Recovering from a haemorrhoidectomy . . . warning: TMI alert . . .

[Puffykins]

Has anybody ever had a heamorrhoidectomy, and if so, please can you tell me how long recovery took? I'm on day 12 now, and am still in considerable pain - I can't walk anywhere except the bathroom for the endless baths I take, can barely sit up unless I'm on my special donut cushion and even then only last up to 45 minutes. I have two young children, and I just feel that this is so unfair on them. And I'm getting kind of depressed about my lack of progress. I need someone to give me hope. Please?!
(P.S. If anyone is considering having one: strongly consider it. I've never experienced anything more painful than the first 4 days post op, EVER. I would gladly have given birth every day rather than going through the pain I was subject to.)

@Disneylover1 it’s very brave to go through it twice. They’ve suggested I have more surgery I can’t imagine going through with it this has been truly awful experience, I don’t think GPS and staff have any idea or experience of how to prepare patients.

@Bradle I am 7 weeks post op yesterday and having the worst time of my life. I have never cried so much in my life. Pain after a bowel movement is still excruciating for about 4 hours. When will this ever end - will it ever end ?

I’ve come to the conclusion that drs are really not honest at all about the recovery time of this operation and we all lack good information on how to deal with it to, eg pain, bleeding etc etc. Honestly the recovery for a sub total abdominal hysterectomy was easier than this.

@jemmascott19 I am almost 8 weeks have had a nasty flare up of pain this week to be fair it’s been constant since day 1. No pain on BM just sore and ok after. @Dizzyali77 that is so true will be giving my feed back at check up appt.

@Jemmascott19 - you poor thing. It sounds like there might be something going on as you shouldn't be in excruciating pain after BMs for hours at 7 weeks post op. Have you talked to your consultant about it? Don't let them fob you off with that being normal, as pain should be diminishing as the days pass.

I'm back to my consultant tomorrow, and things seem to be getting a bit better every day, so I'm praying that I'm well on the road to recovery now. I've worked every afternoon this week with customer meetings each day too. It's nice to feel normal again for a while, so once mornings are sorted I'll be good and happy that it's all over.

Hello all,
Is it normal to keep getting a light yellow-ish discharge? The blood seems to have lessen but now its more on discharge. I've told my missus and she reckons its normal and since I already had antibiotics she says it should be fine. I am still worried though.

Looney tuney 1 I

I'm now nearly four weeks post op and I'm still getting a yellowish (sometimes it's a brighter yellow, sometimes a bit darker almost greenish in tinge) discharge......lovely conversation lol. I've had this since day one. Initially I thought it was an infection and GP prescribed antibiotics just in case, but the discharge is still there so I'm thinking it must be normal for me. My pain levels have subsided substantially......just a bit achy at times esp after BM, but very manageable.

This group has been s Godsend. Thank you all for your help and support

@CareBear50 - so pleased to hear that you're doing much better now. Are you back to work or did your manager let you work from home?

I'm improving too, but still achy after BMs and find it uncomfortable to sit until that ache had passed, but wonder if that's because my work was more external than internal? I've also never had a discharge, so maybe that's more of an internal thing too?

Seeing my consultant today and got lots of questions for him. Won't be letting him do an internal examination though - the thought alone makes me shudder and I've got a 3 hour journey home afterwards too!

The discharge green & yellow are all normal, you think it will never clear up but it does. Ask your GP if you think you need 2nd dose of antibiotics. It’s a horrible few months, grateful we have each other to talk to! @Disneylover1 good luck today, let us know how you get on. Dreading the examination 😢

Disneylover1 all the v best with your checkup today.

I couldn't work from home but manager will let me work staggered hours which is great,.... So I can miss rush hour.

I see. To be down to two BMs per day.... Both in morning. However my second one seems to be diarrohea sp?? Which I'm prone to anyway. Have been trying to increase soluble fibre, but that isn't always easy.

Will be glad when this discharge stops and then I'll know everything has healed up.

X

So, I've seen my consultant and have more answers and info now. He didn't do an internal examination at my request as I'm quite sore today. He did look at everything externally and said that the surgery sites are completely healed, so that's great news. The spiky, thorny pain that I'm having are due to a small fissure. It doesn't bleed, but it's enough to cause the pain. It can also cause spasms, which is something I've definitely experienced. He's prescribed Retrogesic for the fissure, which has a common side effect of causing headaches, so not looking forward to that.
Internally, there is some stitching as I had mucosal sliding, so he corrected that at the same time. Those stitches will dissolve, but can take up to 3 months. If he'd used stitches that dissolved sooner, then there's a chance the fix wouldn't take. So, that probably explains the internal ache too.
Just pleased to have some answers. Got to make sure I keep my BMs soft to help with the fissure healing. God willing, this will all be over soon🙏

Oh disneylover1 so glad you got some answers.

Mucosal sliding??? I shall have to Google that

At least you now understand why you've been getting those other issues!!!

@CareBear50 - yes, it's good to have some answers, but I just hope the fissure heals quickly. I've been reading other threads in here from people suffering with them and some have had them for months and years, so have scared myself a bit 🙄

Mucosal sliding - basically, he said that the lining of my rectum (the mucosa) was sliding and could eventually cause prolapse, so he stitched to keep it in place. He's one of the top colo-rectal surgeons in the country, so I trust him.

I just really need to heal now though. It's frustrating that my hemmie surgery has healed and it's another problem causing the pain 😞

Yes it must be frustrating but knowledge is power I guess!!

And if he's one of the foremost surgeons in his field,that is brilliant

I can't really feel my bum today which is brilliant!!

Sitting here drinking raspberry Bacardi which is v v nice

Oh, @CareBear50, I'm so pleased for you. Sounds like you're well and truly on the road to recovery, especially if you're having a Bacardi. Are you good all day now, or still some ache after BMs? No alcohol for me as I can't afford to dehydrate myself.
Got an appointment with a dietician a week on Tuesday to get help with diet, BMs etc, so hopefully that will help.
I'm guessing OMGimscared is doing well now too as she's not been in in a while.
It's such a horrible procedure, with so many potential set backs, that it's lovely when people finally come out of the other end 😊

So, despite seeing my consultant yesterday and getting some answers, I had a bit of an emotional breakdown last night. Not sure where it came from. Possibly a combination of tiredness from travelling 3 hours to/from London over the past couple of days, feeling sore, and also discovering that I have another problem to fix - the fissure. I was too scared to try the rectogesic cream last night after reading about side effects of headaches, dizziness and fainting. These are common side effects too - about 50% of people get them and I just didn't have the strength to potentially feel worse than I do. I'm trying to put a brave face on each day and be positive about getting better, but when my bum is still sore and I'm struggling with BMs, it's hard.

Today I've got my biggest work challenge yet. A wedding to decorate this morning, that I need to leave home around 10am for, then 2 customer meetings this afternoon at 3pm and 4.30pm. I'm anxious about the wedding - getting all my BMs out of the way, then the post BM ache/pain that normally lasts for about 4 hours. I was up at 7.25am, and had my first BM, which is probably the best one I've had in a long time. I wish there was some way of telling which meal you have passed, so then I could eat the same thing and repeat the same sort of BM. I also used a breathing technique that I read about on a fissure group which is to breathe in through your nose, then out through your mouth, but relaxing your lips so they flap - a bit like a horse. Apparently, when your lips are relaxed like this, your sphincter relaxes too, making BMs easier to pass. Thought I'd share as it might help someone else.
It's 8.15am now, and no sign of BM 2 yet, but my porridge is in the microwave so I can eat that soon and take my paracetamol. Then🙏 that I can get through this wedding set up without too much pain and discomfort. Our son is coming to help out too, so I'll go and lay down in the car if it gets too much.
Hope everyone else has a good day x

Now four weeks post op

Oh disneylover1 so sorry you had a bad day. How did wedding organisation go,?? Yes it must be ever so difficult knowing you now have another issue to contend with

Well today I had my first BM not in my own loo!!!!! Amazing!!! Well done me!! It was grand. Just had s little ziplock bag with baby wipes and dampened cotton wool pads I stead of using loo paper

BM s are still a little sore, but I'd say a 1 or 2 on the pain scale and pain seems to go very quickly now. For the most part I can't feel my bum which is brilliant, just a bit scared when I cough sometimes

Work on Monday so really pushed myself today. Drove about 100 miles.....went to national trust property. Walked prob three miles. Lunch out. Went to IKEA. So v v v tired tonight. Hope I haven't done too much

Disneylover1 hope you have s better evening tonight x

@Disneylover1 the road to recovery from this operation can be quite a roller coaster. I don't blame you, it is quite tough and exhausting physically, mentally and emotionally. Try not to push yourself too much. Listen to your body. And try to focus on the positive even the little ones! My prayers and wishes go out to you and everyone else who is going through the same thing as us. 😊

Morning all (or anyone who's still on here).
So, yesterday was a challenging day, but I got through it 😊 I still had post BM pain when we left at 10am to decorate the wedding, but I'm pleased I went. It was good to be part of my normal world again and see the venue staff. We're there pretty much every week, so know them really well, so it's like seeing friends for us. Initially, I only planned to do the too table decorations, but after I'd finished them, I did some other stuff too. Our son was a great help, and we were finished and home by 1pm. Felt a little tired and achy, but had customer meetings at 3pm and 4.30pm, so had a bit of lay down to rest, and some lunch. The meetings went well, and by the time I got home, I felt pretty much normal. Moving easily, laughing and joking with my family, and not really thinking about my bum too much. If I could get mornings to be the same, I'd be so happy, and I'm sure that will happen eventually - in just getting fed up an inpatient! 36 days post op, but in reality I need to remember that it's more like 18 from a healing perspective as the first 18 days were a write off due to complications.
Anyway, I then went to get ready for bed at 11pm and had a full BM! That shocked me advice haven't had a night time BM for ages! The BM itself was fine and not too painful, and I managed to doze off in bed. Then woke at around 1am with a very tight, spiky pain in my bum hole - like someone had shoved a thorny bush up there! Apparently, this type of pain, and pain that lingers for hours post BM is common with fissures 😞 So, to distract myself, I got my phone out and started Googling fissure pain relief. Hot sitz baths and hot water bottles are recommended as they increase the blood flow to promote healing and help the muscles relax so you don't have the tight sphincter muscles causing pain. I've still not used the Rectogesic, as am still worried about the side effects.
So, come this morning, I've had a soft BM, followed by a sitz bath, paracetamol and I'm now laying down with a hot water bottle on my bum. Got an easier day today as just one customer meeting at 3pm, so will probably have a little doze to make up for last night's lack of sleep.
I've had the odd fissure in the past and they've always healed on their own in a week or 2, so part of me is wondering whether to try and let this one do the same, or to be brave and try the Rectogesic to see how I get on with it and if it helps speed up healing.
I also think the fissure is on my external hemmie wound site as that's where feels most tender and spiky post BM.
Sorry, I do tend to write essays but find it therapeutic 😊

@CareBear50 - sounds like you had a great day yesterday. So pleased that BMs are no longer a real issue for you any more and that you're pretty much feeling back to normal again. Life is so much better when it doesn't revolve around bums, pain and BMs. Let me know how you get on at work on Monday as I'm guessing it will be a long day of sitting?

@LooneyTuney1 - thank you for your kind words and thoughts. Having other's understanding and support really does help. How many days post op are you now? 9? I hope you're doing better and are managing to get up and walk around a bit more now.

Hope everyone else is doing well too 😊

@Disneylover1 I'm on Day 12 now and I'm feeling better day by day. Still have a sore bum after a bm but it doesn't linger as long as it used to! I haven't taken any pain killers at all for a couple of days now. I'm still aware of my bum though, like sometimes after a bm it feels like it just gonna fall (is that normal?). I've been taking it day by day and I've held on to the small improvements and just kept telling myself everything will be fine! I'm down to 1 bm a day which is good. But there's still that pressure on/in my bum that still makes me wonder if I need to go or not (feels like my insides are a bit swollen). I still have a few questions which won't be answered til I see the doctor which hopefully will be soon!
It actually comforts me to see everyone up and about now. Let's just hope and pray that everything will go smoothly and we all can recover asap!

@LooneyTuney1 - so pleased to hear that you're doing well. Yes, I felt the same after BMs for quite a while - almost like everything was turned inside out. And the pressure that makes you wonder if there's more BM or it's just swelling is normal too. Everything is so much more sensitive down at the moment there that we feel everything. I went through many a time of wondering if I needed another BM or was completely empty, but rather than try, I waited until a BM was 'knocking', so I knew there was something to come out.
1 BM a day is the holy grail, so it's great that you've achieved that so soon and don't need pain killers. I'm still taking paracetamol a couple of times a day to help with the fissure pain, although the hot water bottle is great! I stopped taking ibuprofen about 4 days ago as my BMs were becoming solid and hard to pass. A quick Google revealed that ibuprofen can also cause constipation! I've learnt about so many constipation causing things over the past month - things that I'd never even considered before this surgery. Prior to this I've never even had constipation! My hemmie problems were all a result of childbirth.
Hope you continue to heal well - keep us updated as stories of recovery give others hope 😊

Good to hear you’re all doing OK I guess time is definitely a healer with this op it feels never ending. I have a constant throbbing pain that never goes. Heading into 8 weeks post op, I think this is where they cut the Hem out? It’s been the site of most of the pain since the op.

@Bradle - sorry to hear that you're still suffering with constant throbbing pain after 8 weeks. Have you been able to see your consultant to ask about it?

Not due to see them yet hopefully they’ll have some answers

@Bradle - have you seen them at all? Seems like a long time to wait for a post op check up. Mine was meant to be at 2 weeks, but I rescheduled to 5 weeks as had a 3 hour journey each way which I knew wouldn't be possible at 2 weeks. I did have mine done privately though, bit still wouldn't expect to wait that long on the NHS either.