Posted , 4 users are following.
I had my surgery on September 25th. It's been almost three weeks of almost unbearable pain now. I regret having this surgery every single day.
I had two internal hemorrhoids that bled from time to time and had to be pushed back in. One on the left and one on the right. I've had them since I was a kid, so probably about 15 years. My mom finally convinced me to "get them cut out" so I saw the doctor she went to who told me I would likely be able to get back to work in a week or so. Yeah right.
17 days post op and I am still in extreme pain after a bowel movement. I have some tissue hanging out of my butt that bleeds from time to time now that isn't a hemorrhoid. The first week of recovery was terrible. Bowel movements weren't too painful. I felt like I was recovering well. But I was going about 3-4x/day.
By the second half of the second week, my bowel movements got well formed and solid and became much more painful. The movement itself doesn't hurt too bad, but the after pain intensified tremendously. I have to take an oxy or tramadol and pretty much lay on the couch and breath heavily for an hour before the pain subsides enough for me so even sit at an angle and work from home a bit. The blood the first week wasn't terrible, but has gotten much worse recently. The sharp pain inside from the left incision each time I use the toilet now is terrible. The doctor just says it's my fault that I'm going poo so much or that it's getting harder.
I also have this slightly painful bump that formed on the outside of my anus now. I have no idea what it is. It just hurts. It doesn't bleed as far as I know.
I'm barely eating anything anymore since I don't want to use the bathroom much. I pretty much eat an apple, a slim fast or protein shake (low carb adkins shake), some fish, an avocado, and chicken soup every day. I take fiber supplements and some miralax.
When does this start to get better? Is there anything else I can do? I've lost 15-16lbs since surgery due to how little I'm eating. I'm sick of feeling like I need to use the bathroom.
0 likes, 8 replies
pita123 limitin
Posted
I had this surgery on Aug 20th, so I'm about a month ahead of you. Sorry to hear you're still in so much pain.
I won't sugar coat it. This sucks and the recovery is painful and quite long. I still have pain with bowel movements and the occasional bit of pain sitting down or moving around.
The stuff sticking out you're talking about is unfortunately normal for some people. It's called a bridge and it's basically just post operative swelling. Mine was really uncomfortable and swollen to the point I couldn't sit / stand normally until about week 4.5. It will eventually start shrinking, but it's slow going with that too. Even now, I'm still a bit swollen but I can at least now sit comfortably. Most often when this swelling happens, you'll be left with a skin tag, which will be painless but can be annoying. There is a fairly minor procedure you can do at an in office visit to remove them but many opt to just live with them.
Regarding the pain, hang in there. It will start to get a lot better in the next couple weeks. Hot water is your friend, so make a hot bath and put some epsom salt in it when you're in pain or after a BM. I also found that using a sitz bath toilet attachment made pooping much more bearable. Going into the hot water took a lot of pain away.
You're going to want to start eating more. I know it sucks and you don't want to, but in order to heal you need to give your body a fighting chance. Use stool softeners or even mild laxitives like Mirilax to keep things very soft and regular. I had the same thing happen where my stools got very formed after this and it felt like I was narrower down there. It's gotten a bit better in my case but I still do have pain even at 7 weeks now.
I wrote a very extensive "play by play" of my recovery in another thread here that you can see by clicking on my user name. Might be worth looking at as it sounds like we had pretty similar experiences and it might give you an idea of what to expect
Good luck and hang in there !
limitin pita123
Posted
The main problem I'm getting 2.5 weeks in is a lot of bleeding. Sometimes I use the bathroom, there is a lot of pressure back there and some crap comes out and a lot of blood comes out. Like filling the toilet bowl with blood.
I told my surgeon about the blood and he just tells me "its never as much as it looks like". I'm growing very concerned.
I wish i could figure out how to post a picture.
jodi53189 limitin
Posted
Hello,
I am week 5 post surgery and I have spasms and blood with most every BM. I think I'm driving the nurse crazy. I was definitely not warned about the length of the healing time. Sitz baths are the only thing that seem to help at all, but some days (today is one) nothing seems to make the spasms stop and they are so painful! I feel useless and like I'm a total baby. I've had other surgeries but this one is unreal. When will the pain, and bleeding, stop?
jodi53189
Posted
one last comment/concern. It feels like I still have more poop left even after a BM but if I do try I just pass blood.
paul23505 jodi53189
Posted
it will feel like that, the anus is very tight and the muscules can't squeeze everything out so you will go more often.
paul23505 limitin
Posted
Hi, all I can say is that pita has explained it perfectly about the post recovery. I'm 5 weeks and it has just began to settle, the pain was unreal for the first few weeks when passing a stool. Sometimes it felt like a telegraph pole but it was a tiny amount. At times it was just blood and a few tiny slivers of skin, that was the hemoroid dropping off and being got rid of. The 'hudge' amount of blood that it seems like is not really that large unless it;s dripping then I'd go to the hospital. The pain will ease as long as you are doing the right stuff and keep taking stool softeners. I know it sounds easy but hang in there it will get better. I lost about 6lb, you have to keep eating, I found fruit and vegetables were ideal, try some tinned soup as well.
limitin
Posted
Day nearly 40 update.
Mostly, I'm not in pain and can sit fine and do most things now. Bowel movement still sting a little and I have a bump or two on the outside of my anus.
I am still getting blood with most bowel movements. Last week...no blood. This week started with a little in the bowl, then more now. Not really that painful though. Just worrying. After I go, sometimes some minor stinging.
The only worrying thing for me is this blood. If it continues or gets worse, I'll call my Dr.
This surgery has been causing me more stress lately as well in terms of money. When i got it done, the hospital made me pay my remaining deductible and copay up front. Turns out their claim takes months to process, so to my insurance company, it looks like I've paid 0. So all of the other providers the hospital used are billing me directly now and I'll need to request my money back from the hospital according to my insurance company. Tried calling the hospital about that and they hung up on me...
so yes. stress might be causing some of this as well.
limitin
Posted
Update: Still crapping a lot of blood with each BM. Doctor says that is normal.
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