Hey Summergal! It's nice to hear from you! I have been doing a lot better lately (KOW!). The bleeding may have stopped now - at least I haven't bled for about a week, but I suppose I still might, since many vets on here say that it can take up to a year for the tissue down there to regain full strength. Mostly, I'm feeling really good. My doc says that if anything needs banding, it will not be painful; but I imagine there will be at least a bit of discomfort. I'm hoping I don't need it, and I will do everything I can to help my butt heal without further interventions. I have a few months still to work on it before my colonoscopy in April (aren't those fun?!? :roll: )
I'm so glad your bleeding doesn't seem to be serious either - but I'm so sorry you had to get that nasty silver nitrate! I hope your butt is feeling better today. I still had some achy sensations too, but those seem to have disappeared, or at least diminished to the point where they are so mild I barely notice them. Since we are so similar in our recoveries, I expect your aches will go away soon too. Then, hopefully, all you'll have to do is beat back that psoriasis! You're so right - when it isn't one thing, it's another! I really hope you get some relief with that very soon.
It sounds to me like we are both making good healing progress. :D By the time the summer comes along, we should be in great shape to enough it. I'm really looking forward to summer by now. We got walloped up here pretty good - white-out conditions, freezing rain, and snow, snow, snow! Yuk!
I'm so glad you are doing better too :D

Hi to both of you and glad that you are both doing well along the happy road to recovery!

Thanks so much! I read on the other post that you have quite a bit on your plate. Skin cancer! Yikes!! I've had a few friends who have had to get skin cancer treatment, so I know that it's not always too terribly serious, but it's scary as heck!!
I really hope that your doc fixes you up real quick and for good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. Please post and let us know how your doc's appointment goes.
We are getting tons of snow up here in Ontario, so it looks like we're both a bit house-bound these days. It is pretty, though. I love photography too, so I should try to take some pics, but I'm not very good at it!
I hope you are doing ok

Thank you Savaici! I hope all goes well with you. I appreciate your kind words.
Hope,
Yes, we do seem to be on a similar pace. I am glad i found you last summer. You have been a big help to me throughout this. I hope by next summer we are both looking back and telling "old war stories" like a thing of the past! lol That's good to read that some people take up to a year for the tissue to heal. It gives me hope that all will continue to get better. I feel pretty good all in all, but like I mentioned, some aching on the surgery side when I have a BM, and the stupid bleeding. I wonder if it's possible to bleed forever? UGH!
My gastro doc wants to do a colonscopy when she does another exam (scope down the throat due to acid reflex).She said might as well get them both done while I am under and make sure the bleeding isn't anything else. I really think it's just the tear the CRS mentioned, but I guess I will do it anyway. I put it off until after school is out for the summer, so I won't be far behind you with the colonscopy.
I am glad your bleeding has still stopped...knock on wood! Go Hope! lol
So what do you do when you are snow bound up there? Read? Watch movies? We have had a very mild winter so far, but very gloomy. I am so ready for a sunny springtime! Have a great week!

Hey Summergal! I'm so glad you're doing so well, even if you still have some aches and some bleeding. Man, it really takes a long time for the butt to fully heal! I'm just so grateful that I'm not in pain anymore. :D I'm keeping my fingers crossed about the bleeding. So far so good. But yesterday I strained a wee bit trying to have a BM and ended up hurting the area where my fissure was. :roll: I can see the fissure scar - it's a dark purple line and sometimes there are small spots on it that look like superficial scratches. So you can bet I'm being SUPER careful now, since the last thing I want is for that fissure to open up again.
I'm so glad I met you too - you really helped me a lot. :D It's almost like we are living parallel lives. Our fistulotomies, follow-ups and now colonoscopies are so close together! It's nice to feel that I'm on this journey with a friend.
If your healing goes anything like mine did, the bleeding should taper off soon and the aching should diminish a great deal too. Some of my family members told me that they also sometimes bleed after a BM, and they've never had fissures. Our thinking is that as we get older, the tissue down there gets delicate (maybe hormonal changes? ).
We got a big dump of snow last week, but now it's mostly melted away. Happily, I love reading and watching good movies. My hubby came home last night with a box set of every movie Tracy and Hepburn ever did together, so I'll be a happy camper for a good while. I'm glad you've had a nice mild winter so far - but we do need sunshine too! I hope you get some soon. And when you do, can you send a bit up here? :D
I can't wait for spring!! By then we will definitely be able to swap old war stories - the great battle of the butts!
Have a great week too! :D

Boy where you on the money Hope! Just this past week, I have had several times when I have not had bleeding with a BM. I am cautiously optimistic! I think the last silver nitrate treatment may have helped a bit finally!! I am still using stool softener daily though, and think I will for life. I wonder if that is okay? It seems to really help though, because I have softer and quicker BM's with it.
We had a light dusting of snow last night, but it's already gone. Nothing compared to your weather. We are behind in snow totals in general though here, and have had a VERY mild winter...with me able to wear short sleeves on occassion. I am worried that will mean we are going to have a super hot summer though. Ugh!
Awwww Tracy and Hepburn! I haven't seen one of their movies in ages, but I used to love them. They were so great together. I love the classic movies and that playful, clever banter the romantic leads would have.
Glad you are still doing pretty well with the bleeding, and I do think you are probably right about the occasional bleeding happening to everyone and the thinnning of the skin as we age. It's too bad we can't be in the body of a 20 year old, but with the wisdom we have now. That would be the perfect combo! lol

Hey Summergal! I'm so glad I was on the money :D and that your bleeding seems to have stopped. We are really close in our schedules. :) I had a touch of diarrhea two weeks ago and had a little tear show up where my fissure used to be (it was small and very shallow), and I was a bit sore there too for a day or two. I'll tell you, that was pretty depressing! But I healed up real quick and the pain's all long. Geesh! I guess I'll be tender and delicate there for a good long while!
We had a little spring last week- it was beautiful. Last night, though, we got a big dump of snow. (ARRG!). And now it's cold again (drat!). Oh well, that just means there are many good evenings to curl up on the couch and watch old movies :D I really enjoy them too - the good old days when there were plots and actors and intelligent, witty dialogue!
I'm glad you're enjoying a nice, mild winter. I also hope we don't get a really hot summer. Southern Ontario is really one large swamp, and when it's hot and humid here, you can barely move.
I would love to have my 41 year old brain in my 20 year old body. Oh what I could do! That old saying is so true: youth is wasted on the young!
I hope you're having a great weekend. :D