My Hemorrhoidectomy Journey (Part 1)

Hi there! My name is Michelle and I am going to be 29 over the summer plus my husband & I are going to be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary this summer as well. Today is March 29th, 2017 and I'm scheduled to have my Hemorrhoidectomy on April 28th, 2017. There's a chance I might have it a few days before, but will know for sure by the end of this week. So, let me start from the beginning of why I'm getting this procedure done.

I have been a constipated person all my life. The hemorrhoids, well,  honestly, I don't exactly remember when they began...I just recall it was before or after having our first child. My oldest one was born 3 mos shy of my 21st birthday in 2009. He was born vaginally and I had an episiotomy at the time as well. Our other 3 children were born via c-section. After having my 3rd one in 2011, that's when the bleeding & pain from the rectum really began almost nonstop every time I needed to have a bowel movement.

Due to being busy with family, and other things, plus lack of insurance, I just dealt with those symptoms for over 5 years. I bled a lot almost everytime I had a BM, and sometimes I would even bleed rectally when I just had to pee. The pain was excruciating often when I had BMs, at least 3 times a week, whether or not I bled. And then there was the lingering pain from those episodes that stayed with me throughout the rest of the day which makes sitting down and walking uncomfortable. As if that was not enough, I would get a horrible, bad pulsating pain from the hemmorrhoid itself about once a month or so lasting about a day or 2 each time. I still do dread going to the bathroom when I feel I have to poo because most of the times it's just too painful  So, finally, after getting my insurance back and now that all my kiddos were about to begin school full time, last summer I decided to start making dr appts and began with seeing a new primary dr in July of 2016. In addition to sending me to other specialists for other minor health issues, he sent me to see a G.I. dr. In August, I saw the G.I. Dr for the first time who ordered a colonoscopy. In September, I had the colonoscopy done, and Dr found and removed a polyp, and said that I have hemorrhoids, one of them very large. So, when I went to my followup appt in October, G.I dr said that the hemmorrhoid should be treated. I told him that I already tried other methods a few years before, like cream and the rectal pills, forgot what they're called, but nothing has even helped. Then he suggested to get it removed or else it will just get worse in the future, as if it wasn't already bad enough. I said ok and he referred me to a colorectal surgeon whom I saw for the first time in December. She checked me and said that I have an anal fissure which has to heal first before getting the hemmorrhoid removed to avoid infection. She also said that the fissure is the main reason why I have been bleeding for what seems forever. She gave me several mini Analphram cream tubes to apply back there, and put me on a fiber diet. I had been seeing her once a month since then, and so glad that the bleeding has gone away for most part, but the pain is still there no matter what and won't leave me alone. I even had a hair get tied up on my hemorrhoid about a month ago, lol...it stung and hurt so much, that even after my husband was able to free my hemorrhoid from that hair, I still wasn't able to sit or walk right for the rest of the day  So, finally, just last week, she finally gave me the ok to go ahead with getting the hemorrhoid removed. The fissure is not 100% healed yet, but pretty close to getting there and healing well enough to go through with the procedure. It has been scheduled to get it done in a month.

When I had my most recent appt with the colorectal surgeon last week, I was busy with other things, family, and plus friends visiting out of town. Honestly, it didn't really sink in about the whole surgery thing until earlier this week when I finally had sometime to settle down from all the busy-ness...OMG!

Last week when I asked the colorectal surgeon about the hemmorrhoid surgery because the pain and feeling uncomfortable won't leave me alone, she did warn me that after the procedure, it will be at least 2-3weeks of a lot of pain and more uncomfortable-ness. I said ok, I just want to get it over with. Well, earlier this week after really realizing what I may be in for, I Googled this procedure, and have read so many horror stories about this which honestly have me really nervous and scared about getting this done. Besides that, I have also read many tips & advice on how to manage an easier recovery despite the fact that the excruciating pain will be there no matter what especially the first 3-7 days after the hemorrhoidectomy is done. I felt that I have gotten so much insight regarding this procedure from this site in addition to other sites. So, since I feel that everything I've read so far has helped me in some way, I feel that it would only be fair & helpful as a way to give back to post my experience of my Hemorrhoidectomy for others going through the same to read and hopefully take something good from it. My Hemorrhoidectomy won't be done until a month from now, so no real hemorrhoidectomy experience to share yet, but I begin by posting this, and will post updates of what I'm going to be doing to prepare for this day in addition to posting about my recovery period after I go through with the procedure.

I am going to start planning about when to cut off red meats completely and also when to start on a liquid diet. I have already started taking laxatives again that my dr had prescribed. I had stopped taking them weeks ago and started getting constipated again, so now I'm back taking them. I'm also trying to increase my water intake as it's already a bad habit of mine to not drink sufficient water. Plus, as of next week (after I take a full trip to the grocery store), I plan to increase my intake in fruits & veggies. Terrible how I have my kiddos eat those, but I don't do enough of that for myself, lol. These are just beginning pointers of what I'm beginning to do and plan.

You see, I really hope to God that the recovery and pain does not really take that long. As a matter of fact, I hope a 3-week recovery is possible because there is so much to do and so much to look forward to that I hope this doesn't delay/ruin things, lol. My husband and I have a date night to tend to because of a concert we're planning to attend on May 26th. We already have tickets. Would be a shame to not br able to go or enjoy concert due to pain. In addition to that, we're planning for our kids' birthday party to be on the 20th of May. Too soon after hemorrhoidectomy? Guess we'll see, but I really don't want to ruin it for the kids. Then there's the part how my husband will tackle the kids and house especially the first week of my recovery in addition to his busy work schedule. I don't want it to be too much for him which is why I truly want a quick recovery. As everyone else has said, it will get better and afterall, at the end, it will be worth it, or so they say, heheheh. In a later post either later this week or next week, I'll post more about my plans in preparing for this day. Thanks for taking the time in reading this & by the way, any questions/comments/feedback is greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

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