17 Days Post-Op Hemorrhoidectomy/Fissure Repair

I am 17-days post-op not sure if I had a fissurectomy or LIS, and I had a hemorrhoidectomy as well - I'm thinking maybe I had LIS, as I was told that I only needed to take one week off work (which was not correct, by the way). Thankfully, I have a job that allows me to work from home, so I spent the week last week working away on my computer sitting on my dining room table.

Anyway, bottom line, the reason why I am finding myself on this website is because I'm still in a lot of pain and having other issues post-op. Of course, I'm not in anywhere near as much pain as I was after the first 5 days, or even the first 10 days, but I am still suffering. I have only been off the pain meds for about 5 days now - I was in so much pain that it was necessary for me to continue taking them up until then.

I am concerned also because I feel like I still have a lot of swelling in my anal area. To make matters worse, I was diagnosed with another rectal problem back a couple of months ago - a rectal intussusception and rectocele - both of which my colorectal surgeon feels that I should hold out on treatment of due to the riskiness of the surgery. I am wondering if the intussusception/rectocele is making me hurt more everytime I have a BM.

I am also having some fecal soiling after BMs since surgery. I feel like I need to run to the bathroom at first urge - as I have soiled my pad (thankfully I'm still wearing maxi pads - I don't dare to go anywhere without them) before I got to the bathroom. I was supposed to return to work last week, but could not due to this issue.

My bowels are far from being regular - I will have a day of extreme constipation followed by a day of frequent BMs (not diarrhea). Since I have the rectal intussusception, I was told by my GI doctor to take Miralax daily, which I have been doing. I'm not sure if I should be taking anything else or not - but decided myself two days ago due to this extreme pain and irregularity to start myself on some stool softeners. This seems to be helping.

Is what I am experiencing typical, or am I totally out of range of normal? Unfortunately, calling my doctor's office is pretty useless, as you can't get past his rude receptionist to ask him any questions - she tries answering them herself, and honestly with my complex case, I don't feel that she is qualified.

Any advice from anybody who has been through some of these issues would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Goldie

I don't think you need to pile any other stool softeners on top of the miralax. If you are only missing a day's BMs at the time, nothing *too* terribly wrong with that, sounds like you catch up the next day although I realize that doesn't help with the healing or the pain.

You state you are slowly getting better over time, and realistically that is as good as you can expect, especially after having had multiple procedures done at once. I think getting back to normal in 1 week after a hem operation is NOT realistic, and I have seen most people take several weeks or longer to feel like themselves again, so as long as you see some progress over time, then I wouldn't be too upset, just frustrated maybe...

I would call that rude receptionist back and just be perfectly honest but blunt and tell her that you respect her advice but you are paying the DR. for his work, and you expect to hear back from *him*, AND you also want to know exactly what procedures were performed, it is they who should be catering to you (although I realize this is rarely if ever the case).

And BTW, welcome to the board...

Hi, wow you've been through quite a bit. I had hemmie surgery years ago. Mine was an emergency because I was bleeding out and they couldn't stop it. Recovery was rough but back then they kept you in the hospital for a while. I was on pain meds for a few weeks. Gradually things got better. After a few years though I noticed it was getting a little difficult to empty after a bm. I thought nothing of it because I also have IBS and so I just dismissed it. I finally wound up at a urogynecologist because I thought I had bladder problems, he was a very good doc and told me I did have pelvic floor issues but most of my trouble was coming from the old hemmie surgery. I developed a mild stenosis and didn't find out until my second fissure. The first one healed, the 2nd one didn't so I had LIS. That's a pretty simple surgery and not nearly as painful as the hemmie surgery. It helped to a point but I'm experiencing tightening again and getting small tears occassionally.. You sound like you're doing pretty good. The pain is normal. Remember everyone heals differently. Full recovery from hemmie surgery and LIS takes months. It might help to get your bowels regulated. That's tricky and takes some trial and error. For me I use miralax before I go to bed and benefiber 3 X a day. I also eat a high fiber cereal in the morning and a small bowl before I go to bed. And I eat normal the rest of the day. Whenever my bum hurts I soak in the tub, it really helps the healing process and the pain. There's a really good sitz for the toilet called soft sitz that you can order online. It's an inflatable sitz bath the fits on the toilet and is so much more comfortable to use than the hard plastic ones just in case you don't have time to soak in the tub a lot. Try to stay positive. It's normal to have good days and bad days. Eventually the good ones will out weigh the bad ones. One more thing, be careful on the pain meds, they are all constipating to a degree. I got so constipated after my hemmie surgery I had to go to the emergency room on a Thanksgiving morning to get unplugged so to speak. It was not fun. But at least I was so empty I pigged out at dinner. Give yourself time and know there are friends on this site that will listen and try to help. Good luck Suzy