Hey guys/girls,

I wanted to ask about your experience after a fistulomy.

I had it already 2 weeks ago, and right after the surgery the doctor told me I should have pain for 7-10 days. Afterwards the wound will still be open, but I won't have pain anymore.

Then, after 1 week I came for a control appointment. The doctor looked and said the wound is healing great and that everything is ok.

However, 10 days have already passed but I still have a lot of pain after each bowel movement. I have to take a LOT of painkillers to make the pain away...so I wanted to ask if you have a similar experience in that matter...

If I wouldn't have to use the toilet, I would indeed not have pain anymore...but since I use it about 2 times a day.. It's very uncomfortable...

Thanks in advance for your time and help.

I don't know about your surgery but thought I would wish you the best.

I think surgery in general would take a long time to heal. Think of a small cut- that takes 3 days to heal at least. Surgery takes at least 3 months-that's my experience when I speak to other people who have healed from other surgeries so hang on in there.

to the forum, RecoveringMe!

Sorry that you are still in a lot of pain. Hope you are staying on top of it by taking something a bit before a BM. Also make sure you are drinking enough water and soaking after each BM.

Hopefully someone will come in who has this surgery, but in the meantime you might like to look at the link below with success stories after fistula surgery.

Let us know how it's going! You will soon be over it, but just take things easily now.

fistula-success-stories-f34.html

Hey!

To be honest I'm not sure what is going on...
I was under the impression that after 2 weeks everything should be mostly pain-free..
Some days after BM it's ok-ish to a level that I don't have to take so many painkillers,
but some days it's just awful (up and down)...
I take stool softeners & a bath after each BM.

There is still a small yellow drainage coming out after BM... not much but a bit....
I can't say it's smells 'bad' ... but it's still drainage so it smells like body "stuff"...but not bad smell...

I hope things will get better soon...it doesn't seem like it now..

Thanks for your help and time

Hi Recoveringme. I went through a fistulotomy too and had pain for a good 3 months after BMs following that surgery. It seems that a common thing (from what has been said on here at least), is that Doctors tend to grossly underestimate recovery time. Everyone is different too. I tend to be very sensitive down there and probably feel pain when other's would not. I also have pelvic floor dysfunction so I have pain from that as well and it also means I heal a lot slower down there too.

Do you have any bleeding with BMs? Hang in there. It will likely be longer for you to be out of pain with BMs but you'll get there, and it doesn't mean anything is wrong.

Did you have a fissure before? I wonder if one of the fissure ointments would help you. They helped me heal after surgery...

Hey msimon!
So nice to finally hear somebody's else experience with this surgery.

I think I had a fissure long time ago..but not in a last 2 years...

After your surgery, for how long did you still have discharge after BM?
I don't bleed after, but there is yellow discharge...I put a piece of gaze to not stain my clothes,
but I'm not sure if it's normal to have discharge already 3 weeks after surgery.

It doesn't smell REALLY bad, but also not odorless...did you have a similar experience?

Thank you for your time :)

Sure thing :) Yeah, this forum is mostly frequented by fissure sufferers. I had that first, then LIS, then an abscess, then the fistulotomy. Healing from a fissure is indeed different.

I think the length of recovery will really depend on the size of your wound. Do you know if you had a simple fistulotomy (that is, your wound is at the surface and you have no drain and usually not affecting the sphincter muscle). I had this type. This type of wound takes a long time to heal as it needs to heal from the bottom up and it can take a long time to build layer upon layer of new skin, especially when it is disturbed daily by BMs. The yellow fluid is called serous fluid and it is produced by the new skin (called granulation tissue). It is indeed a good thing as it carries a of of nutrients to the wound. When it is yellow, this is good. Pinkish means that blood vessels have been damaged but yellow indicates healing. I had smaller amounts of this fluid each week but it probably took a good 3 months until mine stopped. Oh and yes, it does have a bit of a smell. Not a bad smell...more of an earthy smell, if that makes sense. Again, when this stops will depend on the size of your wound. Do you have an idea of its size?

You have so much knowledge :) not something you would normally imagine to be an expert on,
and definitely much more than my doctor told me...

When I asked the doctor how big was the wound he said "a size of a finger nail"...

Another friend of mine who also had a fistula surgery said that he had no pain at all,
and also no discharge..so I have to assume he had a much smaller one...

Usually, when the stool is softer, I think there is less drainage and also less pain,
but sometimes (eventhough I take softeners), the stool turns out harder and then I feel more pain.

I try to take sitz-baths after every BM but sometimes it's not possible when I'm out of the house.
Did you take baths for the whole 3 months?

And yeah I can agree with the earthy smell :) "body stuff" smell...

Thank you so much for the information - it's really calming me down.
I will keep updating

Thanks!

I have also heard of others on here with that size of wound not having much pain. I had suicide-pain. Worse pain than I even imagined I would have. Even with pains meds preceding my BMs, they were torture. I think when the wound is farther outside the anal opening it is not as painful. Mine went right up inside and outside...size of CRS's thumbnail. Not sure how deep...felt deep.

We are all so different. You will find from reading on here that something that causes one person agony is no sweat for another. It is very strange. I learned to look for others signs of how things were going because pain was not a good measure for me. Amount of drainage is a good one and of course how it appears. When do you see your surgeon for a follow up?

What are you taking for a stool softener?

Yes, I always did a sitz bath but had the luxury of always being home for my BMs. You can purchase portable bidets:

http://www.amazon.ca/s/?ie=UTF8&keyword ... m7xzgm3f_e

I just always made sure to have a bottle of water with me and an ear syringe in my purse (you can suck the water up into it and aim it at your arse after your BM):

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=3779881

Yes, I have a lot of knowledge about this. A lot from this wonderful forum, and not a lot from my Doctor. I suffered for a long time with this. I am still dealing with the aftermath too.

So glad to be of help. You are very welcome :)

Thank you for everything!
I think also mine starts deep and goes all the way out

The one positive thing I can say is that I have to take less painkillers with time...
but still some days it gets worse...