YAY!!!!!!!
Great to read Diamond........It sounds like you are doing incredibly well compared to just a few weeks ago.
You will heal up but it does take a while as we all know!
Hopefully 2014 really will be a great one for you and you will soon be able to put this behind you!!
All the very best in reaching those final posts!!

Fantastic news diamond wishing you all the very best '

Thanks Richi and ETO!
By the way Richi - are you all healed up now?!

My nurse said the my wound is now about half the size it was just this Monday. She didn't measure but approximated that it's now 0.2cm by 0.5cm (hope she's right!). I have a follow up with my surgeon scheduled on Monday but I've asked to move it by at least another week as I would rather see her when she can tell me it's healed! I realize I'll probably be sore for a while in the area but I'm really hoping that I can put this ordeal behind me by the end of the month.

I now don't bother with tucking gauze at night.. I haven't had any drainage from the wound in a few weeks actually. When the nurse applies the silver nitrate, there is some bleeding though but it goes away after about 24 hours. I have a short weekend trip planned with my girlfriends at the end of the month - so fingers crossed I can finally travel without a drug store in my suitcase :)

Hi diamond
Well last sawe a surgeon in august said it all looked fine so I think I'm healed up 'i think my main problem now is when I had my op in Dec 2012 he cut a bit of my internal sphincter'which has healed up but left me with a little gap in the anus which catches a little debris this gets sore at times and I have to go for a clean up after a bm about an hour or so later ' like a crease but I think this is as good as I am going to get may be I should have gone for a cutting seat on to gradually cut through the internal sphincter'but the surgeon. Who Done the op said it was well within the normal boundries'to do it lots of muscle above the fistula tract ect - 'dont think it inconinance ect just a little debris comming out after',
The surgeon who done the op said it was on the high side but when I saw doctor Windsor in august he said it was low '
Great to see your doing so well '

Hey Everyone - I know I haven't been here in a while.. trying very hard to get my life back.
I am now exactly 7 months post surgery and doing okay overall BUT the wound hasn't closed yet. The last time I saw my doctor 5 weeks ago she said to stop the silver nitrate treatments and just leave it alone for about 6 weeks. I think I may be part of the reason - overall I have a pretty healthy diet and I work out 3-5 times a week. BUT - the past few months have been stressful at work and I have been giving in to junk food and I've started drinking coffee again 1-2 times a day. Coffee especially doesn't sit well with me and causes bad BMs. I do think the wound is literally a scratch but I do get some blood (very little amounts) after bad BMs. A few weeks ago I had a lot of very red blood - wasn't sure if it was part of the BM or from the wound. That hasn't happened again, but I have been sore for a few weeks now. I was feeling very "normal" but now I seem to feel sore again - don't know if it's a mental thing because I've been focusing on it so much. I felt around the area to see if there is a bump forming - but everything feels smooth but there is some pain around the initial abscess site.

My nurse checked up on me today and I asked her if she's ever seen a wound take this long and she said no she hasn't. That answer in itself left me super depressed! I'm seeing my surgeon on Monday morning so I am very eager to see what she'll tell me. I seriously don't know how I can go through another surgery again. I also thought that I can finally plan to have a baby since I've had to put it off for 5 years. In addition to this, I have PCOS which means that it may be very hard for me to conceive anyway and now I feel like everything is falling apart again! I wonder if I should maybe focus on trying to have a baby - even if I need another surgery? If I get pregnant, I know they won't operate until after I give birth - it'll have to be a C-section anyway.

Anyway hope you're all doing okay (well as okay as possible :) ). Any advice would be much appreciated!

By the way, I noticed some other people on here said that they find it hard to get clean after a BM. I definitely have that issue. Almost feels like there is some minor leakage after a BM - so I need to wipe the area down again about an hour post BM. I usually use the shower head if I'm home but that's not always possible so I try to remember to keep baby wipes on me. I also wonder if using toilet paper is irritating the area. I'm not too worried about the blood I'm seeing as it usually happens when I KNOW I've irritated the area - just worried that I'm feeling an ache/pain again! So frustrating - keeping my fingers crossed that there is an easy fix which doesn't involve surgery. I recently got promoted at work - so I don't think they will take too kindly to me needing time off AGAIN.

Hi Diamond .. sorry to hear things are stirring up a bit hopefully they settle on their own. Dont let it get you down, i know its hard but you have come a long way through all this and the light is there at the end of the tunnel... I have the odd ache pain and it freaks me out thinking its the start of something again but i wonder if thats a muscle healing thing .. like could the muscle be healing where it had been cut??? sorry i cant offer much help on that one .. i just dont want you to get down on yourself and depressed ... you can do this .. you are doing this just a lil speed bump in the road ... I too keep baby wipes with me to re=clean after a bm good to know its not just me .... keep your chin up Diamond we are all here for you ... chat/vent if you too :)

Thanks Dewlilly :) really appreciate the support!

So just an update - I went to see my doc today and she is a little concerned that the wound hasn't closed up yet. So she wants me to get an MRI done - I actually hate MRIs more than I hate being put under :) She'll see me again after that. She is concerned that maybe there is a tiny fistula tract left inside - she did poke and prod with a qtip and said it didn't seem like it, but the MRI should help confirm. I assume if there was a tract when she poked, there should have been pus or bleeding?! She said if I had another abscess/fistula chances are I would feel really unwell. I mentioned feeling sore - and she said that's normal. It's probably all the healing tissue on the inside, and it's expected especially after sitting for extended periods or working out. She mentioned that an overall ache in the area is normal. She didn't seem too overly worried but has said there may be a chance she needs to go in there one more time. Anyway, given this whole journey I guess that's a minor matter. I do feel okay overall - it's just bothersome to see blood sometimes. She asked me if I only bleed after a BM - and I said no. Apparently if it was just with/after a BM that's a sign of a tract.. but given that it's not always accompanied with a BM it may be just a granulation tissue thing.

Has anyone gone on the SCD diet? I've been reading up a lot on it and going to try hard to maintain it at least 80% of the time. I made this decision about 3 days ago and unless it's a mental thing, I feel much better overall already. So let's see if that maybe helps matters. I realize overall I am minimizing the intake of sugar.

What's the scd diet?

Here is a link: http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/
It's basically avoiding all grains and refined sugars/carbs. There are certain dos/don'ts. So far it seems to be helping me.. I have my cheat days but overall I'm trying to really watch what I'm eating.