The pain during a bowel movement is not really there anymore. Not like it was before surgery. I feel pressure down there. And after a bowel movement it aches for a few hours but it’s not the pain I was in before. I am struggling with being able to tell if I need to have a bowel movement. I’m struggling even more with emptying my bowels. I can never tell if they are empty or not. I am not straining but if I don’t push at all the stool just (sorry, it’s gross) hangs there, like stuck. I don’t know if I’m pushing too much, not enough?? What do you all do about this?? Any advice? My stool is a good consistency. I’m still having bleeding and drainage but it’s not as bad either. The bleeding is a lot less than it was before surgery. The swelling on my LIS side has not subsided really. If it was a 10 right after surgery then it’s a 9 now.

I've found the tips on this video to be very helpful to avoid straining: https://youtu.be/ZqdNEx81d2Q. Adding a squatty potty helps even more. Sometimes my body has trouble getting out the last parts of BM, and I use a couple of ml of water from a syringe to help with that.

Thank you! I have watched that video before and it is helpful. I do use a squatty potty and it has helped tremendously. But I have not tried the syringe of water and I might do that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.

Post Op Day 10
Second verse, same as the first. Same stuff, different day. In other words not much to report.

One huge positive for today was that I didn’t have hardly any pain even during and after my bowel movement this morning. One tiny bit of pain when I first started to go but that’s it. I took 3 ibuprofen spaced far throughout the day (5:30, 2:00, 10:00).

The one negative is that I still cannot tell if my bowels are empty. I am trying so hard not to strain but the stool is definitely not sliding right out so I do have to push a little. My stool is a good consistency, I’m using the squatty potty, and I’m breathing through the movement trying to not tense up my stomach. I’m just worried that I’m going to do some kind of damage or that I’ll leave stool and it’ll get hard. Sigh.

My swelling is about the same. I’m icing it.

Overall I’d say this is the best day I’ve had so far after surgery, at least pain wise. I am not regretting the surgery and (knock on wood) the pain after surgery has not been anywhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Thank you all so much for reading my info and offering advice and support. It really does help.

Once you are healed you may need pelvic floor physical therapy to help with the bowel emptying problem, if it doesn't go away. Biofeedback can be very helpful in dealing with this issue. Good to hear that your pain level is going down!

Who do I see or where do I go to get pelvic floor physical therapy?

You would look for a pelvic floor physical therapist near you. This website might help: https://www.womenshealthapta.org/patients/. They are often in private practice and rarely take insurance, at least near where I live.

My physio therapist in Toronto offers it, but said that there were only about 6 in the city (of 3 million people), who do. I don't know if this is the norm at this point, or if some places have more offices that are trained in the techniques. Does your city or state have a regulating body for physiotheraptists? Perhaps they can direct you to a clinic that offers the service?

I’m not sure what is available around here. I’ll have to look into it. Thank you both for your advice and help.

Post Op Day 11
Today was not bad. I had 3 BMs which was not what I’d like as I’d like to have just 1. However, none of them were bad. It hurt to start the first one but that’s it. No pain during, no pain after except that I was sore. Later in the day my muscles started aching. I think I may have been up too much today. All of this pain was very manageable with sitz baths, ice packs, and ibuprofen. I do want others that may have this surgery to know that the drainage I’ve had has been varying/different. Most of the time it is pink tinged like it’s mixed with blood. Very light drainage. Today it was brown tinged like it was mixed with stool and had some...particles?? in it and it smelled like stool too. It was unpleasant and it startled me a bit. But it was not a lot, it was not thick, and it passed quickly. I did do more sitz baths and cleaning with the shower head, more than usual just to make sure I was clean because I was worried about the drainage. It was weird. I’m sure some of you have experienced this maybe?? I just wanted to include that information for people that may experience it also either now or in the future. Thanks to those of you answering my questions and giving me advice!!