THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU!!!
It's so great to have everybodys support!
So, after the horrible enema, I was wheeled off to a room to wait. It took quite a long while as apparently they were running late. I was on my own at this point, and well ... The mind does wander! I started to feel quite upset and frightened. Eventually the anaesthetist paid a visit and talked about what he'd be doing and the kind of pain relief I would be sent home with. I was given Paracetamol (acetaminophen), Diclofenac and Tramadol. He instructed me to take the Paracetamol and Diclofenac on a regular basis, but to reserve the Tramadol for severe pain only. I was also given some anti nausea medication to take with the Tramadol.
A short while later I was wheeled into the OR where everyone was waiting to get started. They didn't waste much time. Gave me a local to put the IV in my arm, had me move to another table, gave me the sleepy time meds, put a mask over my face and asked me if it was starting to work. And that's all I remember.
I woke up in recovery in a pretty uncomfortable state. There was no pain in my rear end but loads of pressure. At one point I coughed and had to stifle it from then on as it made me feel as though my anus was about to turn inside out! Then I got the shakes. My teeth chattered uncontrollably! As soon as one of the nurses noticed, she gave me something to stop it and it worked pretty quickly. I think I was in recovery for about 50 minutes, after which they wheeled me into a different area where I stayed for about 1 1/2 hrs while slowly but surely becoming coherent again. While I was there I spoke to the surgeon on the phone (as she'd already gone home).
She said that everything went really well and that she had done everything exactly as we had discussed - Sigmoidoscopy & Right Lateral Sphincterotomy with Skin Tag Removal.
Nothing sinister was discovered during the Sigmoidoscopy, so I'm pleased about that, as there's a history of Chron's in my family.
I'm a little over 24 hours out now and the pain has calmed for the most part. It got pretty sore last night, especially when I walked around, though sitting wasn't too great either. Bedtime was really tricky as my ruptured disc limits me to sleeping flat on my back, which was just not going to work. I just couldn't lie flat without butt pain. So I took two Tramadol and an anti nausia tablet. I also took something to help me sleep, which I really had not wanted to do, but I figured it was going to be hard to kick start the healing process without getting a good nights rest.
I woke without much pain at all. Since then, the pain has been steadily decreasing. A little painful when I sit, but almost no pain when I'm on my feet.
I took the bandage off and took some photos to get an idea of what was going on. It actually doesn't look too bad! Some bruising, an open wound where the tag was (not cauterized), and no evidence of stitches. The CRS told me that the op could be done one of two ways – “Closed LIS”, where, if she was able to feel a clear separation between the internal and external sphincter muscles (with her finger), she would take a very small scalpel and, guided by her finger alone, would make a small cut. She said that about 20 to 25 % of LISs are done this way and that should mine be closed, there would be no stitches and I likely wouldn't be able to find the scalpel's puncture point. “Open LIS” on the other hand would be performed I she was not able to feel clearly between internal and external, in which case she'd make a small cut just adjacent to the anus, find the Internal Sphincter and make the cut that way. Finally closing the wound with two stitches.
I can't find any stitches, so unless they are inside I'm assuming that mine was done "Closed" ... Hope so!
Still BM yet! Probably too soon to worry I guess ?
Sorry this is such a loooooong post!
By the way … For at least the time being, I have absolutely NO control over Farts. The first couple hurt like hell, but since then they’ve been painless and … unannounced!