My experience 5 weeks after Haemorrhoidectomy
Posted , 172 users are following.
After 5 weeks of doing the operation and especially after passing through some really horrible times of pain and misery I promised myself that I owe it to everybody out there to share my experience so that you can derive benefit out of it. I had suffered from haemorrhoids for 20+ years and it is only because I became severely anaemic due to blood loss from passing stools that I was forced to do the operation. With hindsight I could have avoided 20 years of misery, of lost sports, of severe discomfort in cars and planes by taking the plunge and doing it earlier.
First and foremost, Haemorrhoidectomy is a very common operation and albeit there is a very small percentage where things get complicated the cases are getting less and less each year. I'm saying this because each and every person that does this operation will pass through so much pain that instinctively he or she will think that they are one of the few that is unlucky.
Secondly the pain WILL PASS!
I repeat it WILL PASS!
The absolutely horrible, can't take it anymore, about to throw up, about to faint, never going to be the same, never going to be happy, stuffiness, bloated feeling, blade cutting through your backside pain WILL PASS!
Realistically a person who does this operation will experience two annoying factors namely pain and discomfort. In the first few days the pain is so bad that you cannot think of anything else including the discomfort. After that the pain between going to the bathroom will slowly subside but the discomfort will increase primarily due to constipation. Hereunder please find my tips and what I would do differently if I could go back in time.
1. Increase your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and water weeks before the operation to soften your stools and prepare your body for a life change. This diet change is a must EVEN AFTER the operation unless you’re a masochist and want to pass through it again.
2. Cut out anything that might make you constipated – research. This includes alcohol, caffeine, chocolate, refined foods etc.
3. Do a fresh water enema the day before the operation.
4. Do a list of all the things you missed out on because of your condition and promise yourself to enjoy life more after the operation and to take care more of your physical well being.
5. Mentally prepare that you are going to be in severe pain but also be aware that this is only temporary and that you’ll be tons better after that and the effort would have been worth it. Incidentally I was in excruciating pain for about 5 days, in agonising pain 5 days after that and in manageable pain 5 days after that. By the end of the second week I was 60% better. By the end of the fourth week I was 90% better with only the annoying leakage to take care of. By the end of the fifth week I’m 95% there.
6. Try and limit pain killer as much as possible as they will slow your digestive system and the resulting constipation is worse than the pain.
7. The feeling of still feeling massive haemorrhoids after the operation is normal. This is due to the swelling. The importance of having formed stools that are SOFT is important. Underline formed not diarrhoea as you need your system to re-function even if it means a little more pain.
8. The feeling of passing sharp blades during the first few days is unavoidable. This mixed with blood and excrement is not a pretty felling or site but I PROMISE YOU it will get better.
9. Keep the are dry otherwise you’ll develop sever rash – been there done that – more pain to avoid.
10. Keep moving. The more you move the better your digestive system works, the less laxatives, the less bloated feeling, the happier you will be.
11. Be prepared to go the bathroom at a moments notice.
12. Run a warm sitz bath often – it does wonders to sooth the pain
13. Squat not sit to pass stools. It’s easier to excrete, less painful and quicker. I’m still squatting and there is no way I’m going back to sitting. Before I sometime spent between 30 – 45 min on the loo. Now I’m in an out in 3 minutes.
14. Keep the area clean. Use a bidet, shower or whatever you want. Use only toilet paper to pat dry the excess water. Again with hindsight this should be norm. After all if you covered you hand in excrement you wouldn’t simply wipe it off with toilet paper but you’d wash the hell out of it.
15. Drink lots of water and take a reasonable amount of fibre. Taking fibre without water is a recipe for disaster.
16. You are going to have to live with sanitary pads for a few weeks until the area heals sufficiently. It will get gradually better. I have gained a new respect for women who have to wear these things once a month; very annoying.
17. After you recover promise yourself to share your positive experience and the things that worked out for you on a blog for the benefit of others. It’s kind of a chain get better advice blog.
18. Most important of all – KEEP POSITIVE and take care of your health. You only have one body.
36 likes, 343 replies
SFlor glen79281
Edited
Firstly - thank you to everyone who has posted on here, I'm having some issues and it's been comforting just to know I'm not alone This page is a stress reliever,
I seem to be 1 of the small percentage of people who had complications. I was not given instructions to use laxatives, empty my bowels etc the day before -only not to eat after midnight. After the out-patient op I was released, I had what I thought was a UTI and had to get meds for that. A night of extreme pain and vomiting put me back in the ER the next day. I was in the hospital for 9 days. I had to empty my bowels - the pain was excruciating. I tell you this so if you are pre-op you make sure you you have the info to empty your body before. This is the most important info I wasn't given. (I had 3 internal Haemorroids and 2 external 'removed' and an old anal fissure 'tidied up/cleaned out'
. I don''t want to scare anyone but the pain of emtying my bowels after the op was 10/10 , I truly didn't know if I would make it. I lost so much blood over two days when using the toilet - I ended up having 3 blood transfusions. Again - make sure you are empty before your op.
I am now 3 weeks post op. I thought things were going smoothly but now Constipation is an issue - which is why I am on here - looking for comfort from others -I'm taking Golytely. Also taking stool softners, Miralax has not worked, pain killers are a minimum now and some of my toilet isues could be mental from the trauma in the hospital. I need to relax.
I am a vegetarian. I drink a lot of water. Things are not retracted - which I wasn't expecting either and my Dr has said it could be 8 to 12 weeks.
Oh - I forgot to say - I have found it easier to use the restroom while usng a Stz bath. Not the greatest as it can be a bit messy and you do have to clean it after pooping into water but the warm water has taken away some discmfort. And at this time anything to ease the pain is so welcome. I also shower immediately after using the toilet every time.
I truly hope that no-one has to ever go through the pain I did. Again I thank you all for being here and sharing experiences. It is very comforting. I hope that I have give a little info that can help others.
SFlor
Posted
It's nearly 2 weeks since I wrote the above post. Having a BM is still extremely painful. Can anyone tell me if the pain lessens once I come off stool softners and Miralax or do more formed stoools cause more pain? I know some of my issues are mental coming from having to have an Enema 3 days post op and then loosing so much blood but I'm scared to stop taking them and become constipated again, so I'm living with diarrhea but this is keeping me basically housebound.
On seeing my doc this week she realized she had forgotten to give me hydrocortisone cree to take down the swelling. Starting to think I get better medicl advice right here then I'll ever get in a docs office.
Hope everyone is getting past the pain - it does get easier every day - even though it's still panful I htink back to how it was 4 weeks ago and realize I'm in a better place. would I have this op again - never -if I could go back in time I would probably opt not to have it and deal with the issues I had.
SFlor
Posted
lulu72270 SFlor
Posted
Hi Sflor
What a horrendous time you've had, it's an awful procedure at best and like you said I wish I'd not done it, but at the same time I truly don't think dr's give the truth about the recovery process, either they are not fully aware or they just omit it.
In answer to your questions, I'm 7 weeks 4 days post op and have only been able to do 2 BM on my own and not in the sitz bath. Each day I try mentally to achieve it but can't. I will continue to try each day as I'm going on holiday soon and don't want to have to take the sitz bath with me. Having said that the 2nd BM I did on my own was yesterday and it was totally bearable so it could be a sign of an improvement, fingers crossed.
As for taking the laxatives, I tried to stop as soon as I could post op as didn't want to be dependent and wanted to give my body a chance to figure it out for itself. I think I took them for about 8-9 days post op. I just make myself a simple rule, if I've not been to the toilet for one day, I make sure I take a laxative that night. To support that I religiously drink 3 liters of water a day, my dr told me she would prefer for me to get my fiber source naturally (and I agree) so advised against psyllium husks etc so I eat 8 prunes each day to keep the BM soft but formed. I am also a veggie so in addition to my normal intake I try to eat lots of broccoli, mushrooms, drink 100% pure coconut water, fresh pomegranate juice or eat pomegranate seeds, natural yoghurt and 4-5 egg whites a week this was her recommendations.
My swelling only started to go down between weeks 5-6 and has pretty much gone but the area is still painful sometimes. For my experience I think it also takes a considerable time for your body to regulate, I have gone between loose and formed BM but now at this stage in my recovery I'd say they are formed. I am still getting the mucus discharge which intensifys after a BM but if I compare week to week this is decreasing although not gone. That is my experience, hope it helps somewhat
SFlor lulu72270
Posted
Lulu, thank you so much for responding. I hate to think that anyone else is going through this but at the same time it's so reassuring to know that i'm not alone. I'm following a lot of what you are doing and a very strict diet of anything I can find that can pass through me easily - and avoiding anything that has the slightest chance of causing constipation. (If there's any good news it's the fact that I've lost 15 lbs in a month! I wasn't overweight but I'll take some weight loss as a bonus!) Congratulations on your BM ! - never thught I would say that but I totally appreciate the relief you must feel, I hope that cotinues. I can't go without a valium - never taken a pill before in my life but can't relax enough without one just yet - hope that will go as the pain subsides.
I will try to get prunes today (I just have the juice) - not my favourite - but worth a shot and cut down on the laxatives. I hadn't heard about pomegranate juice but love it so will add that to my diet.
You give me something to look forward to as I am only a couple of weeks behind you. and if this gets a little better every day my life will be much impproved. Thanks again. Enjoy your vacation - even if you have to take the sitz bath.
sharon48405 SFlor
Posted
sorry for your discomfort.....this has been an awful experience Pain i expected at first and I had it. But 9 wks later I am not up to par and don't understand why. Thinking of getting another opinion but unfortunately this procedure (first banding that put me in hospital for fissures and hemorroid surgery) was my second opinion before agreeing to surgery. 60 seconds and it is over is what I heard. WRONG. It caused me to have to go in as outpatient and then have surgery - totally unexpected. Not happy camper but hopefully this will be over soon. My family doesn't understand what is happening with me since I am a quick heeler usually.
Nope86 glen79281
Edited
So I would like to pay it forward and share my experience with hem surgery. I am 9 days post op and finally feeling a little better. After surgery I was fine, no pain, just numb. I was prescribed oxycodone with Tylenol, stool softeners, and Metamucil. I did not have a BM for the first 24 hours, so I took Milk of Magnesia the second night before bed. I woke up at 5am with the BUBBLEGUTS!! That first BM was so excruciatingly painful. I screamed and cried feeling like I was sh*tting pins and needles. I never cried like that in my whole entire life. I was sweating, nauseous, and felt like I was going to pass out from the pain! I sat in a sitz bath crying and whining like a baby. I knew the rest of the week was going to be hell ;(
The rest of that day I was back and forth to the restroom about 7x with diarrhea. Each time as painful as the first. I had pain down my legs all the way down to my feet and twitching pain up my crack
I had my son go with me each time for the first four days to hold on to him. He is such a trooper lol he would comfort me and talk me through each BM and get my sitz bath ready immediately after lol ?? (11 years old) anyways the oxycodone was amazing except for the side effect of a migraine? Strange? I was then prescribed tramadol (weak). Each day has been a little better until tonight. After my shower I checked butt out and saw I have an open wound about 2inches long. I also saw the stitches had came apart and exposed. I spoke with an on call surgeon and told me that was normal due to the anus stretching and to leave it alone. 
I'm freaking out now and am scared to have my next BM. They have not been so bad but after seeing that I'm traumatized!
I can't wait to be fully recovered. I was not regretting the surgery until I saw the opened wound. I almost passed out!
Getting up out of bed, a couch, a chair, the car, the toilet is so painful. I have to get up slowly with my butt sticking out lol embarrassing! If I walk for too long I feel like if my butthole is going to flip inside out ;( I only recommend this surgery if you really need it because the recovery is torture. Plus your family has to see you suffer. You'll need someone to be there with you to help you out with taking care of yourself, your family, and your home. If you're single like me, it's hard. Just my boy to help out, but he has been wonderful through this process
So I have been taking a sitz bath after every BM, I blow dry the area afterwards on the cool setting to avoid infection, I use pads for the bleeding and discharge (not so bad), I'll use the DIY diaper method to make an ice pack at least once a day for swelling, I wipe with cottonelle wet wipes, and pain meds around the clock! Hope this was helpful!
Anyone else with open wounds? Help!
SFlor Nope86
Posted
Nope86 SFlor
Posted
Yes he is lovely thank you
my dr will not prescribe me anything but pain meds 
I am able to have a BM without pain it's just the open wound that bothers me now. I still get scared to use the bathroom lol I am traumatized I guess! Thanks again
dd23 Nope86
Posted
Can I ask how long it took the open wound to heal? I too have one
and it's the only thing bothering me now. I am 4 weeks postop.
I don't know how much longer I can take this. Just when I think it's
Healing it opens back up. I need some reassurance
Nope86 dd23
Edited
It took a couple of months because it kept reopening. It's been one year now and I am completely healed. I still get a little swelling after a BM though. It was a very painful experience but I'm happy with the results
Just make sure you keep it clean and ice!
DorothyDee glen79281
Edited
Dear Glen,
this is my day 10 after op (IV grade, nip&tuck), I have just woken up at 2am with uneasiness and after I passed a gass I had to go for real - this being the 7th time today! Fortunately, the pain ceased and all I have is a temporary burning which passes after a massage. For someone who suffered from constipation since childhood (I'm 30 now), I am far from being used to going once a week let alone 7 times a day. i drink a lot of water, eat watermelon, drink home made juice and think how to improve my diet every day. Your post gave me hope for I was somewhat discouraged today, the swelling looks just like piles and I was wondering if it is gonna stay there... One thing I did not see anyone mentioning is the massage of the inside. Doctor prescribed a gel to me to put on my finger tip and go in to do the massages. He stressed it as very importand but for me it is very painful and I do it with lot of cringing and pep talk. I am writing down my daily struggles and I will write about it in more detail here after I get better. Until then, thank you so much for sharing very useful notes, I really appreciate it! All the best!
lulu72270 DorothyDee
Posted
Hang in there Dorothy Dee
The swelling takes some time to go down, I was roughly 5 weeks and a few days before the swelling subsided. It's awful as you feel the hems are still there, it just takes time. Even though the swelling has gone I'm now 6 weeks and 5 days I still find the site very sore and raw where I had a skin tag removed, that area still leaks a clear-ish fluid. And up till now I still have a small amount of leakage about an hour after a BM for up to 2-3 hrs, totally gross and praying that will stop
DorothyDee lulu72270
Posted
lulu72270 DorothyDee
Edited
Hey DD
By leakage I mean yes I have the yellowish mucus type leakage, it's a very very small amount and I think it's coming from the site of the skin tag removal and that happens all day. I wear a 4x4 gauze on the site all day and change it numerous times and it's there. But in addition to that, after a BM, say 1hr after, I have very small stool leakage more like a poopy mucus that comes for up to 3hrs after the bowel movement. Like I forgot to wipe or clean properly (obvs not the case). This really concerns me as it makes me feel disgusting. I sincerely hope it goes away. It's hard to really tell but I do feel it's subsiding day by day however no 2 days are the same, sometimes I feel I'm taking 10 steps forward, others 15 steps back
DorothyDee lulu72270
Posted
Hey Lulu,
yes we are on the same page enitrely, even with the poopy mucus part. I am on day 17 but have unfortunately been on my period for three days, too. Just when I got little better there it came, earlier than expected (could be the stress). Today, I had normal stool but I feel itchy as if I had rush but I didn't. I feel like scratching it but I know I must not. Every day is different, and just like you I sometimes feel like going backwards.
ginza96249 lulu72270
Posted
Hi
4 weeks post op, still a lump outside anus during recovery period and its not shrinking!!!
4 weeks post op, still bleeding and pain and sore during BM
Anyone same?? How long will this take😖
SFlor ginza96249
Posted
Morning, From my experience. You are getting there - but we still have time to go - I am 8 weeks post today. I still have a lumps - it's smaller now - last time i saw Dr and asked her she 'realized she'd forgotten to give me Hydrocortisone Cream, USP 2.5%' I'm not sure if it's helping the shrinking or not. but the lumps - i had two - are smaller. It just seems to be taking forever.
I am still bleeding. In fact I took a couple of photos this week as I want them to tell me it's normal blood - as I'd previously been hospitalized after the op for loosing so much blood. (that will suprise someone if my phone gets stolen!)
I have my down moments and my positive moments. I was told 8-12 weeks recovery time. I've still got the pain and soreness and it seems never ending but I do think back to a few weeks ago - and realize I am better now than I was. I have a ritual of taking my BM in the Sitz bath - the warm water seems to help me get going and also sooth - I immediately stand up - clean it out - refill and sit again - in case there's more - I know, it's a bit messy but after being hospitalized (I had to have 3 blood transfusions - I also had anal fissure) and I'm never going back to that again so a bit of mess is nothing. I try and take another Sitz bath in the afternoon. I have a friend who swears that Witch Hazel (with NO alcohol added) helps reduce the swelling she gets. I haven't tried it.
I just hope the lumps contiue to shrink as some days I feel that I am worse off than when I started but we're all getting there. I find this site very reasssurign and appreciate all the comments and info everyone puts here - so we know we're not alone. I hope things get better for you.
ginza96249 SFlor
Posted
Hi SFlor
Thanks for your reply.
I really dont know whether i am recovering.... Post 1 week after surgery, the wound area was just a "hole"... After that, a lump prolapse.... Now... Everyday is different.... There is loose skin around the anal and also small jelly bean like red lumps around it.
I really dont know what to do anymore! Why does the lumps and skins keep coming out every day!!! Sigh
bumbum ginza96249
Posted
Did you lumps ever go away? and if so how long did it take? I had a large skin tag removed. It's been a week since my surgery. Around the third day I noticed a small red bump and now its gotten bigger, it is now the size of a pea, very red and painful. i feel like i was getting the hang of recovery until this popped up. It's adding more pain. I called the doctor, he said its just a skin tag that sometimes develops from the surgery. Now im worried that its going to leave another tag.
sharon48405 SFlor
Posted
my doctor won't let me use hydrocortisone cream - says it will thin the skin and cause more problems????? I have used it before for hemorroids and it worked to shrink them so I don't know.