After surgery issue

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After surgery issue

Postby brokea55 » 07 Jan 2014, 14:30

Hello,
I'm new to this site so forgive me if this is posted somewhere else. I looked and have not found anything. I suffered badly from 2-3 anal fissures for a year and a half until I finally went to a Dr. I was put on nitro and that did not work. I went for surgery in June 2013. I was still very tender at the incision site at my 4 week post op. There was a new Dr at my post op. I told him it was much better after the surgery, but still a bit sore when using the bathroom, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an infection. He went to examine me and stuck his finger right up there with no warning I wanted to die! :gah: He said he really needed to examine me to make sure everything was ok, then he asked the nurse for an anal something or other. I was bracing myself for another finger prodding when the unthinkable happened......The goodyear blimp was shoved up my a55. :affraid: I now know what an anoscope is. I screamed and screamed and screamed, the nurse just kept telling me to breathe, as if I was having a baby! After the exam the Dr asked the nurse for some lidocaine. She was like "we don't have any of that here". :wtf: The Dr. then told me to go home and take a sitz bath, everything looked good, no infection, I just need a little more time to heal. I went home and took some pain pills and a sitz bath. I was bleeding like I was having a period out the wrong hole. I was in a lot worse shape and never wanted to go back to the Dr. again! :nope: (colorectal surgeon fyi) About 4 month later I was still in a lot of pain and the spasms started up again, so I went back, although this time I demanded to see "my" Dr. I explained it was the incision site and the situation I had with the other dr. at my post op. She first addressed the anoscope and said that it was procedure to use one if the Dr. felt it was necessary. Then she seemed skeptical that it was the incision site and not a new fissure. As I was getting into exam position she was explaining "if it was the incision than it would be in this location yada yada yada" :words: She shut up :silent: when she saw it was in that EXACT location. She gave me some antibiotics and some suppositories to help with inflammation and told me that should work. :D YAY. 2 weeks later I'm back in her office with no change :( . She said it looked like I had some granulation tissue buildup and needed to get rid of that to start with fresh skin to heal. She used silver nitrate. Oh, it will only hurt a few minutes she said (It hurt for 2 days). She said Oh, this will be all you need to heal and you wont need to keep your appointment in 3 weeks. A week later not only was I still in pain, I developed a new fissure! :gah: I tried calling the dr. that day due to the ungodly amount of pain. I was told" Nurse will call u back". No one called. A few days later the fissure healed on it's own. I'm now more concerned why the incision site isn't healing, because clearly things *can* heal there. :confused: ??. I went back to my next appointment and I was told I needed to pay for the visit. I told them it was a problem from the surgery and they needed to correct it! (It's the incision!) They told me they would see me if I paid up front or got health insurance, otherwise nothing they could do. I cannot afford $150 per month for who knows how long. It's now been 7 months after the surgery with no healing in site. I still use the nitro, eat well, sitz baths, ect. I have however, found a great deal of relief if I take 2-3 advil, and 1/4 oxycodone 30 min before a BM :drunken: , and Lidocaine just before, and a sitz bath followed by a light walk after. I don't know what else to do :butthurts: . Has anyone else had issues with healing after surgery?
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby LostForWords » 07 Jan 2014, 16:28

Hello brokea55 and welcome.

You clearly haven´t been very lucky with your doctors and nurses, they all sound like unprofessional idiots to me. Just the fact that they did not inform you before doing the digital exam and the anoscope is unforgivable and they should all be fired at once. Alas, often the worst of people tend to survive the longest in this world so that is probably not going to happen.
You are most likely just another patient which exaggerates symptoms to them. Damn, I´m getting pist off on your behalf just thinking about it so better stop now before I get banned for inappropriate language (if such a thing even exists in a case like this)

I can´t help you with your questions but most likely someone else can.
What I would like to mention though is your use of Oxycodone. How much of this are you taking and how often?
There are several problems with this. First off, it is constipating as it severely slows down your bowel activity (just like any other opiats/opioids) and therefore it can make your stools harder/dryer and also you will most likely have to strain more as your bowels ability to move things along in a natural way will be reduced.

My biggest concern with this is that Oxycodone is highly addictive. I know my drugs and this is one of the most addictive ones that you can get your hands on. I have seen quite a few mention it as being worse than Heroin when it comes to addiction potential and withdrawl symptoms. The tricky thing is that, even if your dose is low and you don´t use it in a recreational way, then your body will still get psychical addicted and you will not notice this at all if you take it everyday but I promise you that you will notice it for sure when you stop using. When that time comes (and if I were you, then that would be now) I will strongly advice you to gradually decrease the dosage as the withdrawls can be severe - people have died from opiat/opioid withdrawl many many times before.

I wish you the best of luck :wel:
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby Scientist2516 » 07 Jan 2014, 18:12

I know from experience how difficult it is to find pain killers that work on anal pain. It's very intractable. I used to take ibuprofen to take the edge off, but even 3 ibuprofens wouldn't kill the pain, just make it a bit more bearable. So I totally understand that you want the oxycodon, but I agree with LFW that you should absolutely avoid it, and any other painkiller with constipating side effects. Yes, come off it very carefully, but know that it's better by far to suffer through the pain and heal yourself by diet and proper fissure meds.

Yes, the pain is awful, but you get through it eventually. You need to tackle the cause of your pain and heal it, not mask it and try to live your life as before.

I'm sorry, I never had surgery, but lots of people here have, and while most seem to heal OK, some do get infections or failure to heal.

I know lawyers are expensive, but maybe just try this: get a lawyer to write a letter saying that your current problems are due to surgery, not to the initial fissure, and therefore treatment should be considered as remediating a failed procedure and their responsibility not yours. A lawyer's letter could help - all the doctors need is to to see you won't be pushed around or ignored.

I too am horrified and angered by how you were treated. These people have clearly never experienced pain, or have any understanding of pain. My CRS said he would never use an anoscope without express permission of the patient.
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby brokea55 » 07 Jan 2014, 20:24

Thank you for your responses. I am not taking the oxy everyday, only every other day or so, and when I do its only a portion of a pill and only when I need to use the bathroom. I do not have a BM everyday. I tried the colase (sp) and eating mostly lettuce lol. I still only had a BM every other day or longer :/ It is just normal for me. Trust me I have tried everything under the sun with my eating habits and stool softeners. I have found the best thing to do is eat normally (I do eat well anyway) drink lots of fluids and add some prunes every few days. This keeps things flowing well. The oxys do not constipate me, I believe I am not taking enough for that to happen. Really its like 1 oxy per week. I appreciate the concern because some people would not be aware of the constipation issue or worse the addiction issue. I however can only take a portion of them because they make me horribly sick to my stomach if I take any more. I would much rather NOT take them so I don't think addiction is or will be an issue either.
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby Scientist2516 » 07 Jan 2014, 20:45

Well that's good news.......
Wish I could help more.
Nifedipine/lidocaine, no help
Diltiazem, effective, but caused major rash
Nitroglycerine, effective.
Topical estrogen for final healing.
Gentle heat to bottom - pain relief, muscle relaxant
Kondremul mineral oil
Time - lots of time.
Status - Healed!
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby Hatetopoop » 11 Jan 2014, 12:51

Wow...I'm very glad I ready your posts. CRS prescribed Oxycodedone and Acetaminphen 325 mg. LIS, fissurectomy, and skin tag removal surgery was yesterday. I was feeling pretty good until this morning at 4:30 am severe pain in my bum woke me up. I grabbed the Oxy and took the two pills as prescribed every 6 hours. OMG! It took the pain immediately away which was wonderful but I started to get itchy all over. I felt like I was floating too. Not sure I like this but I started to panic and grabbed the side effects sheet on the Oxy and started reading. It has MAJOR side effects but I had no idea it was highly addictive. I was planning to take the next dose this morning but thanks to your posts, I did not. Right now I just have about 2-3 in soreness but nothing major that would require a pain pill. I have not yet had my first BM and I'm a bit worried. I will keep of the Oxy unless i need one after a BM as I know it could be very bad. No I am confused about what I should or should not take post surgery. My nurse said no advil and the acetaminophen is bad for a fatty liver, so what to take? Should I double up on fiber and stool softener? Do I want to have a BM the 2nd day after surgery? Should I take the Miralax? Nurse said stay away from advil, Miralax, or any other laxatives but double up on fiber pill and stool softener. Please advise!
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby jr2 » 11 Jan 2014, 13:26

There is a lot of misunderstanding about narcotic painkillers and addiction (which is different from dependence). And when painkillers are being used as prescribed to treat pain, even chronic pain, addiction risk is very very low. Yes, eventually the body will begin to develop physical dependence over time, but this is remedied by a taper schedule. Narcotic pain relievers even have a place in long-term chronic pain management. This is not the same thing as addiction, which involves psychological drug seeking behaviors for the "high" and for the emotional relief, the same as any other addiction problem. We really all need to be better informed about the proper use of pain medications and be more careful about blanket comments to folks to avoid pain medicines when they may be very much needed, particularly because when pain is not well managed, especially post surgical pain, healing outcomes can be compromised.

That being said, yes, narcotic painkillers can be constipating for some people and so some people may need to add additional stool softeners or something like Miralax while taking them.

It does sound like you've been through some really trying times with doctors. Given the number of times you've been back and been treated in a way that has caused you more problems each time, if at all possible it is probably at this point in your best interest to seek a second opinion from another CRS.

I'm so sorry to hear about all you are going through, and wish you the very best in getting this all sorted out so you can heal.
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby Hatetopoop » 11 Jan 2014, 13:30

Thanks jr2...we will see what happens. My room looks like a geriatric ward with all the supplements and remedies...lol. I will have to just see what happens with my body and how it reacts to everything. Part of my suffering is due to my fault. CRS actually recommended LIS surgery last year and I did not listen and so that is why I am back here again but I'm very glad that it's finally over and I am looking forward to recovery. I also find its the patients that goes through the suffering and recovery actually know what's best vs. the doctor when it comes to natural healing methods and recovery.
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby jr2 » 11 Jan 2014, 13:50

Oh, Hatetopoop...just to clarify, I was referring to brokea55 about seeking another opinion from another CRS :)

From your other thread it sounds like right now you're in a pretty typical place for being just out of surgery. Hoping for good healing outcomes for everyone. :)
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Re: After surgery issue

Postby brokea55 » 12 Jan 2014, 09:30

Thanks for your reply jr2,

I have suffered for quite sometime and was looking for advice on here. I was beginning to feel like I was being judged by my methods of pain relief. Thank you for clarifying the use of prescribed meds are ok and should not be discouraged if needed.
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