Hi. I am a 25 year old single mother living in Joplin, Missouri. I had never had an abscess or a boil until I gave birth to my daughter 16 months ago. Since that time, I have had many, with one turning into an anal fistula. I went to the ER riddled with pain and was told I had a fistula. I met with a surgeon, who assured me this was a routine operation and that I would be in and out of surgery and back to normal in no time. I woke up from surgery to learn that my fistula was opened up partially but that some of it could not be opened as it went through some bowel muscles? I have a seton placed and the surgeon told my mom this is to cut through the muscle slowly. I am really confused about the whole thing, I am not sure what the surgeon has done or what is next in store for me. I have tried to look up what kind of fistula I have in order to gain some understanding of what comes next. I have not been successful with finding much information other than just basic things copied and pasted from one website to another. I am due to see my doctor early next week for a "tightening" of my seton and while I can't find any other information on it, I have read time and again that it is terribly painful. I am so scared and worried, I just would like some idea of what has happened to me and what could be happening next. I appreciate any insight anyone can provide, and I really appreciate ya'll taking the time to stop and read this. God Bless.

Hi there,

I have replied to your post on the "introduce yourself" page!