by Guest » 31 May 2013, 07:16
March 21.. a little over two months. I am so glad to hear that your stools are soft, which means that your diet is under control. Just keep eating the same thing, every day, and at the same time for four weeks at least. Soft BM is the key to speedy recovery. You may use the shower head too if it eases the pain, just like I used the ice packs, but sitz bath is a must. However, if the nurse has forewarned you, then follow her advice. Or, better yet, get a second opinion from the doctor himself.
I bled during my first and second BM. This is when I panicked and called my on-call doctor (coz it was a weekend). I had strained or pushed to get my first BM out, which was hard like a rock. I was surprised that after pushing so hard, only two small size marble shaped stools fell. Fresh blood was stuck to it. Then during my second BM too, I pushed harder, this time there was a little more blood than the first time. Again, the BM too was just a little more than the first one. When I inquired, the doc mentioned that the blood was a result of straining. He added, "There is no need to push. What goes in, will come out. You just have to relax and wait" Then he asked me three questions 1) are you sitz bathing 2) are you eating enough fiber 3) are you drinking lots of fluid.
Well, the answer to the first question was an immediate "No". I told him, I can't sit because it hurts. That's when he told me about the importance of relaxing the pelvic floor and how sitz bathing helps to do that. Well, I also had to Google it to find the extended version of what he said :) .. Our colon passes through the pelvic floor. So if that is not relaxed, the muscles around the pelvic floor contract and the passage gets narrower. Then I thought to myself, why the heck botox was injected?.. Wasn't it suppose to do the job of relaxing. Well.. i was surprised to know that botox only relaxes the INTERNAL sphincter muscle. Botox is a temporary fix, and your LIS (done earlier) surgery happens to be a permanent fix to relax the sphincter muscle. You are in a better position than I am, because mine will wear off after three months. There ...! this statement must have surely uplifted your mood now !
Well, I took his advice and started stiz bathing immediately. Here's a detailed info on my BM. I had surgery on Thursday morning, my first BM was Friday night, second BM was Saturday morning.. Then I called my on-call doc, and had a short 15 minute version of sitz bath. That afternoon, I had my third BM which was a relaxed, smooth and a complete one. I felt so relieved ... but then came the misery.... pain pain pain.... I can't believe it started hurting, AFTER all that gunk was out.
To the second question on fiber, my answer was "Yes". However, just for fun, I asked my husband to calculate everything I ate (I ate vegetables like a cow). Even though my diet was full of vegetables, when we both counted the fiber, it was barely 15 g. (recommended fiber is 25-30 for ladies) So I opted to drink Metamucil (clear version) in the morning, bought soup cans high in fiber, just so that I know the exact value of fiber intake, and also bought lots of fruits with vitamin C. (soup cans were a blessing because I had no one to take care of me. My husband could only take two days off from work and so, a day after the surgery, I was by myself with my cell phone hanging around my neck. My husband got everything else ready before leaving to work. He use to clean the bathtub everyday (just for hygienic purposes and to avoid infection). Had bottles of water and soup cans ready, cut up fruits, and cut up broccoli, a vegetable that came as a blessing before the surgery ..which i thought of eating after the surgery too, without fail. Broccoli was missing in the soup so I had to add that vegetable.) I use to have two BMs everyday without straining. Doctor had advised three sitz baths of 30 minutes each. My two sitz bath rituals were already taken care of during my two BMs. However, I would do the third sitz bath right before going to bed. (this is an understatement, because all day I was in bed anyway :) ).
Now, the third question about fluid. I was glad that this was the only thing that I was doing absolutely right. The doctor had mentioned nine glasses in total. Well, I drank little more than half a bottle every hour. However, to double check this, I asked my nurse "How do I know if my fluid intake is right?". She said, urine should be pale yellow. There.. finally, some relief !
So, don't worry. Right now everything would look like as though nothing is working, but soon after a month, things start turning around. :) I worried a lot too. Also, I had to find out from the doc if the bleeding and pushing had affected my surgery or prolonged my recovery period. He said "the fissurectomy procedure is done in such a way that it would heal the fissure no matter what. Stress or bleeding will not hamper the healing process" There... another relief statement for ya. Whether you worry or not, the healing is bound to happen. :D