My hemorrhoidectomy recovery

yes. im 10 weeks out and there were days that i thought i was getting better, only for the next day to come and i was in pain all over again. 😦

its terrible.

i still have swollen skin down there. when i went in the beginning of july, my doctor wasnt concerned about the skin but i feel that by now, it should be gone.

keep us updated after your appt.

i regret the surgery too. i almost cancelled after reading all of the horror stories.

@sarachaney im sorry you're experiencing this. I had 4 external & internal removed on june 23. Im 47 days post op and i had the worst first 6 weeks. After 11 days i started feeling a bit better but then had a major setback, bleeding and the pain felt like i went backwards more than a week. This took 5-6 days to get back to how I felt before the setback then again on day 22 i had another bad setback that took me backwards a week or more in terms of pain and recovery. Two weeks later, when i started feeling as i did before the second setback the same thing happened! It was extremely frustrating, depressing, and worrisome. I was still unable to sit and the stinging pain and swelling was awful. I called my surgeon and described all symptoms in detail 8 days ago. He said it sounded like i may have had an infection and prescribed metronidazole 500mg 3 pills for 5 days and silver sulfadiazine cream to apply 2xs daily for 2 weeks. A few days after taking the antibiotics the pain went down significantly. Its now been a little over a week since I started taking the antibiotics, and finished my metronidazole 3 days ago. Ive progressed more in this past week than i did from week 1 - almost week 6. the swelling and bloating feeling has decreased and bowl movements have become far less painful, sometimes with almost no pain at all. I still feel I have a ways to go, but i feel im finally on the right track! Hang in there and ask your doc if maybe it could be an infection if things dont start to improve soon. The antibiotics really saved me and i wish I had taken them sooner.

isnt it terrible? ive said to my husband a few times how i thought i was getting better, only to experience more pain in the days that followed. im 10 weeks out and still have bleeding and pain. i feel that i have to go often even when nothing is there.

did your doctor have to do an internal to see the infection?

i went in the beginning of july in tears bc i was in so much pain. my doc tried to look internally but i couldnt relax enough for him to check. it was awful.

Yes it is the absolute worst thing ive experienced. I did not even go in yet to see the doc, i called on the phone. I was supposed to have a check at 3 weeks but was unable to make the travel to go to the docs since i was doing so terrible.

I described to him my symptoms and that i suspected i had an infection even though I didnt experience a fever (i was taking a ton of vitamins). I also felt like i had to go often but i believe that to be the swelling and inflamation the infection was causing added on to the swelling from recovery. This is all speculation of mine, but I can tell you the medication definitely worked a ton and improvements were dramatic and quick, suggesting I was most definitely fighting an infection as well! Swelling and bloating is way down, im feeling better each day, there is no longer painful stinging to the touch near the area. Im feeling a different kind of better than when i was having my setbacks. My body just feels like it is healing in a healthy way now if that makes sense..I havent had much bleeding lately, some very small spots/dots here and there every few days or so with no signs of discharge since day 3 after taking the medication.

I wont make an appointment until about 3 months post op (so maybe 5 or 6 weeks from now) as I dont want to go through something like you did and not be able to have the doc inspect properly. The thought still terrifies me and i want the wounds to heal as much as possible before so that they arent irritated. I'm sorry you had to go through that it truly sucks 😦. Youre not alone! My prayers are with you!

thank you for all that info! ive always assumed a fever with an infection so i never thought that was the case! maybe im wrong? i think im going to call tomorrow and just see if i can get in to see the doc. maybe he can just look externally and let me know that its healing properly for piece of mind.

the feeling of constantly having to go is the worst. i think im affecting my healing bc of it. im pushing so hard that i feel that tear, then i see the clot or drips of blood. i can feel exactly when its going to happen bc its like glass coming out.

im so glad to have found this forum. no one around me understands what im going through.

Yes this forum is great! Feel free to message if you ever need to vent. Its an extremely tough recovery and people could not understand unless they've experienced it, so its tough to express. I did try to sit today but the swelling and aching pain that followed says that im still not ready to do that. That got me pretty down 😕

I had the surgery on 22/7. The first 2 weeks, as you know, were absolute hell. I took 2 and a half weeks off work. I went back on Tuesday then had to take Wednesday off. The doctors that I speak to act as if I shouldn’t be in pain and should be all good now. The only thing that makes me know I’m not crazy is this forum. I don’t feel anywhere near back to normal.

Some days it feels like I am getting better and then the next day I go backwards. Like I don’t have pain during the day and then the next day I have pain. It’s not a steady gradual case of feeling better it’s all over the place.

what did your surgeon say?

i feel you with the regret. i almost cancelled the surgery the morning of and i wish i would have. ive never experienced anything like this. ill be 11 weeks out and im still bleeding everyday. and its still painful to have a bowel movement. thinking about going/actually going is something that i dread all day/everyday. Its ruining my time home with my family. i hate going out.

im going to call my doctor tomorrow.

The surgeon thinks I have either a colon infection transmitted at the hospital or antibiotic induced colitis. Other than the skin tag, the surgery site looks good. He promised to remove it in 6 months if it doesn't resolve itself.I have to take a stool sample to the hospital today (lots of fun) and wait for an appointment for a colonoscopy. If I could go back in time, I would not have had this surgery. I hope everyone else is feeling a bit better today. It's good to know I'm not alone in my misery, though.

ugh im sorry that you have another complication. did your doc have to do an internal examine?

im terrified to call mine bc i cant have him look up in there. i screamed and cried last time, and at that point i was 6 weeks out. im 11 weeks out tomororw and just saw more blood/had more pain when i had a bm. i know i should call but im so nervous.

hi Lindsay25, if it can give you a bit of hope ill tell you a bit of my story. ive been battleling with hemorrhoids for the past 10 years, the last 6 months were just hell for me. i could not even think straight no more. the lain was so bad that my doctor put me on emergency list for surgery. im tapping that repply from my bath because yes its true its such a relief. i had my surgery on november 5th so 10 days ago and to be honest yes it hurts, more than when i gave birth but if you stay on top of you medications and do as told by the 3rd day you'll be better. i was prescribed 5mg oxycodone, ketoralac and tylenol xtra-strengh and nifedipine cream. took my meds for 5 days, with 1 spoon of metamucil in the morning and 1 spoon of lax-a-day at night and endless baths. i cant do sitz as i feel the strech in my rectal area. first bm hurts but jump in a bath right after and you will feel better. eat soft food, plain greek yogurt, soups, apple sauce, mash sweet potatoes, allbran with oat milk, cook oats, integrate lots of fibres. im on day 10 and i feel better, discomfort du to sutures but thats it. i will never suffer again like i did. i do not regret mu surgery at all. its a rough path but not as bad as the 10 years suffering. don't forget that it will end at one point. everyone heals differently. best of luck. don't hesitate if you have questions.

*not as bad

Hi Lindsay. I just had my surgery 4 days ago. honestly each and every person have different experience. My first 2 days post op literally had no pain. I only started feeling pain after my first BM. It aches and somewhat sting but wasn't too painful for me. But then again i really think i just have a really high pain tolerance. I dont even take any pain medications. Just the stool softners. The feeling of the surgery honestly cannot be as bad as when your hemmoroids are inflamed. So if you can tolerate that. I think you should just do it. Honestly you will never feel ready and always feel scared. You just gotta do it. For me its a lot scary to see the toilet bowl full of blood everytime i go take a BM. More than half of the time thats the scene I have to see...took me 14 yrs to finally have the guts to do it. (I just turned 30)...

Thank you for this!! I know mine are not as bad as others, but i watched my dad suffer for a long time, stay in the tub and bleed through female pads before he did something about it. That was probably 10-15 years ago. He is now 71 and in good health and when i question him he can't remember much of the recovery. So hoping it won't be that bad.

hi Lindsay. I had been going back and forth on this decision to have the surgery for at least 10 years. everyone recovers differently and everyone has a different level of suffering before deciding on surgery. my surgeon said if your hemorrhoids were not that bad, were tolerable, or only acted up a few times a year, then you could probably live with them and that this surgery is probably not for you. many people choose to live with them and avoid surgery. the people that felt the surgery was worth it were the ones that suffered pretty bad and were in debilitating pain more than 3-4 times a year. for me, I had flare ups that were 4x a year and would last a week or so. as of most recently the flare up was so bad I could not sleep or move for a week. I had to take an 800mg ibuprofen every 6 hours to function. this is when I knew it was time. I went to see a proctologist/surgeon that helped me in the past. he examined me and was even like "yeah its time". he did say make sure this is your last resort and that you are prepared for the rough road. but he also said everyone recovers differently and the ones that did well most likely are not searching forums looking for answers or posting their positive stories. with this I decided to have my surgery 5 days ago. this was the most terrifying decision/moment of my life thus far (1st poop ended up beating this). everything went well in surgery, woke up with pain but was given more meds. slept most of day, then at night the pain hit hard. BUT not like I was going to pass out or die from it hard. that's the extent of the pain I felt this whole time. it comes and goes but if you stay on top of the meds and don't have a lapse then you will be ok. start eating light a week before, cut out heavy foods, enema morning of surgery, liquid diet the next 3 days along with stool softener and miralax 2x a day. day 3 i was feeling ok and I had eased up on the prescription pain meds. then the bowel movement came and that by far was the most terrifying and painful of the whole ordeal. if you go thru with the surgery make sure you are doing all you can to not go past 3 days without pooping, you do not want to get backed up!

so to answer your question, I myself feel this was worth it because I was truly suffering physically and mentally. it was affecting my day to day life and was embarrassing whenever I had to get exams, procedures done like waxing and even being naked. it was hard to even ride a bike sometimes. and like I said a flare up would take me down for a week. I wasn't able to play with my kids or do anything for them. I know after I heal I'll feel so much better and just to stay positive. the day to day pain is tolerable for me, it's not excruciating. the excruciating pain was the first poop and that was for a minute and it took about 2 hours to gradually die down. it gets better with each poop. I haven't felt the need to sit in the bathtub thankfully, but I am still pretty uncomfortable. make sure you are 100% on board before you go down this route, that you are at your wits end with this stuff! good luck!