Question about ongoing problems with fistula lay open

I was diagnosed with an anal abscess in January and had surgery to drain it. I was told it was very deep and large, and it took a couple of months to heal, but I still had leakage and bleeding, so I was sent for testing for fistula.

It turned out that I had a fistula that passed partially through the sphincter wall.  The area was quite inflammed, so I had a draining seaton put in and had to wait a few months. During this time I was able to travel (we’re working overseas so trying to do as much travel as we can), but needed to wear pads almost every day due to leakage.  I also had some issues with chafing.  I play rugby but had to stop due to tenderness and risk of leaking.

After a couple of months I went in for surgery, but the area was still too inflammed and they reopened and drained the area.

Two months later, it was the start of November (11 months down the track) and I had surgery to lay open to fistula. I was told the surgery was a success, but that I had some substantial stitches through my sphincter to make sure it healed properly.

The first week I slept mostly and had a few small bowel movements, although I could only go if I sat in a sitz bath or a bidet, otherwise it was too painful.

The second week I started getting hot/cold flushes, waking up in sweats, leaking a substantial amount of a sticky clear or brown fluid and in pain that the meds wouldn’t relieve. I ended up in emergency and had a surgery last Saturday.  It turns out that another abscess had formed around the wound and needed to be drained. I then had a second surgery on Sunday morning to ensure that they had cleared it all.  They said that it appeared to have drained, and while it formed a new abscess it didn’t have a path to the surface (which would have made it a second fistula, but that may still happen)

I was released from hospital Sunday, to return Monday for a check and flushing. I felt great on Monday, no pain, very little discharge and no temperature changes. The flush went well and ran clear with no pus.

That night I had a bowel movement on the bidet and started getting pain and discharge again.  I have several more flushes with the doctors this week, so I guess I’ll find out if it is re-infected, but I’m on so many antibiotics now I am surprised I’m not rattling when I walk.

I guess I just wanted to know if anyone else had had a similar experience and if there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  So far I’ve been off work for a month with these last batch of surgeries and still can’t sit for long. It just seems that the infection continues to return and they can’t seem to keep it under control.

Any advise, or thoughts?

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