My (hopefully positive) Heamirrhoidectomy
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi All,
First a thank you to all those who have posted their experience, good and bad. Your stories have both scared me half to death and given me the encouragement I needed to go through with this.
Now a little about myself. I'm a 44yr old male in the UK. I'm not fit, 100kg, recently given up smoking and a non drinker. I have had internal and external piles since as long as I can remember. The past 5 years they have really impacted on my life. I have been restricted to going toilet at home as I have to go straight into the bath and spending 30 mins or more gently pushing them all back in. I bleed most times and have been using sanitary pads in my underwear regularly to catch leakage.
I had an extremely bad episode july 2020 which prompted me to go and get them seen to. Within seconds of seeing me the consultant (NHS) said they definitely need hacking off, too far gone for another treatment to work. Due to covid it has taken until today to finally get my op, an open heamirrhoidectomy.
Like many, I was absolutely scared out my wits over the whole affair. The horror stories, the complications, the pain. But, having suffered so much over the years I accepted that it had to happen.
After July's ordeal I changed my diet to bran flakes every morning and attempted to increase my water, fruit, veg and salads, and reduce my meat intake. However, I still enjoyed my dairy and sweety stuff. It helped keep them within manageable bounds. But I still had to plan toilet trips and it wore me (and my wife!) down. Plus our water bill increased dramatically.
As inferred, my op was today and right now I am glad I did it. I realise that my rear is so full of anaesthetic I can't feel a thing but I know it was the right decision.
3 days ago I began using lactulose and reducing my meal size, no diet change, just less of the usual. Yesterday I ate very lightly, bran flakes for breakfast, crackers for lunch and soup for dinner.
I went to hospital this morning at 8, was admitted and sat waiting till 11.30 when I was called in. I apparently had 1 large and 2 extremely large external haemorrhoids along with an unknown number of internals removed. I was given extra gauze pads and some codeine to bring home. After a couple of hours monitoring I was sent home.
I know its early days, I plan on reporting back as the next few days pass by. But right now I feel fine. I can feel something up my bum but no pain at all. I have a niggling feeling I need to fart but so far nothing and I'm neither holding it in or pushing it out. I have just had some soup and crackers and am drinking water like a fish. I also took my lactulose as soon as I got home. I'm taking paracetamol and ibuprofen and am determined to leave the codiene in the box unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
I just want to pass on my encouragement to those who are struggling to make the decision to go through with it. We know how much these things can wear us down, both mentally and physically. Don't put it off!! You (and me) deserve to have our quality of life back.
I'll post again in the next couple of days when the anaesthesia has worn off. Feel free to ask questions, I'll answer as best I can. Now to go for my 127th pee of the day!!
0 likes, 3 replies
Sicosyco
Posted
OK. 24 hours on. And I'm going to try and be positive. In all honesty I managed 4 hours sleep last night and ended up at roughly 3am downstairs on the sofa watching films on netflix as I just couldn't get comfortable. Pain was only about a 5 but it was unrelenting. No position helped.
Today has mostly been spent on same said sofa watching god knows how many films whilst the wife was starting to put up to Xmas decorations. By breakfast the pain had subsided to a 2 and has stayed that way through most of the day. Again, only on paracetamol and ibuprofen. I have had 3 small meals, banana and crackers for breakfast, crackers with salad for lunch and mashed potato, tuna and more salad for dinner. Sank 2ltrs of water along with some decaf coffees.
Best, and worse, thing is I've had my first BM this evening. The BM itself was not painful, I barely noticed it come out. However, contrary to every story I've read, jumping in the bath afterwards gave me NO relief. Pain shot up to a 6, maybe 7, and what's strange is I can feel it from my bum all the way down to my toes. It's about 30 mins since and it is already settling down, maybe a 5 now.
I suppose the takeaway from today is, every one's recovery will be different. I'm glad I've left the codeine alone. I'm glad I've kept my fluìds up, even though I'm peeing almost every half hour. I am desperate for some chocolate or cake but am glad I've avoided them (so far, lol).
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
chantelle63112 Sicosyco
Posted
Hi,
am 32 year old female.
I have read so many of these posts and been utterly consumed in them. I went to hospital with thrombosed hems that were external and extremely painful. i have suffered since having my little girl who is 18 months old now.
I was seen by a surgeon in hospital and told i needed to have surgery asap. They were worried about the colour of the hems and also the fact that thy could get a serious infection because they could not be pushed back in.
i stayed in hospital overnight and they operated the next day. i was given a spinal injection to numb me from the waist down and then sedation so that i could fall asleep during. Upon coming around after the procedure i felt no pain as i was completely numb, it was the first time i was lay on my back/bum without any pain at all. i was taken back up to the ward and as soon as the spinal started to wear off i was in for the biggest shock of my life.
The pain was unbearable, i couldn't sit, lie down or anything. i have given birth to my little girl on just gas and air and this pain was 10 times worse. The nurse gave me morphine, codeine, IV Paracetamol and ibruphen and nothing touched the pain. i was screaming the ward down.
eventually after a few hours i must have passed out with exhaustion and managed to get a little sleep, but then woke up vomiting due to the lack of food and mix of painkillers. they kept me in for another night and the day after the pain subsided slightly, but i was still unable to sit or lie comfortably. i was sent home with all sorts of meds, fibregel, lactalose, movicol, codiene and antibiotics.
the only god send has been a bath.... i have taken the lactalose daily since surgery but not had much luck with bowel movements. I am on day 10 post surgery and still havent passed a proper BM. only a few tiny pebbles which traumatised me. my last proper bowel movement was a few days before surgery (14 days).
i have tried all sorts to try and get through a BM, but i just cant being myself to do it, the pain is too bad. i habe tried durolax suppositories , sennna and milk of magnesium all whilst upping my water intake too. bit nothing is helping. i know this seems like to much info, but i feel like my stools are not soft enough to pass through and thats why i am hurting so much.
i went back to the hopsital and they examined me and said i was healing well. and said they could give me an enema but it would be super painful, so advised that I go back home and try again. i have tried in the bath, in the shower, on the toilet in many positions, i just cannot do it.
i help help and advice because this is so debilitating now and i cant seem to do much, without feeling the pressure down below to go!!
i just cant see me being back to any type of normal anytime soon and it's taking its to both mentally and physically.
Speedy04 chantelle63112
Posted
Hi there,
I offer my sympathies to you! It is not an easy thing to live with at all. I hopefully can give you some comforting words and my opinion on how its going for me. I'm at 1 week post op and to be completely honest, the pain i have is during a bm. otherwise id say pain is 4 at most and that's rare, just very uncomfortable!
I wasn't given any painkillers on discharge, and paracetamol and ibuprofen seem to be helping when the pain gets too bad.
I was given lactulose for the first 7 days, but i'll keep taking this until i'm out of it. I've upped my fruit and veg intake, drinking at least 3 litres of water a day, and keeping my food as soft as possible.
If i can give any advice, it would be to keep your water intake up, eat plenty of fruit and veg, walk whenever you can for small periods (5-10 mins) even around your room can help. And try and stay positive, higher stress levels will make things worse, and try not to expect fast results, as it will take a while to feel like you're back to normal, or even comfortable. I bought a 2 metre long pillow to put between my legs when i sleep, which helps take some pressure off and make it a bit more comfortable to lay down. When going to the toilet, roll a towel up to put your feet on, it helps relax your hips, and should stop the additional pressure when trying to have a bm.
Hope things get easier for you!