by ryanman0 » 05 Oct 2012, 18:08
--CAN NOT URINATE--
6:31 pm (1 day after surgery) - New issue- can't urinate. I've been sucking down water today to avoid constipation. But this had, of course, made me have to urinate a lot. For the past hour or so, I feel like I have to urinate very badly. However, ever since that last BM and the pain that followed, everything feels tense and swollen and I cannot urinate.
This is made worse by the fact that I ever since I got my first fissure, my sensation of feeling like I have to urinate has always been greater. In other words, sometimes, I have just a little urine (few drops), but I felt like I had to go very bad. Its like the two are somehow connected in a strange way. Furthermore, there are times I am scared of tensing up due to fissure pain. That also makes me have trouble urinating. So, I'm not sure if the current reason that I cannot urinate is the swelling or my inability to relax (due to the pain and tightness from irritating everything) that is preventing me from urinating. I suspect its a combination of both. I'm going to lay here for a while and see if waiting a few more minutes helps.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I heard a story of a guy at work who had a ton of post surgery complications. Well, one of them that he mentioned was having to be catheterized due to swelling preventing him from urinating. The discharge documents that I was given, also mention how important it is to not drink until you are able to urinate after surgery. I'm rambling again, but the point is, I think I really need to try to reduce the swelling by using the ice, relax, and succeed at urinating.
--HARD TO WALK NORMALLY DUE TO PAIN--
6:45 pm (1 day after surgery) - I really can't walk around very far or too much now because it causes pain. Well, I can. I just don't want to. This is because I am walking very slow and awkwardly. I kind of rotate my body with each step, bend my legs, and try not to move the area as I walk.
-- PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE PAIN MED OFFER--
I'm still in pain, but its bearable at this time. Nothing like the first 30 minutes after that Bowel movement. The surgical center had called me earlier to see if the pain medicine they had prescribed me was enough. I told them yes. However, this was before the last bowel movement (which was the first well formed one). This was because yesterday's bowel movements had been so soft they were almost as easy as passing liquid. I considered calling the doc after hours. But, I'll wait to see if it gets really bad. I think for now that I'll wait since I'm managing this now after taking the last dose of pain medicines, laying still a bit to my side, and using heat/ice as needed. I'm now going to be more afraid to have the next bowel movement. But I know that I have to simply be brave and avoid putting it off. If I don't go to the bathroom due to fear, then the BM could dry up and even worse issues could start.
I really think that the last post BM pain that I felt was worse than any previous fissure pain (at least for about 20 minutes after the BM). It actually brought tears to my eyes. I guess the worse was right after I got out of the tub and walked to the bed. When I got rective anal fissure medication, they had a picture of a toilet paper dispenser that dispensed a rolled up spool of barbed wire. That's the picture that went through my mind as the I finished my last BM.
-- AT THIS POINT, I WOULD STILL HAVE GOT THE SURGERY
If I have to go through that a few times and then I heal and get my life back, its a good trade off. As was mentioned before, I had 2 fissures and LIS. That's a lot of cuts down there. And today, yesterdays hospital drugs have worn off. But, it would have been nice to have some more pain medication on hand, just in case I need it. I guess I'll know more after my next bowel movement. For now, I think writing these updates in the forum helps to keep my mind off the pain.
6:50 PM (day after surgery) - It seems that the mild heat relaxes the muscles and reduces the tightness (just like before the surgery). I also read that it increases the blood flow which helps healing. However, the icepack helps with the swelling. When I first use the icepack, it feels like it makes the damaged sphincter start trying to contract and throb. But I am using it anyway right now in case my inability to urinate is being caused by swelling. The discharge instructions mention using ice and taking warm sitz baths. So, I guess both the heat and ice have their uses.
7:07 PM - I'll be trying again to urinate soon. Wish me luck!