Hi everyone... long time reader, first time poster.
I'm a 24 year old female. Very active, slightly overweight but nothing too serious.
I had my first fistula back in December of last year. Cause unknown, I had a large abscess form in my buttock. it took me a while to seek medical help as I thought it was just my old haemerhoid playing up. By the time I went to the emergency room the abscess had created the fistula track, and I had a pretty bad case of cellulitis to go with. I was operated on almost immediately to have the fistula laid open in the morning after getting to emergency, and was in hospital for a week before they were happy to send me home.
Since then I have had numerous scares & courses of antibiotics. One time about 2 months ago I found the pain to be quite severe. I travelled back to the hospital to be told it appeared that 'granulation tissue' was causing my discomfort.
In the past two weeks I think its getting worse again. This time I can feel a lump in my buttock that seems to be getting larger and more rigid (or am I paranoid?) and more painful (and today, itchy) I haven't noticed any discharge but I managed to miss that last time too.
Until the past week my bowels have been fine but in the past few days I've been getting a lot of pain on and off, diarrhea and constipation (don't ask how you get the two at the same time. I don't know)
The diarrhea is making me feel extremely nauseous and tonight I'm awake at 2:50 am cause I'm fairly certain I have a fever now too.
I haven't been back to the cs since my post op visit as I can't afford it. I'm getting pretty nervous that I'm going to have to go through the whole lot again, and nervous this is going to be an ongoing issue.
I know the whole we aren't doctors part and seeing one is the best option, but I am looking to hear from some people familiar with the whole bit.
I'm wondering if my bowel problem is just irritating it and if I get that under control it will settle down but I'm nervous its a bit far gone now... please help!

madelineee, sorry to hear your hurting so much,If your having a fever you really should go to the hospital
If you think that your colon has other health issues,(example, IBS) that mite be causing more problems. Please do have that checked out.
My Doctor discovered my IBS and Diverticulitis (now I'm not saying you have it) I can now re-adjust my diet and it has ben much better for me.
Please don't be afraid we are all here for you. Please do read all other post's as well.
Take care,and stay tuned ,others will come aboard. 

Hi Madelineee,
So sorry to read of your ongoing issues and what you have been through, and welcome to the forum.......
Where was the original location of your fistula? Was it actually deep inside the buttock? or more exterior? Was the internal abscess that caused it quite deep in the buttock?
I was wondering, because if the abscess area has not been drained completely the first time round, they can recur and may require more than one surgery?? Do you know the type of fistula it was?? Try not to be paranoid about it all but obviously you know your body best, so just be alert......It sounds like you are also feeling pretty stressed and this in itself will affect your rationality (!), your digestion, your BM's - everything! I suffer from IBS, which, at it's worst, gives me bad stomach cramps and bouts of intermittant runny BM's and then slightly harder ones too. This can be created by stress for me or something that triggers it in my diet....You say you are having "pain" but is this pain with a BM (in your anal area) in your stomach or elsewhere?
I can sense a little paranoia in your thoughts (that you may have a fever/ the possible lump in your buttock) and this could be just you imagining these things because you are stressed out right now (I'm guilty of this too!) On the other hand, these could be real fistula symptoms - Could you see a GP as a starting point just for a chat about your fears and to get some peace of mind? It sounds like you really need some reassurance and I think a medical practioner might be a good start? They would be able to check you for fever etc.
I'm not you of course, but if I were, I'd be popping into my GP for a quick chat and just keeping an eye on everything right now. Above all, try your best not to worry as stress is bad!! (although I appreciate it's easier said than done too)
Even if the fistula were to recur, you know it has to be treated at some point, but once it is treated properly and completely, full recovery is generally very successful and recurrences low.
I wish you all the very best with this and hope you get some answers to your worries very soon :) 

As always great advice from eto 'yep get to a gp to have a look and reassurance . worry and anxiety have caused me many time to get my behind to the doc

Madelineee - Did your wound/incision heal up completely after surgery? I actually had an issue where I healed too quickly and turns out that a pocket of infection/unhealed tissue was stuck underneath so they had to do another fistulotomy on the same site, and place a seton. The seton is supposed to ensure it won't/can't close until the tract is completely drained. You may want to ask your surgeon about the seton - it does suck, but you get used to it. And it prevents the area from abscessing again. They will eventually remove the seton once they ensure the tissue has all healed up nicely.