Hey ppl, hope ur all doing really well :) Thanks for allowing me to rant with such freedom :D
I went back to my CRS who said that now i was cleaning the fistula wound much better and that even tho there was a bit of white skin here n there he wasnt worried. What a relief! I really didnt want to go through an experience of daily dressing!!! Sweet Bugaboo, i was reading some of ur recent posts and really feel for you n ur discomfort :( I hope n pray that things turn out well for u and that ur problems are swiftly resolved. Hopetoheal, i honestly dont think i can express in words the gratitude i feel for u. I can just say the sincerest thanks for supporting me throughout this mess.
My wound which looks like a ditch is now pinker and doesnt give me pain which allows me to clean more thoroughly abt 3-4 times a day. I clean with a gauze pad stuffed with cotton and i wipe away from the wound abt 8-10 times till im satisfied that there is no significant white spots in it. I stretch the wound a number of times a day by holding my butt cheeks. I see some blood and white brownish thin exudate every time i take out the gauze pad to inspect (every 2-3 hrs). Moisture is less than before and the wound overall looks drier now than before. I do notice that the top and bottom edges of the wound are sort of coming in making the wound look smaller but i do stretch the wound wide at every opportunity. There was a bit of fresh blood coming from my fissure wound that scared me a bit last night but then i immediately sat in a sitz bath and that has again made my fissure wound almost pink with a bit of white skin on top and a bit at the edge.
Unfortunately, BM yesterday was quite discomforting as i got slightly constipated and strained quite a bit which i shouldnt have done. Its just that i was leaving for work and wanted to empty my bowel as i did not have a BM the previous day. I've started taking two spoonfuls of ispagula twice every day, once in the afternoon and once before going to bed. I also mix two spoonfuls of MOM in half a glass of water before going to bed. Im eating an apple every day as ive read that it prevents constipation. I had a really good BM today and have felt no soreness since. BM's are still not 100% comfortable tho and i do feel slight discomfort when the stools come out cuz it stretches the wound a little (not sure whther the fissure wound or the fistula one).
Hopetoheal, if ur reading this, how long did it take for ur LIS excision wound to disappear and what did it look like when it was close to being fully healed? Also, i know the fistula wound looks like a raw ditch for some time but when urs was close to being healed, did the wound look like it was getting smaller from the 12 o clock n 6 o clock like mine does? Also, is it ok that i get a little blood n mucous on my gauze pad on a regular basis? Thanks in advance. I'm trying to keep my smoking to two cigs a day cuz i've read that smoking delays healing n increases the risk of infection.

Hey Arafat! I'm so glad I could be helpful to you - and I'm so happy you are doing so well!
Congratulations on your excellent butt-cleaning and your good doctor's report. Way to go!
When I had my LIS, the incision healed very quickly and I didn't even notice it when it did heal. It pretty much disappeared altogether. It turns out that that may not have been such a good thing, though, because I developed my fistula at the LIS incision site - my fistula formed when my LIS incision healed too quickly and in the wrong way
So now my LIS incision site and the fistulotomy wound are at the same spot on my butt. It took months for fistula wound to heal. It didn't disapper altogether. (I wish I had inspected my butt very carefully before I got my fissure so that I would know what it looked like when it was normal!). I have a small ditch-like area where the fistulotomy was done, and my wound now just looks like a normal 'fold' in my butt, with pink tissue, very similar to the rest of the butt mucosa. :D It did seep some exudate for a good long while - even now, when I press some gauze against my butt, there is sometimes the tinsy, tiniest, wee little bit of exudate (like a pinhead amount).
I'm six months post-fistulotomy. My wound also took some time to heal along the edges, and it did shrink as it healed. I think it's quite ok that you are getting some blood and mucous on the gauze pad just now. You are still in the relatively early phases of healing, and IMO, it's better that the wound drains, rather than having the exudate build up and form a pocket that might need surgical draining. The draining will slow down gradually over time.
I'm sorry the BMs are still not very comfortable. I know what you mean. It took about a month to a month and a half before BMs started to feel comfortable. And it was a challenge to have a good BM if I was in any kind of hurry. It was such a wonderful feeling, though, the first time a BM slipped right out so nicely and I didn't even feel anything other than that normal satisfaction of a comfortable poop. Now most of them go like that, and I can actually enjoy a good BM like I used to. What a life when you actually celebrate a nice comfy BM! :D That'll happen for you too - they gradually get easier and more comfortable until one day you go and then say "wow, that was nice!"
Congratulations on your two cigs a day! I'm so impressed. I wish I could do that too :oops: I did manage to get down to about 5 a day, but the stress and anxiety made getting my smoking down to less than that pretty much impossible. I was a real mess when I finally got my surgeries - my GP had me on anti-anxiety and anti-depression meds. I'm doing so much better now, though. I don't need the meds anymore, so the next step is kicking the smoking habit - thanks for being an inspiration! :D I think you're right that smoking can delay healing and increase the risk of infection. That just makes sense. :)
I'm so thrilled that you are doing so well! And it's really wonderful of you to post about your experiences and your progress. That is so helpful to people who may be facing surgery.

Thank you, Arafat - I appreciate your kind words of support.
It sounds like you're on the road to healing - just keep at it. BTW, my mother swears by eating applesauce, as the way to keep things moving. So, I'm going to start eating it, too.
Take care of yourself, and let us know how your progress goes. I hope you get better and better every day.

Hey guys, sorry i havent been on for the last few days but i've had to deal with a pile of work at my job and that has kept me very busy. I still try and not move aroundf a lot and try to sit as much as possible!
I'm doing quite well i think and my fistula wound now looks considerably smaller even tho it continues to drain brownish discharge. BM's are quite comfortable and i'm not experiencing the slight cringing with the stools coming out that i was until a few days back.
The fissure incision site still looks raw and pinkish/reddish with the white mucous caked which i clean during SITZ baths. Unfortunately, i also get a bit of fresh blood from the incision site every 2 days or so(not related to BMs). Is this something to be worried abt? I notice cuts and dots in the incision wound and i'm a little scared if i'm getting a fistula there. The dots and cuts dont really look HOLEY but.... Yikes! I hope there is no complication at that site!

Hey Arafat! I'm so happy that you are doing so well! :D It does sound like your fistula wound is healing nicely, and I'm so glad that the BMs are more comfortable. There's nothing like a nice comfortable BM :D
I hope I haven't made you paranoid about your incision site with my sad tale. What you're expereincing, though, doesn't sound familiar to me. My incision site healed so quickly, I didn't even see it a few days after my LIS. There was pretty much no evidence that I had been cut there at all. If you're still getting some blood from the incision site after all this time, then I think that means that your incision isn't healing over as quickly as mine did - and maybe that will mean that you won't have the experience I had. I'm not sure what to make of the white mucus, but I think it's possible that it's normal, since wounds do produce exudate while they are healing. If you're concerned about it, maybe you can ask your doc.
Try not to worry too much, buddy! I know you've been through a lot already and you really just need to put all this behind you. But try to think of it like this:
The best-case-scenario, which I think is the most likely, is that you are healing very well and you'll be finished with all this soon; the worst-case-scenario, your incision site is not healing properly. In this case, you will be able to get it fixed quite easily, at worst, with a minor surgical intervention that will be not nearly as difficult as what you've already had. I know that doesn't sound very wonderful, but as far as worst-case-scenarios go, it's actually not too bad. You are being very diligent and an excellent patient, and your doc sound very good, so even the worst case will work out well for you. And, as I said, I really think the best-case-scenario is much more likely for you.
Try not to work too hard and please let us know how you're doing!

Hey guys, i'm back! Apologies on the 8 day break but i've just eased back into normal life:) I had a follow up with my doc yesterday (3 weeks post surgery) and he said things looked really good!!! The fistula wound now is very small and healthy skin is developing to close it. The fissure wound also is very close to being closed. There is NO pain with BM's and i'm without stool softeners or ispagula for the last 5 days and BM's have been very smooth! There is still some drainage on the gauze pad but a lot less than before. I'm doing sitz bath once a day and thats abt it! I still maintain my cleaning regimen and then use the dryer on cold. Stretching the fistula wound is not painful at all and i wipe abt 4-5 times after sitz bath. There is no blood in stool (only had blood once after surgery) and no blood from either of my wounds.
My doc said there was no need to have further follow ups unless i felt there was a prob and told me my wound should completely heal within the nxt 2-3 weeks (so thats abt 6-7 weeks in total).
I just really want to thank hopetoheal, Dawn and others for the support n encouragement. You've made it possible for me to deal with the anxiety of the recovery period and just been great! I fully understand that there might still be complications at anytime but with such a good follow up i plan to make sure that i still look after my butt well! After all, its been through a lot!
I plan to be here on a regular basis, and will do my best to help other people deal with such surgeries and postop, like u guys did for me. I am just so very very grateful!

Great news Arafat!
-Tanya

Good luck to you Arafat! Glad that you are healing so well!!

Yay, Arafat!!!
Way to go! What a beautiful recovery so far! You did a great job! You're right to still be a bit cautious, but it's really wonderful that you are doing so well. I'm so happy - you made my day!

Good to hear that these surgeries do what they are supposed to and there light at the end of tunnel!! Things are not that great for me yet Will have my third fistula surgery (in 9 months period) in March. Hopefully third time will be a charm.