Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

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Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Turk the cat » 03 Dec 2014, 00:45

So yesterday I had LIS and a hemorrhoidectomy (at least 5 internal hem's.) I am happily surprised at how good I'm feeling. I'm nowhere near in bed as much as I thought I'd be, and even went for a short walk.

I've only had to take 1 pain pill, Tramacet, a mix of Tramadol & Tylenol, a much less constipating pain reliever. I thought for sure I'd awaken in the middle of the night for more, but didn't. I did take a couple of regular strength Tylenol, if I can get away with that terrific. Before bed tonight I'll take my second pill (CRS wrote scrip for 30.)

I am awaiting my first BM and have been passing some gas, and today has only been the first day post surgery, so I'm certainly not surprised it hasn't come yet. I do hope it'll pass tomorrow, this being the sort of milestone to recovery I want to hit. However, I've been told there is packing material which I'll just poop out. Yeesh, as if there's not enough pressure to go, I have to expel a lump of gauze as well.

I've been eating very clean, and lots of water, two stool softeners daily, psyllium, a good swig of virgin olive oil, and a smallish dose of Milk of Magnesia (only 15 ml/1 tbsp.) I'm going to up dose of MOM tonight to double, which is pretty much a mid-dose for constipation.

I haven't had a bath yet, was hoping to do so after first BM. Then again, perhaps a warm bath will lead my bowels to get on with things. I'm no psychic, but I think maybe I'll go tomorrow -- fingers crossed -- but I bet third day will be the charm.

Anyone dealt with this gauze situation before? Or tips for a good, painfree first poop? I wouldn't mind another take on the situation.
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Re: Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Alyssa » 03 Dec 2014, 01:57

I had this surgery over 5 years ago, don't mean to scare you but it was not an easy recovery for me; I'm glad yours has been so far. My gauze was emptied out on my first bm; i did not have any problem expelling it because I was eating a high fiber diet and drinking Metamucil. What I would suggest is if you get the urge, have a hot bath or sitz bath ready to use after in order to decrease the pain (spasms). You might think this is gross but there were times that I had a bm in the sitz bath because the pain was bearable that way.
2/14 Fissure developed
3/14 Diagnosed w/ fissure given Nifedipine
4/14 Referred to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy=Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
5/14 Fissure declared "healed"/chronic anal pain persists
9/5/14 Botox to pelvic floor
9/22 biofeedback
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Re: Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Turk the cat » 05 Dec 2014, 17:19

I had my BM yesterday at 1 pm. It went as well as I could have hoped for. Took about 10 minutes in total, including a couple of rest periods. The nice surprise was no packing material. Stool quite soft, about 3" long, pretty narrow compared to usual, but baby steps. There was blood, and liquid, but not an unreasonable amount I would suppose. No straining, well perhaps a titch, maybe 3 out of 10, but I squelched that the moment I realized I was tensing.

(Clearly) I have been extremely apprehensive about my bm's and glad to have this first one behind me.

Alyssa, I kept your water idea in mind, and was going to run the bath and try to alternate a "dip" with going to the bathroom if I took much longer then I did. I always squat, usually in the tub, and had my paper towels ready for wherever I'd be. In the tub, no water, as it turned out.

I definitely had some residual pain after the bm, which lasted on and off for most of the night. Took a pain pill which helped a lot.

I have been trying not to sneak a peek at my nether regions (or at least not compulsively so.) I didn't look for first few days, and when I did, frankly it looked far less lumpy then "usual" since most of the hemorrhoids seem to be gone. Alas, I don't think the CRS took away all the hemorrhoids, but looks like he got the crucial ones.

Today, I wanted to look, to see if the aftermath of the BM caused any noticeable changes. I am NOT poking around at all. Was very disappointment to see my sentinel tag. It looks HUGE. Now you have to understand, I had a feeling I had one, but could only see it sort of peeping out from under my extremely lumpy internal hemorrhoid situation. So, hmm, to all of a sudden see this is a bit of a surprise.

The sentinel tag is at about 6:35 on the clock, and I'm now trying not to obsess about what having this still around is going to mean in the long run. I see my CRS on Dec 19th and then on Jan 9th. I can, of course, go to Emergency if the occasion ever arises.

I think a good game plan for me is to quit looking at my bum and keep up the good fight <LOL> lots of rest, liquid, clean food and short walks. I've been on three walks, about 15 - 20 minutes total which I think is beneficial, and basically while I'm not in huge pain while doing so, I kind of look like Tim Conway as the old fellow, from the Carol Burnett Show. Psychologically (and psychically!) If I don't get in this sort of exercise it's a bad thing. I don't think I'm up for daily walks yet just every second day.
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Re: Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Alyssa » 05 Dec 2014, 18:16

Good to hear that your recovery has not been awful but I think it is too soon to tell how your bum will look like; you are still swollen and it will take some time for things to settle down. I took a peak afterwards and I looked butchered, as if the hemmy's were never removed so I stopped looking. Years later my bum looks much better...
2/14 Fissure developed
3/14 Diagnosed w/ fissure given Nifedipine
4/14 Referred to Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy=Pelvic Floor Dysfunction
5/14 Fissure declared "healed"/chronic anal pain persists
9/5/14 Botox to pelvic floor
9/22 biofeedback
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Re: Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Turk the cat » 25 Dec 2014, 14:58

Quick update:

First off...Merry Christmas and all that good stuff.

Secondly, the big news is that I wound up in the ER b/c of blood clots. It happened just over two weeks ago on Dec 9th. I wrote about it on the LIS considering surgery forum. I believe this link will go there.

blood-clots-trip-to-er-1-week-post-surgery-t9166.html#p112102

The worst thing about the experience, was the number I did on both of my lower legs, esp the left side, including ankle. I have been lurching around, making myself -- gently, slowly to start -- to go for walks everyday. Both to get better & keep my digestion going. I'm feeling tons better and much speedier (a walk that took 40 minutes just a few days ago took only 30 today.) For the first week, I did wee, once around the block jaunts leading to 10 minutes, then just kept at it. I would be completely "bleeped" if not for exercise.

I found this clip from the Carol Burnett show (I was pretty darn young when these originally came out!) featuring Tim Conway doing his "slow walk" bit. THIS pretty much sums up how I was moving those first few days LOL. Well it wasn't that bad but ya get my gist. If link doesn't work go to YouTube and google Tim Conway old man there are a few videos. OMG he was so ancient looking when I was a little kid, now kind of young (even as an old fella!) funny that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQqXESf5wJc

My BM's have continued to be mostly very soft, with the occasional rough bit to start things out. Going pretty much every day. I couldn't squat for the first week after the injury so have been using the toilet, which, really isn't the end of the world <ha ha.>

A week ago I started taking the Natural Calm brand of magnesium citrate powder and it has really helped soften my poop. I'm using this instead of stool softeners. It is also very relaxing. I was a bit hesitant about starting the product, but so far so good. There have been some threads here about the product. It is NOT the same strength/formula as the magnesium citrate one uses before a colonoscopy.

https://naturalvitality.com/natural-calm/

Now that my stool is quite a bit softer I'm going to try to drink less water because I think I've been overdoing it for far too long. On average I drink at least 6 liters (4 cups to a liter which is just a bit under a US quart.) So yeah, 24 cups a day a bit much, plus I usually try to stop before 6 pm. My aim for the rest of this week is 4 liters daily, ending before 6 pm. I would LOVE to hear from anyone who has drunk (drank?) too much water and beaten it. I'm so tired of getting up umpteen times in the middle of night to go. Alas, I think the excess water become a somewhat psychological thing with me.
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Re: Oh nuthin' just waiting for the first poop!

Postby Turk the cat » 25 Dec 2014, 17:32

Turk the cat wrote:Today, I wanted to look, to see if the aftermath of the BM caused any noticeable changes. I am NOT poking around at all. Was very disappointment to see my sentinel tag. It looks HUGE. Now you have to understand, I had a feeling I had one, but could only see it sort of peeping out from under my extremely lumpy internal hemorrhoid situation. So, hmm, to all of a sudden see this is a bit of a surprise.


Oh great news! I was just reading my original post here and it turns out the CRS did take out the sentinel tag. It was just very swollen. In terms of pain compared to the LIS site, gotta say the removed tag area hurts a bit more. Anyone reading this ever have a sentinel tag removed? On Dec 1st I had LIS/hem's/sentinel tag removed

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