Hi Sue
I tried ringing on Friday, but no one could help me, I got the surgeons secretarys number but she doesn't work on a Friday. I got my 6 week check appointment through today, 18th June!! That's actually 16 weeks after the procedure!!

Anyway, the good news is, that so far, crossed fingers and touch wood, my pain has almost gone. No pain when I have a BM, no pain after. I'm almost loathed to say all this, in case I'm tempting fate!! I haven't taken any pain relief since Saturday and then I didn't really need it. I get the odd shooting pain, and its itching a bit, but so far its all good.

I'm still taking movicol, senna, 3lts of water (or try to!!), prunes and eat about 30grms of fibre a day because I'm terrified of getting constipated!!
I do hope you get yourself sorted, re tearing is my biggest fear. And yes, waiting for anything to happen on the NHS seems like a lifetime!!

That's great that you are feeling better bobbles!!

pretty silly wait time on the post op check though!
Well you will get to see your crs, one month before I finally get my second opinion! lol! :)
-Tanya

Thanks Tanya. I will post back if anything changes!!

Well Ive had a whole week of being pain free, its been wonderful, until this morning!!
For some reason, when I went to the loo, I had a BM that got stuck. I panicked and couldn't understand why it wouldn't come out, so in the end I started to push. It finally came out and I felt a bit sore. By mid morning it was hurting enough to take painkillers, the first for just over a week. And by the time I got home from work, I was in agony! Just taken some more painkillers and used some GTN cream as I couldn't take the pain anymore!
I'm so depressed I could cry! I'm so careful with what I eat, still taking Movicol, prunes, senna, water and eating about 30gms fibre a day! I just hope its a minor set back and I get back to being pain free!
In the meantime, Ive had 3 appointment dates sent to me for my 6 week check. 1 for the 18 June and 2 for the 18th April (one at 9am and the other 11.15am). Cant speak to anyone until tomorrow to sort it out!!!

Hey Bobbles -
I had my 7 week follow up appointment (from botox) today - and the best thing I can say is that for being a little over 2 weeks post-op, you are doing REMARKABLY well. Don't sweat the little set-back this week, they are bound to happen in some fashion for whatever strange reasons that may be. My healing has been much slower (which has been a surprise and frustration for myself and my CRS considering my otherwise excellent health). my first month after botox was pretty terribly before i finally "turned the corner", still dealing with pain, but it is much more manageable than a few weeks ago. at this point, stay the course, you're already doing everything you can - any additional "stress" or aggravation due to set-backs will only further compromise the healing. cut yourself a lot of slack, practice more patience than you ever cared to practice and pay yourself as much compassion as you pay others. the first month is the toughest and set-backs are unfortunately part of the deal.

ps,
i had a setback my 3rd week as a result of my CRS recommending me to come off of the stool softeners (the stools was still soft, just too much for my still fragile bum) - totally retore, loads of blood and pain, had to go back on stool softeners, blood pretty back for the first week after that and it has gradually been getting better since then.

Thanks sailorgal, I suppose I was just feeling so confident after the 1st week, no pain was lovely, that I was just surprised it all happened again! I still cant understand why my bms are not coming out like they have been. I wonder if Im eating too much fibre, or if I am putting too much stress on myself and making it worse. I have tried to relax today and not think about it too much. I will just have see how it goes!

i remember being afraid that too much fiber was giving me issues - but, looking back, i'm actually taking more fiber now and am doing better with the quality of stools. the stress thing could totally be contributing to it - i was super stressed about my day-by-day details right after surgery (i was even weepy, crying fits, melt downs in public when i was first trying to return to work because of the ongoing pain), but have chilled out lots since then. a vacation to a warm-sunny location, meditation cd's, acupuncture and the support of my friends and family has helped tremendously on that front, and accepting and readjusting my expectations of the slow-rollercoaster nature of healing too. i hope you feel better soon!