Nurseebol .... these issues are things we dont want to discuss with anyone especially a strange doc or even a family doc .. the butt area is one of secrets that we keep closer then probably any other secret we have. We put up with pain or discomfort for a long time until we get to the point its like death is kknocking. Its our human nature to think we can handle or take care of our butt issues, we think its better then dropping our drawers and letting someone look or examine that area...... Carmona81 yes i am married and i ahve to admit not sure if i would of made it through without hubby being my at home doc especially where i had the fistulotomy and seton done then no check up for 6 wks ... Getting life back to normal is a wonderful feeling although i am terrified to say out loud i am healed incase something flares up or comes back and i dont want to get my hopes up only to start over with all this. I can drive again too which is one thing i love to do so i think hubby is a lil sad about that having to share the car with me lol ... i think we are on our way Carmona81 :)

Thanks for the uplifting comments. How about drainage, like pus from the original fistula. I understand this is normal. My question is, I wondered if coconut oil suppositories could block the anal glands. I used one today and yesterday and it seems that this made this pus worse. I wanted to ease the BM's but coconut oil is after all comediogenic. I am thinking I will stop using that for a while, and pick up some cocoa butter ones next time I am out. Bummer though, I thought they were miracles for my fissures.

I think what you are talking about is normal, of you are worried I suggest you call your surgeon. You are saying you had a fistulotomy I think? How are you currently feeling? Hope all is well!

BTW. I didn't use anything.

I quickly scanned through this thread was relieved to see that I'm not the only one dealing with the "second cleaning" issue! For a few months right after surgery I realized that I had a VERY hard time holding it in and had to be right next to a washroom when I felt like I had to "go". I think it has somewhat approved, when I have a BM coming on I still have to go but it's not as "urgent". But I do still have the issue of having to clean after which is a real pain given that I'm always on the run! I find that even though I shower after my BM in the mornings and followup with a baby wipe - by the time I get to work I technically need to clean up again. I guess we need to pick our battles - and that's minor matters. I'm 7 months post-surgery now ... does anyone know if it gets any better? Are there any exercises we can do to strengthen the muscle?

Hey diamond ... I thought my "run off" as I call it might of been from how my bum hole healed after being sliced .. I always say it seems to be getting stuck somewhere and then slips out with time... Maybe a lil knotched area developed with the healing so I don't know if that will ever change ... Maybe it is the muscles ... Do us have a hard time if u need to push the stool out .. I find at times I can't push it out and I have to wait til it's right there to come out even if I go all day with the pressure of needed a bm in my rectum all day

Interesting - it feels the same way to me. I can't tell if it's getting stuck and then comes out after or if it's just leakage. I don't seem to have a hard time to push it out but I do find that I'm overly gassy! And I find it harder to hold the gas in ..so as disgusting as this may sound every time I'm in the washroom I try to pass gas just in case! I don't want to have that happen in a meeting or something at work.. would be quite embarrassing :)
I also find that the "run off" sometimes happens after I walk to work - for the past few days I started tucking gauze in for the walk to work to see what's on it and there is some stuff on it after the walk. However, I'm okay for the rest of the day after that. So I may actually continue to stick the gauze in there to catch any leakage or whatever it may be! I do hope it all improves over time. I remember reading about some exercises similar to kegel exercises - but I never did explore further. I think I will ask my doc the next time I go in.

What's up people! I'm feeling better, I'm still having minor leakage but it's not too bad anymore. I was using gauze but I decided to stop using it. I still have a few boxes. I have made it a habit to wipe every now and then even though it's hours since my movement. Lately I have noticed it's less than when I first posted my question. The one thing I have changed is that I am walking more than I used to at work. I hope this helps others! Let me know what you all are doing. Hope everyone is doing good! Talk to you soon!

Glad to hear u r doing well carmona ..... I'm sure the leakage will settle down with time mine did ... But clean up after a bm is my issue ... I could wipe for hours and still not be clean and then 20 min or so after a bm i have to reclean.. I. Getting used to it and I can live with it that's for sure .. Although today after a bm that was a lil hard to push out I went to reclean and it was stinging a lil so I took the wet wipe and nudge it up a lil ways to clean a lil better and there was a lil bit of blood on the wipe I think ... I hope it's nothing but kinda freaking out about it ... It wasnt a large stool or anything just since my fistulotomy sometimes I have a hard pushing it out ... I hope this is nothing

Hope it's nothing as well.. I had a lot of blood a few weeks ago after having some BMs with issues. It was bright red all over the toilet paper. That hasn't happened since. I've noticed the leakage seems to have decreased ever so slightly for me. I had a tiny amount of blood today - first time in over a week, hoping that's nothing.

I had the LIFT procedure which has 60% success rate so I'm always concerned that it failed.