Hi all ,
.since my adventure started in january 2014 one week after new years day I ended up reading this and other sites for information so time to give back .

I know everyone's different but here's my experience from first symptoms .

Swelling and thickening on area size of Orange segment beside anus
Which i blamed on cycling (i cycle ) this was in Nov Last year ,
Did Not go away but caught up in season of goodwill and regular stuff it warnt High on Priorität

January this year ,Week one .
Emergency doctors appointment (im in UK )
Abscess burst ,
Pea sized head , orange segment sized swelling , 8/10 on pain scale fever sick .
Flucoxcililin ? Weeks doze and diclofenac painkillers prescribed .
No digital exam just external visual .

week two ,
Different doctor ea ,
Same symptoms antibiotics worked for couple days pin constant 6/10 now
Can't sit bm pain level 6/10 .
More flucoxcilin no pain meds had some left .
Week three ,

Different doctor same routine .


Week four different doctor different antibiotics autoclav ?
Two week course .

Week 5 , hospital referal given back to flucoxcillin (pardon spelling on these drugs btw )

Week 6 ,practitioner nurse emergency appointment ,

More flucoxcilin .

Gave up on docs now treating pain with ibuprofen and paracetamol fevers pass when abscess drains
A 3/4 day cycle ,
I have tangerine segment sized swelling and small hole that doesn't close just releases fluids of various colour .

This entire time I can't sit, uncomfortable sometimes painful at worst 8/10 on scale of one to ten avg around 5 .
Hospital referal arrives it's in 3mts time .

hospital clinic 9am june this year .

Colorectal surgeon .
Twenty min chat about symptoms ,digital exam first digital exam .
Ok let's talk she says .

Can we admit you today for surgery an examination under anesthesia possible fix this ?
Was how conversation ended .
Yes I was ok I hadn't eaten since night before so that was ok .

9.30 , taken to ward admitted to hospital 30 mins after arriving .
10am bloods taken cannula fitted for meds
Minutes later secound surgeon visits does digital exam .
Mentions possible outcomes hands nurse hands me consent form form which I sign .

10. 30 ish given a gown to wear , actually two I am able to walk to theatre so decide to , I don't like idea of wheeled there in bed if I can help it , personal choice .

11 am op started general anaesthesia I 're clock on theatre wall .
2pm woke up post op oxygen mask felt ok and alert had slept for an hour after 2hour op .

Taken back to ward ,
Foggy memory here but must've been around 3pm need a pee had to go so got up and went took drip with me boy was I dizzy but felt great no pain just a tight sensation .

4pm crs visited and I was told what they found and did .

Fistula x2 tracts ,
Abscess cavity debrided and packed ; one fistula track laid open one fitted with seton .
May require up two more surgeries to fix this .

Released from hospital at 8 that evening ,
Oramorph paracetamol and metronidazole .

That was this Monday .
Nurse visits daily to clean and pack wounds
Pain meds are good pain is minimal abt 3 out of ten while on meds .

Went for walk day after surgery around two miles ,and go for walks still .
Lost my appetite and had no bm for 3days .

Difficult to walk and bend bm better than pre op pain 3/10 .

Got bags of gear from nurse who is an angel btw ,
Packing is not good pain even on meds but bearable less than toothache abt 4/10

Barrier creams and wound gels used I've to play with seton but Tbh can't bear thought of it right now .

any questions ask away it's day five I'm on pain meds now so I had to write this twice as I deleted first one doh !

I've another crs appointment in 3mts and will require packing and wound care for 3to six wks .

How are you doing now, Brians? Hope the nurse is still helping with the packing, etc. It's always hard after surgery to grasp all the stuff you have to do, but you will get the hang of it and good that at least the surgery part is done! I can't give you any advice as have not had the surgery myself, but hopefully someone who has had it will come along. Let us know how you're doing and to the Forum!!

Hi Brian's,... Hope things are on the mend for u ... This place is a great support system for most bottom related issues, not too many people relate to what u are going through or even are aware this issues can happen .. I had a fistulotomy and seton placed ... No packing though just a slice and seton to let heal on its own .. I was very lucky and all is back to my normal now ... Had my surgery dec 2014 .. Keep us updated .. All the best :)

Hello Brian's, I hope things are going okay for you. I am looking at surgery for two fistulae and am worried about things, but from your story it seems things have gone okay? I must admit it is the pain after surgery that worries me and the fact I was told there was a 1 in 3 chance of some level of loss of bowel control (over wind, etc) because the fistulae run between the sphincter muscles. You say the healing process for the wound is 3-6 weeks, is that right? I wonder how long it would be before I am able to get back to normal and work without pain or hinderance? Any thoughts? Good luck!

Hi jobber .. Hope things well with ur surgery ... I had a fistulotomy and seton placed for my fistula ... I found the pain of living with the fistula was worse the pain after surgery .. I'm sure we all are different with pain but my fistula track was almost 4inches long so it would attempt to heal the exterior hole and then trap all the puss and stool in the track and at times I couldn't walk it was so painful .. I would have to rip the skin over the exit hole to allow things to flow .. So pain after the surgery was that bad for I only took a Tylenol after my first bowel movement at the throbbing ... Sitz baths were my pain killers lol .. With Epsom salt in the water it was very soothing .... Healing took about 4-6 wks ... I had my seton removed at week 4 and then the draining slowed off until it stopped completely which about week 5 to 6 ... Keep us updated not sure if u have ur thread but if not start one ... Take care :)

Thanks Dewilly, good to hear you seem to have recovered from your surgery. Good suggestions, will start my own thread as you suggest.

Hi Dewlilly,
what do you mean my ripping the skin over the exit hole?
I had second fistulotomy after my first wound healed outside too soon and another fistula formed. Now I have a seton, but still freaking out it will not heal inside first. So finding ways to prevent that... I've also heard about wound stretching...
Also, my doctor told me the seton will fall on its own, no need for him to pull it...that sounds strange though.

Thanks for support guys it's appreciated really it is .

Circumstances have changed though ,
Seton fell out at start so 4 so phoned crs who said it's ok nothing to be worried about ,
Which sort of contradicts reasons he had for putting it in .

I am now basically back to a pre surgery state of draining fistula and general discomfort ,
Last 7 months of waiting on antibiotics to work and surgery etc has been for nothing .

Next crs appointment in 6 weeks ,
I've stopped seeing nurses packing was just about over anyway and Tbh I don't think many of them knee wha a seton or fistula even was
One. Thought she was removing a suture another used same pack of alginate for 3 maybe 4 days .

Rgn district nurses great knee their stuff
But GPS and hca seem out of their depth
and it's affected my trust , so I will see the crs .

I can't see them doing a fistulotomy if fistula is still draining so probably be a replacing of seton or back to square one maybe I'm wrong ?

Hca health care assistant actually said my body rejected seton as it was healing ,
I said it was tied in place and unless my bum untied it that wasn't possible , we had. A giggle
And she said it's just a waiting game ,
Yeah been waiting since January still waiting nobody tells you anything sometimes borderline Patronising I've learned more online than any surgeon or doctor has told me
Forum like this is worth it's weight in gold .

Thanks guys .

Hi jobbber ,
Surgery was a walk in the park mate ,
Blink of an et it was over .
It's the hassle of cleaning and pain control after that

Caused me issues bm actually not bad I won't say pain free but
The shower taking dressings off etc and waiting for nurse to change it
Shackled me to the house ,
Expect perhaps spasms and twinges and sensations that have no words to describe but
One of my biggest issues was the constant feeling of needing to go when wallng , top walking feeling subsided , odd I know .

If you've any questions on specific things I'll do my best to answer
Nobody in the "system" gave detailed info so I know what it's like to
Feel in the dark .

Couple of factoids I've dug up ,

Fistula repair closure surgery is elective .

Elective surgery means not emergency surgery
Or not life threatening .

Therefore having a notoriously difficult to fix (if not impossible ) condition like a fistula is immune from close scrutiny and determined surgery .


So if your seton falls out or fistula for.s another tract etc etc it's ok because it's just a pain in the bum treatable by drugs or setons or other methods .

There apparently is no president for decisive surgery or aftercare due to nature of fistulas
Themselves with medics choosing to treat when presented with same old same treatments .

Thoughts ?

I'm countries where you pay for medical treatments and surgery this might might be confusing as all treatments for any condition are basically elective based on affordability
Or insurance policy .

For something so horrible and soul destroying better treatment and procedures are looong overdue ,
Setons are older than mosses we can now do complex brain surgery restore hearing with cochlear implants but cant fix a tube the size of a ball point pen refil ? Seriosly ?