appreciate it at all!
melissa45115 samantha1970
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Well I still don't know if my poops are normal sized or not. Since I've quit the miralax I've had nothing but diarrhea. That's crazy considering it's a laxative. I'm gonna try the psyllium husk again to bulk it up and see how I do. I haven't had pain with a BM in a while but this diarrhea seems to be burning the mess out of the area and causing pain. This has been a rough few months. I swear I feel as if it's never ending. I still get nauseous a lot since my surgery. Never had a problem before it and I'm cold all the time which also isn't normal. I have always kept the air around 65 now I'm freezing when it's on 74. Strange things happening to my body all because of butthole surgery lol.
carl43580 melissa45115
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Melissa, Why is your surgeon telling you to keep up the Miralax if it's a laxative? Surly he would want you to have decent size 💩 On a regular basis?
Do you take fibre supplements?
I would question it. Honestly you don't want to get narrow & have to dilate - which I can't even do, it's an ordeal in itself. X
melissa45115 carl43580
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His reasoning for keeping me on the miralax was because of the pain. He told me to start working the fiber supplements in with it and then to wean myself off the miralax after the pain was gone. Well I am apparently a rebel and just quit that miralax cold turkey lol. Now I'm having the diarrhea. I didn't have diarrhea like this when I was still on it. Maybe my body is just adjusting to not taking it. I've never been regular and I have IBS but on the miralax I was regular and didn't have the IBS symptoms because I was going everyday. I feel this surgery really messed up my system. I'm gonna keep not taking the miralax and I'm starting the psyllium husk again today to try and bulk up my 💩This is so aggravating!
carl43580 melissa45115
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Is your pain because of the 💩or is it pain in general?
Have you had any normal size 💩's?
I've felt quite low today, but trying hard to stay positive, I think it's the unknown!! X
melissa45115 carl43580
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I think my pain was because of 💩 The diarrhea has been burning me but I'm not having pain like I was before. The only time I have had a normal poop is when I took the psyllium husk before the pain was gone. It made me feel like I was ripping in half. That's when my doctor had told me to stay on miralax until I didn't hurt so much. Now I'm off of everything and have just had diarrhea. Now before surgery because of my IBS I hadn't had a normal poop in years. It was always diarrhea with bad stomach pain. I hope you feel better soon Carla.
carl43580 melissa45115
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At least your not in pain Melissa, but what a drag. I never get diarrhoea but for some reason I've had it today... think it must be the sugar free sweets I've been sucking on lol
When's your surgery Tonya? X
melissa45115 carl43580
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carl43580 melissa45115
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That's hilarious Melissa, I've just had a read!! I bought Aldi sugar free sweets... it was only a small pack... I've been trumping like a trooper as well lol x
jenny46037 carl43580
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Thanks to you and Melissa I have been put at some ease with this pain. I was going to go in but realized this is normal pain, some past posts made me laugh crapping damn near makes me cry. 8 days in recovery 😵😢
melissa45115 jenny46037
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