Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

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Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby TomatoSoup » 20 Sep 2018, 12:35

Dang, my mood is low. If you'd seen my other LIS recovery diary, you'd've seen that it was smooth sailing.

I thought it was only gonna get better. Now one month after my surgery, I'm fearing that I had a re-tear. I saw the surgeon for a followup a couple weeks ago and he said it looked the the fissure was healed and that there were just a small "teardrop" wound still healing near the incision.

I'd been concerned that 40-50% of the time when I'd go to the bathroom I'd see a little bit of blood on top of the stool. He thought it could be from that tiny healing area.

Then just 4 days ago I had a BM that required a bit of pushing to pass and I was nervous. Looked back and the stool looked fine but then the toilet paper had a lot of red blood on it. I got depressed. Took a photo with my phone and it looks it was coming from the 12'oclock position (where i had the fissure).

Started back up with sitz baths hoping to resolve it. Got more religious about drinking water to keep stool easy. Then today I passed a large but easy BM and noticed quite a bit of blood in the bowl. I actually squat on the seat so I can see the whole process. The stool passes and then drops of blood fall into the bowl at the end.

I called the surgeon's office and a nurse will call back but I'm super frustrated because I did the surgery a month ago because I'm moving cross country this weekend and will basically never see the surgeon again. Of course he's not working today or tomorrow before I have to leave. Also, I hit my high deductible ($1800) with this surgery but that brand of insurance is only in my current state. When I move to my new state I have to get a new plan and essentially start over at $0. So I'm extra mad that I spent a huge chunk of my savings to "get this over with before a stressful move" as the surgeon said and now here I am a little over a month out thinking I've undone whatever healing the surgery did with just ONE strained BM. I was hoping my anus would be strong enough to handle a little pushing.

Dang. I seriously can't stop thinking about how expensive this was. Luckily I don't have any pain. But I also kinda never had the classic fissure pain when going to the bathroom before surgery. I gotta go take some deep breaths. Feeling super stressed.
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Re: Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby patience_and_healing » 27 Sep 2018, 12:50

I'm sorry you're dealing with this again so soon after surgery. Have you asked if any ointments would be helpful for you to get you through this time? I know you've have the surgery but you probably need some more help to reduce the tension in your muscles. Valium suppositories may also be an option if your doctor agrees with that.
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
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Re: Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby TomatoSoup » 19 Oct 2018, 22:15

I'm gonna move all this over to my recovery diary but just wanted to follow up here.

I ended up being seen by a different surgeon at the same office because I was very short on time and he was the only one available. He said he thought it looked all healed at first but then noticed a tiny break when he separated the anus for a deeper look. He prescribed nifedipine 3x a day for a month or until the jar runs out. He also sort of scolded me into cleaning up my diet and making sure to have soft stools. (As if it's totally in our control)

The thing is, my BM's are basically the best of my life. The "strenuous" times that caused bleeding last month were SO minor. I know what constipation is and this was not it. They were just bathroom trips that required a little push to get it out rather than just opening the valves and letting is fall out. Now I'm nervous that anytime I have a less than utopia crap that my anus will tear.

I find it very difficult to apply an anal cream 3x a day. I'm pretty busy and it's quite a process to put on a glove and lock myself in the bathroom for 5 minutes. I know it sounds easy but I'm on the go most of the day. Not to mention I have to wear an adult diaper to prevent the cream from soaking into the underwear.

It just kinda sucks to think that by taking the big leap to LIS surgery that you'll be all good after two months but here I am still applying nifedipine and googling fissures. Then there's the $1800 I paid, which for me was like half of my savings.

On a positive note, I have committed to reducing my stress and have been meditating for 40-60 minutes a day during October. I'm sleeping great and generally feel pretty good. I'd actually been having really good bathroom experiences. No blood for a couple weeks and then today I noticed a random drop of blood on the stool.

I've been eating a high fiber diet and drinking tons of water and have to admit that my morning craps are GIANT. They pass very easily but holy hell it's shocking to watch. Not sure if that plays a role in my slow healing. Also not sure what I can do about it. They seem really healthy and I feel light as a bird for an hour after my morning bathroom trip.
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Re: Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby Thorgrim » 22 Oct 2018, 09:36

Hey TS,
I have read through a few of your posts and your story. I am about 10 days post op, I feel pretty normal and cannot see the incision, but this morning I had some blood after the bathroom, and it has definitely put me in a bad place. Like you this has been pretty painless, I also never really had serious pain with my fissure.

One thing that is a little concerning to me about you is your 70 oz water consumption first thing ever morning, are you drinking this all at once in a short period of time? Drinking so much water all at once like that could actually be dehydrating and messing with your electrolytes and minerals. Fighters and weight class athletes cut weight by drinking a ton of water all at once, the water pushes the rest of the water in your body along with your electrolytes. This could be doing damage to your skin through dehydration and causing your BMs to be harder. I noticed pre surgery that if I drank too much water my BMs would actually get harder, I believe this is because I was pushing all the water out of my colon. so maybe try dialing back the water a bit and getting some NUUN tabs for electrolytes, you could also try adding in prune juice- that helps me.

I hope this helps and you are back on the mend.
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Re: Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby patience_and_healing » 24 Oct 2018, 13:04

@TomatoSoup : You may want to get checked for malabsorption issues if you have such large BMs. It's not good for the colon to get so stretched out on a regular basis.
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
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Re: Dang. Setback One Month after Surgery

Postby TomatoSoup » 24 Oct 2018, 16:08

I appreciate the concern but I think the water isn't doing any harm. I drink it over the course of an hour.

I also cut out metamucil as I thought it was contributing to the large stool. Not to be graphic, but the stool is usually not overly wide, just insanely long. And honestly, it was just like that for a week or so. 95% of the time my stool is perfect. Incredibly easy to pass without being watery.

That said, I'm not sure when to decide that LIS did not work for me. I'm now at 69 days post-op and just had some blood in my BM. It's very frustrating. Hard not to get into that "it'll be like this forever" headspace.
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