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.)

@Dogwalker1 that's really spooky! I guess it's a scam but the timing is funny nonetheless!! I'd hate to think what people would make of my bottom related browsing.

Sorry yours looks like a haemorrhoid, all this is just rubbish. I bet the nurse wouldn't have commented or would have referred you to your surgeon if you'd have asked. I'm hoping I might get some information from my Women's Physio next week, she's very knowledgeable and has always been more helpful than any doctor. It's great that you have a GP appointment next week, always good to get things checked for reassurance. Unfortunately my GP left the practice a little while ago, if he'd been there I'd definitely have seen him, he knew what he was talking about and told things straight.

Thu 7/11. Day 13. Same start to the day as previously. BM, pain, time consuming clean up. Had a walk mid morning and pretty sore after, but headed off in the car anyway for a 2 hour trip. Afternoon on the couch with pinching pain. Bath in the evening to relieve the discomfort. Had a look and while everything seems to have settled, there's still two big wounds. They don't look inflamed, just there. Praying they heal soon and the swollen lumpy bits of them resolve rather than becoming skin tags. Early to bed with a dragging, achy sensation. Positives- no bleeding today that I noticed

Hi. All. I've had a rollercoaster week, some days better than others. Spent most of last weekend in bed. Then last night and tonight I've had the runs... so I've constantly been on toilet then in either bath or shower or one followed by the other jus to stay clean. I am so fed up now, it will be 7wks come this Saturday! With the surgeon this coming Monday. Just forget what it's like to have jus 24hrs were I'm not sore, can walk properly, not get anxious that I need to go to toilet give my kids proper attention, give the house a good clean... the list is endless and as you can see from post I'm really pissed off now lol 😂

Also did not think I would be one of 'the ones'that took this long to recover lol. I thought it was just general guidelines in place they have to put just incase you are one of the ones were it takes longer as normally I'm good with pain!! Jus needed to add that on to my rant !!

Hi ladies I hope you are all doing ok today.

@LouiseMac123 sorry you are still having a hard time. This recovery really is crap! I thought after week 2/3 I was getting on ok, now 6 weeks, pain and a bit of blood with every BM again yesterday. None today thankfully. I can't imagine having diarrhoea 😬 I hope today has been better.
Good luck with your appointment on Monday.

I've had a slightly better day today so did more but have had quite a lot of mucus this afternoon/ evening so I'm thinking the swelling probably is a haemorrhoid 🙁 It's smaller than directly post op but I'm sure it'd be gone 6 weeks later if it was nothing to worry about. Still very up and down with pain and small amounts of blood with BM but have had less discharge and leakage so seem to be making some progress on that front, for now anyway.....

@LouiseMac123 that’s sounds awful, no wonder you needed a rant. Having the runs has got to be the least helpful thing to get with this op. I hope things have eased up for you, I feel panicked if I go more than once.
@AniseedBall that’s great you’ve have a better day.

My day has been good too - just one BM, the stinging wasn’t as bad and my swelling might have gone down a little. Still trying out my new regime of not staying in the bath for more than twenty minutes, not constantly checking, prodding or cleaning, not applying anything apart from a little aloe Vera once a day after a BM. It’s easier to do at this stage of the recovery, as in the early days I needed to apply stuff just to make things bearable. My sitz bath arrived yesterday but I haven’t tried it out yet as I also ordered one of those plastic squeezy bottle portable ‘bidets’ from Amazon and that is pretty amazing at cleaning after a BM. I’m using salt in warm water as advised by the nurse and cleaning twice a day. First time I used it I forgot that hand hot is different to bottom hot and felt as if I’d steamed my nether regions Gywneth Paltrow style 😰 It’s much more comfortable than using lots of wet wipes but I still clean initially with a wet wipe soaked in Aloe Vera gel.
I’m still taking Movicol - about a third of a sachet twice a day and ibuprofen to see if it helps with the swelling and inflammation although I don’t need it for the pain.

Wishing everyone else good weekends x

@AniseedBall I was told by the doctor and the nurse that the mucus that I had was just part of the healing process so yours could be from your wounds higher up that are still healing.

@Louisemac123 I'm sorry to hear you've had a tough week. Especially with the runs. I find anything like that so acidic and painful, you poor thing. Like you, I feel guilty about not being as involved and active with the kids as I normally am. This mother guilt never goes away. Right now I'm telling myself that I'll be 100% by Xmas, better than before. And then I can shower them with attention in the school holidays. I have to keep thinking positively.

I hope by our specialist can give you good news on Monday, too.

@aniseedball i hope that swelling goes down and its not a hemmorhoid, you've been through enough already! Sounds like you're doing better overall, besides that lump though? And hopefully dogwalker1 is right and the mucus is just from those healing wounds.

@dogwalker1 you made me laugh with the bum steaming! (A friend of mine actually did the vagina steaming thing in Bali. She said it was just so uncomfortable and weird.) I also ordered one of those squeeze bottles but it hasn't arrived yet and I'm back to work Monday. Just have to hope I don't need it. I have so much stinging with wet wipes or even a warm washer, direct water spray seems to do the best job.
I'm still on movicol too, though I expect I'll take it forever. Wishing you another holy-trail one BM day tomorrow!

Thanks for all the good wishes ladies.

@Dogwalker1 that's interesting about the mucus, it gives me some hope! My Consultant didn't have anything positive or promising to say about any of my symptoms.

I'm glad you are making progress and 1 BM, I still haven't reached that holy grail!! 🤞🏻 your swelling is on the way out now.

What make is your portable bidet bottle? I looked at those but there were so many to chose from I gave up.

I've had a set back today with painful BM 😭
I spoke to a dietician in the week and she suggested trying prune juice to gradually replace Movicol and then take longer term. The plan was also to be able to reduce my fruit and vegetable intake slightly to reduce my bloating and the juice would counteract that change too. I only had what I thought was a small amount (80ml) and so didn't reduce the Movicol much yesterday and the result was fairly predictable.... first BM was perfect but ended up going 3 times, progressively more painful and it hasn't subsided all morning 😭😭
After yesterday where there was minimal pain I'm so upset. My wounds have been aggravated as the discharge is back a bit too. Lesson learnt there!! Approach prune juice with caution 😁

I hope you are all having pain free days!

Fri 8/11, day 14. Should be the day I feel magically healed, the 2 week mark. Well, not quite there yet. This morning was 2 BM within about half an hour of each other. I misread my body's signals and probably didn't need to go the first time. But I think the LIS has changed my urges. Shower, bath, then a walk and, biggest mistake, 2hours in a hard chair. Now, I feel like the lumps are swollen. They're achy and so uncomfortable. I'm so fed up today.

Sat 9/11. DAY 15. same as usual morning routine. Two BM's, and had a shower and bath after the second one. I think getting up late delayed it all and messed me up a bit. Lots of wind today and a third BM at about 1pm. Nothing unusual or changed to report really. Managed to sit for quite a while in the car with barely any pain, which is a positive. Thinking routine is the key at this stage- if i can get up early, at the same time, i should be all done with the BM and bath routine before work. I also think my body tends to hold on until I get home, at least, i hope that's what continues when I'm back at work. Portable bidet squeeze bottle hasn't arrived yet and i can't imagine a work BM without something like that.

B4 op I would have went to toilet once a day or every other day, no particular routine. Today so far I went then half hr later went again and now about 1hr after last time I still have that feeling there is a it more.. wonder why it jus doesnt come out in the one go lol. I havent had any medicines/lactalos/fibagel etc in about 5 days (due to me having runs) so still not sure why I'm not just depositing everything in one go!! The day I went to hospital for op my dad was going to pick me up to take me and I decided last minute I would walk to there house then get a lift from there as knew it would have been the last for a while... well I'm so glad i did that day as it was the last day that I walked normal lol.. 7wks today from my op and jus hope by Christmas I'm back to myself !!

@AniseedBall this is the one I ordered. To be honest I only chose it as it was one of the larger ones and I could get next day free delivery on Prime. But I’m very happy with it 😁www.<a class="break-all" href="https://amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D3N9H83/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?psc=1&ie=UTF8&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-general-health-2232089-Recovering-from-a-haemorrhoidectomy-warning-TMI-alert" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07D3N9H83/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It has a longer neck than some of the others which is better. If you click on this link and look at the last pic which is a diagram of both male and female usage you’ll see what I mean!

I’m sorry you, @123Aussie and @LouiseMac123 are still having painful BMs. I hope you can all work out how to just go the once as that was the thing that’s made the biggest difference to me. I’m being careful not to have too much fibre as having things like fruit juice, baked potatoes, dried fruit etc seem to have much more of an effect than pre op. I’ve had days where I’ve felt the urge to go a second time and tried to ignore it. Sometimes I’ve got away with it and I’ve not been again and other times I’ve managed to delay it to later in the day, my logic being the longer the gap between them the better. First one of the day cannot be delayed as I just have to go 😨

I wonder if this op because of the enema (I’m presuming they did one while I was under) plus the antibiotics has messed up everyone’s biowhatits and that’s why everyone is going so much? My eldest got food poisoning in Mexico with diarrhoea for weeks, it took her months to fully recover as in going just once a day without griping pains. Doctors all said that her gut bacteria had been depleted and it would take a while for them all to regrow.

Here’s hoping you all have better days tomorrow x

@Dogwalker1 thank you, the diagram is useful. I wasn't sure how you used them without squirting water everywhere. I'm going to get one, will be handy when I haven't got time for a bath / shower rinse!

I think it's too much fibre making me go so often and maybe an over sensitive bowel, wanting to empty at the first sign of anything. I'd love to get back to some kind of normal it's all so draining trying to work out what to do when it's all over the place still. Today's plan is to reduce the fibre and cut down the Movicol to try and avoid a repeat of this morning. Actually I've also eaten extra crap as I'm fed up, not helpful I know!

The advice from the dietician was supposed to take stress away not create more 😬 It was good advice but I'm too fed up now for more trial and error with my BMs.

@AniseedBall I think that sounds like a good plan! I’ve had days where I’ve eaten lots of crap as I’ve felt a bit sorry for myself but I think we’re allowed to feel a bit sorry for ourselves after this op, so I wouldn’t feel too bad about it! In my case eating rubbish seems to have less of a negative effect than over doing the super clean, high fibre, lots of nuts, fruit and veg 😬. If I wasn’t taking the Movicol I’d be making sure I was eating super healthy and at some point I’m going to have to wean myself off that but I’m too scared to start changing things at the moment.

I hope the new regime works for you.

Sun 10/11. DAY 16. This morning all as normal. Up a bit late again, but BM was fine. Two BMs with stinging afterwards but a 10 minute bath helped. Minimal pain all day until another BM at 5pm. Felt like something small popped or ripped down there, like a wound coming open maybe? Blood in the loo (TMI- looked like a spatter, as though something had popped in there) as well as a streak of blood along the stool. I just pray this isn't new internal hemorrhoids? Wiped, held a warm washer there for a bit for the pain, then had a look but couldn't see anything besides the usual lumps and two unhealed wounds. Speaking of, it's starting to worry me that they look they same as they did a week ago. Shouldn't they be healing faster? Going to head to bed early tonight ready for return to work tomorrow.

@louisemac123 I just hope that we're all ok to walk around by Xmas and not wore9yibg about BMs all the time. It seems like all I think about.
@aniseedball I'm also inclined to eat crap when I feel down. I lost a couple of kilos this last fortnight and now it's creeping back on again. I need to maintain the diet I had in week one of recovery- fruit, oats and yoghurt!
@dogwalker1 I've been on movicol for years now. The CRS first recommended it as a way to treat the hems and each time I see him I check if it's ok long term. He's assured me it is. I've suffered from constipation since childhood with no obvious cause, so my issues go back quite a way!

@LouiseMac123 it sounds like you are still having a tough time. Have you had your post op checkup yet? Yes I wish for us all to have fully recovered for Christmas.

@123Aussie I keep meaning to say that you posting a day by day account is going to be so helpful for others coming onto this thread. My stitches seem to suddenly go around the three week post op and there was a definite worsening of discomfort and also how it looked down there. I too was worried about the lack of progress at your stage. I’m four and a half weeks post op and it is only in the last four days I have seen and felt an improvement from the initial recovery at two weeks. I hope I’m not tempting fate by saying that 😐.

Thanks for the Movicol advice, they said at the hospital to just take it for the first two weeks.

I hope everyone's bottoms are being kind to them today!

Thanks for your words of encouragement about the food. It would be far easier to stick to completely healthy eating if I felt I was getting benefit from it! Thankfully I didn't suffer for my extra biscuit and chocolate. @Dogwalker1 I agree about too much high fibre stuff actually making it worse. I've definitely experienced that. I just wish what I did pre op worked now!

After this morning the prune juice is on its way out, at least until I get some more advice. It's just making me go way too much even with less Movicol, that just made things firmer. I've decided now is not the time to be messing around with my BMs!! The increased number have made the discharge and mucus worse again. I was really depressed by it all yesterday evening but I felt so much better once I'd made that decision so apart from 3 BMs and some pain I'm having an ok day.

@123Aussie I hope you feel like you are really progressing soon. I've found rather than it being gradual, there are definitely leaps forward and backward steps.

@Dogwalker1 I'm glad you've seen more improvement lately.

Good luck to those with appointments tomorrow, @Dogwalker1 and @LouiseMac123 (if I've remembered right!). I hope they bring good news and advice!

@AniseedBall thanks and you did remember right but I didn’t! My appointment with the GP is on Wednesday, however if I continue to improve I’m going to cancel as I’m seeing the consultant the Wednesday after that.

I hope you have a good day everyone.

@Dogwalker1 that's great that you have improved so you don't feel you need the appointment.

I've had a pretty good day today, as close to normal as I've been so far. If it wasn't for the lump I'd say I'm 90-95% back to normal. Still a little pain, leakage and discharge but activity wise I've almost done a normal day. I'd be really interested to know if anyone previously on the thread who had lumps / swellings post surgery found they didn't disappear or had to have them operated on. I'm looking for some hope!!

@AniseedBall great to hear that you've had a better day today. I guess I feel 90%-95% normal too. I'm really trying not to prod and examine the area so that is partly the reason why I'm probably going to cancel GP as it could undo some of the healing. Speaking of which when you saw your consultant was it really uncomfortable?
At four and a half weeks I feel a lot better - this morning I had no pain after a BM although wet wipes are stinging a little bit unless I smother them with Aloe Vera gel first. I'm still a little swollen and if I touch that area then I can tell it is still a little tender. I'm hoping, like you, it's just swelling or a swollen skin tag and not a haemorrhoid!
I have a slight discharge too which I'm hoping clears up as it's a tiny bit more than before the op. It's not smelly at all (sorry TMI!) which it was pre op but I'm not too sure what it is.

@Dogwalker1 I'm glad you are feeling 90-95% recovered too. Hopefully it won't take too much longer to get to 100%

It wasn't too uncomfortable at all when I saw the Consultant. He could still see the wounds, even though they are internal, without needing to use anything. I guess they can't be too far in in that case. It was such a relief - I'd taken some pre emptive paracetamol on the way but didn't need to. (I didn't take ibuprofen as I wanted him to see the swelling as it was rather than a reduced version.) It was only very quick too.

My discharge is like a light yellow fluid. I find a bit on a pad post BM. I didn't have this before or straight after the op but read on some hospital post op leaflets that it's normal and can last 1-2 months so I'm hoping it'll be gone soon. They said it could be clear or yellow. Is this similar to what you have?

@AniseedBall mine is a very pale brown but I don't think it is poo related I was wondering if it was blood?
So glad I can share these lovely details with someone!