Hey everyone,
Sorry I haven't been more diligent in posting about my issue and what I went through, so I'm gonna give you the full scoop now that I'm home recovering and have time to do so. :D :
My problems started all about two years ago, I was without insurance and I had a very painful lump on my butt cheek. Due to not having insurance, I waited in the ER waiting room for close to 9 hours before I was seen by a medical professional. They ascertained that I had a boil and that it needed to be lanced. So they injected the local anesthetic and punctured the boil and pus and blood came gushing out of the area. I ended up destroying my boxers and didn't bring a replacement pair with me. They put a few centimeters of Iodoform soaked gauze in the wound and sent me on my way. Weeks passed and I had no further problems. At least any that I didn't notice. Months later I noticed that I had a slight bulge on one of my butt cheeks, (The one I had the boil on) and that if I pressed it, a clear fluid was expressed! I was shocked and I for some reason just continued squeezing the fluid out and cleaning it up with a rag. There was no pain when I did this. I continued doing this periodically for about the space of a few months. After about a year, I got another boil eruption, it was painful and it hurt to sit. I still didn't have health insurance to go get it checked out, so I tried the natural remedy of vinegar and flour mixed together and placed on the boil, covered with a bandage. the next day when i took the bandage off, Pus and blood came out, and i felt much better. Again a period of several months had passed, without event. I noticed a small depression in my buttcheek where the boil erupted, but i've had boils leave pock marks in other areas of my body that gradually filled in. Finally last year in about October, another boil erupts in the same area! ITs painful and it fills up to about the size of a tennis ball. Being in so much pain im forced to use a hot rag to bring it to a head and cause it to rupture, which it does in a very gross manner! This thing was expressing pus and whatever else like milk from a cow's udder! I could literally spray the mirror several feet away because this stuff had built up so much inside of me. I drained it in this fashion for weeks! I tried everything ointments, salves, baking soda, vitamin C, Prid drawing salve- (Which did by the way draw out tons of pus but never fully healed the area), dietary changes, everything, but this what-I-believed to be a boil, just would not quit. Finally i get insurance the earlier part of this year and after unsuccessful treatment with antibiotics my GP referred me to a colorectal surgeon. The surgeon took one look at the seeping wound and walked out the room, then he came back with some long metal probe and inserted it into the boil. Needless to say i was uncomfortable, but he said he was trying to see if the boil interacts with my rectum. and according to his expertise it did. He then told me it was an ANAL FISTULA, and that i needed surgery. That was the first time i was diagnosed with that condition! I was scared of having surgery, but i was also tired of having this thing growing and causing me pain! I couldn't sit down straight for months! He also inspected my anus, and saw i had skin tags and hemmoroids and that he would remove those too! I had been way too embarrassed to go to a doctor when those things happened to ever get them treated. So i was relieved when he noted those things and said he'd take care of them. I scheduled the surgery immediately. I had the surgery last week and initially i was terrified of the post op pain, especially when it came to BM's! I had a huge bandage covering my entire behind and i was quite sore. One of the nurse practitioners told me of a little trick with this kind of surgery to ensure your first BM isn't painful. The trick is to drink all the hot tea with lemon you wanted every two hours until a few hours before bed time. I did this for about 3 days. I didn't have a bowel movement for 4 days, as i ate very light and stuck to soft foods and baked or stewed chicken. But when i did have my first BM, there was virtually no pain, but plenty of blood. So the trick works! Now back to my post op wounds, I pried the bandage off after about 3 days and looked at the area, There was a gash from my buttcheek to my anus. It didn't connect with my anus but it pretty much terminated right at the border. And my anus, well I must say that while it still hurts when i cough or move too much, Its wonderful seeing that i have a normal butthole again! I clean the area with nothing more than a clean hot wet rag, Im still pretty eeked out by the fact of showering, and water getting into the gaping gash on my behind. I go in later this week for my follow up. hopefully i will be able to go back to work soon. Its not bleeding as much as a tinted mucus like stuff is coming out. It still hurts when i cough, but I feel much better than i have in the months before this! I think I covered everything that i've been through, if there are any questions, i'd be more than happy to answer them. Thank you for all the information posted on this site! It really helped me deal with an embarrassing problem in a sensitive area!