My Hemorrhoidectomy Recovery - 9 Days Later

Hi All,

I endured a hemorrhoidectomy 9 days ago and want to talk a bit about my experience, and hope for some positive encouragement. I "only" had two severe grade 3 hemorrhoids (1 internal/1 external) and after 3 failed band ligations (that took place after two successful ones), surgery was recommended. I'm 5'9"31 years old and weight 150 lbs.

Surgery day - I had an early 8:30 AM appointment on a Tuesday and woke up feeling surprisingly okay. The anesthesia was in full effect on my bottom and compared to the discomfort of the band ligations, I was pleased. I got home and foolishly took some Miralax thinking I would get ahead of any constipation which was a huge mistake. Not only would I have been super grateful to have a day or two of no bowel movements, the anestesia hadnt fully worn off when I went to make my first BM. After some painful straining with no success, I hopped in the shower only to realize the tampon like item they insert in your anus was still in place. I am my own worst enemy. My girlfriend was an angel this day and went out to get everything I'd need (Colaise, motrin/tylenol, soft foods, Tucks anasthetic ointments, etc.).

What transpired from that point until Sunday has been the worst experience of my life. Screaming during bowel movements, baths I cannot fully relax in, and long periods of time lying helplessly on my stomach unable to even watch a movie. The pain is sensational. At minimum, when painkillers/ointments affects worn off, my sphincter had a throbbing stinging that felt like it was recovering from a hornet sting. When going to the bathroom, it felt like my sphincter was in real time getting stung by a swarm of hornets. And if I was constipated, it was like my sphincter was in real time getting stung by a swarm of hornets + a lit match/candle was then pressed against it. I was brought to tears multiple times. The pain gets some attribution, but also feeling so defeated and fearing your own body of every bowel movement, knowing there would be another one was just hard to come to terms with. I only took Tramadol twice, knowing a side affect was constipation which was my #1 priority to avoid. Sleeping was also a no go. I couldn't sleep more than 2 hours at a time for a bit, then eventually got to 3-4 hours, but waking up with such pain it was pretty much morning by the time it subsided. Even as my sleep has improved, I'm still waking up in the middle of the night with a pain and require a bathroom visit to wipe my bum with a wipe and reapply ointments.

What makes this recovery challenging is almost everything is a catch 22. They give you opioids for the pain, but the opioids will only cause more pain via constipation. I'd gladly starve myself if it meant going to the bathroom less, but not consuming enough calories can also constipate you. On the flip side, you have to ensure you're getting enough fiber intake, but that can cause you to go the bathroom even more, which also sucks.

That's been mostly my problem, I've been having way more bowel movements than usual. Some are in part because not everything will come out at once, and I refuse to push. I'll have a BM, and another one an hour later, taking baths after each. While this route has been preferential to me from a pain tolerance perspective, it's still causing a lot of pain especially the more i go. If I go a second or third time in a 5 hour period, each one gets worse. My diet has been mostly soft foods: apple sauce, baby food, yogurt parfaits with oatmeal/fruit, soup, and roasted veggies.

About a week later, Monday/Tuesday sucked in the sense that the week of pain resulted in some stress induced canker sores on my tongue. As if I needed another painful ailment to deal with. That said, I can say these were the first days I've had some improvement in the anus area. I'm not screaming on the toilet any more, but each BM still leaves me with a feeling that I just crapped out shards of glass. I'm far from better but can now sit up a bit and even work on my laptop from time to time, feeling no pain at all if I stay stationary for an extended period of time. I also don't feel a need to take pain medication every 3 hours.

Wednesday night/Thursday morning(today) was a bit of a step back, largely because of my aforementioned issue of having too many BMs. I've been feeling a bit better now but still totally handicapped to this surgery, just waiting for the BM that doesn't make me feel like all my healing has been undone. I'm also not experiencing swollen lymph nodes in my groin, adding to the discomfort.

Wondering if anyone actually recovered in the 2 week horizon my doctor laid out for me. Reading a bunch of posts has made me feel both grateful that I'm not in as bad of a situation as others appear to be in, but also discouraged that the two week recovery horizon seems like a fairy tale. I'm actually moving in 3 weeks and am really hopeful I can not only contribute, but endure a long U-haul ride across the country. So it would be great to have some hope or a simple validation that this was worth it, but also accepting of anyone keeping it real. Of course, feel free to provide or ask for advice as well.

Thanks for hearing me out!

Sean

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