I had a very simple fistulotomy done at the office Monday. I have been home all week, but am scheduled to work the weekend and those are when we are really needed for our patients. I work hospice. I did get things switched so I will do phone triage, so I won't be doing all the driving around heck I could even do phone triage while doing a sitz bath at work technically. My concern is the 1 hour commute both ways and surviving that. I could have my husband drive me but yuck with 2 kids. I wonder if they would let me triage from home=very doubtful. So my work excuse said to take off a week, but they said I could go back sooner, so my work had me have it changed to 5 days. I wish they would have been nice and just given me off, but I don't want my patients to suffer. I guess I can just leave early and make lots of stops on the commute. What are your experiences?
My fistula was pretty superficial, but I am still plenty plenty sore.

HI Nurseebol ... good to hear you are on the road to recovery and hope all goes well for you...i was off work for a month but i was able to work from home as i have a desk job and i was not able to sit actually right up until the time i went back and the first 2 days back were rough for sitting all day. Driving actually took me longer and i think i was pretty close to 2 months after surgery for that ... I had a fistulotomy and a seton put in my fistula was not as simple as yours by the sounds of it ... mine was between 3-4 inches long. when in the car i always had to leen to my left and not have any pressure on my right side ... also i have heated seats and that actually helped while i was sitting the heat kept the throbbing down... I hope your traveling will go smoothly ... all the best .. keep us updated. :)

Thanks so much for answering. That does sound more complicated indeed! Driving sucks! At this point the way it is cut, it feels like a brand new spliced fissure! It HURTS! I laid here and worried and thought, I never ask for anything. So I called and said there was not any way I was coming in this weekend. That is the end of it. They make do any other time. I just can't do it. Seeing how long yours took made me know I would really be pushing it. I may not even be able to do early next week. Not gonna sweat it. I have a very small caseload they can cover and actually they have me studying to be a wound care nurse so I can just catch up my course work.

One major thing i learned with all this was it takes time... patience is a must ... I like to think i got lucky from the time i had the abscess to getting the fistulotomy & seton til today it has been 10 months seems long to me cuz i lived it but there are people on here that have been dealing with setons and had several surgeries for 4 yrs or more... this type of issue needs time to heal... give yourself time dont rush it listen to your body this stuff cant be rushed... relax and let your body heal .. stay in touch :)

Please take all the time you need. Don't go back to work too soon. My first surgery was a fistulotomy, I took ten days off. I should have took more since i did go back to work in major pain. I pushed myself too hard i think cause it failed. Second was a fistulotomy and seton placement, again I took ten days off. I did not take more off cause i had allot less pain this time. My third was the removal and again fistulotomy where again I took ten days off. I had very little pain. I think I lost all feeling in my bum! Lol. But seriously, take it slow, only you can say you are ready! Take care!