I just came today from surgery again unfortunately, coz I developed a fistula right after 11 days from the first operation LIS , so I had a fistulatomy I think he said a superficial fistula with 2 opening , he did de-roof it and let the wound open , and want me to pack it and he suggest to put some Monuka honey with the pack gouze ,although I can put some pack in the external wound but failed to put it internally . please any advice? I need to know what is the easy way to do it .Thx

Sorry about this Salamon555. I have never heard of someone being asked to pack their fistula themselves. If you get Manuka honey, make sure that it's of the highest quality for wounds from New Zealand (available on Amazon). Make sure you use sterile dressings for cleaning, not wipes, or soak clean in a Sitz Bath. Just keep all very clean, do not rub, only dab with the wet sterile dressings. Or clean with a spray or spritz.

I hope someone will come along who has had Fistula surgery and tell you more. I am changing your heading so that it says Fistula as subject.

So sorry you've had to go through more surgery. and really hope you're not in too much pain, but keeping ahead of it too.

Here is a good link about Fistula treatment where you will see that they say packing is not necessary and mostly brings more pain to the patient and I am sure that they are talking of packing at the hands of a nurse:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2780182/

Also, I would get the records of your treatment at the hospital so you know exactly what they did. I always do this. Better to know.

Look after yourself and really hope you recover soon.

Sav

Suggest you look here too, at the various links:

http://www.google.com/search?q=packing+ ... ent=safari

And this link on the Forum:

search.php?keywords=Packing&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sr=posts&sk=t&sd=d&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

I'm so sorry Salamon! I also got an infection after the LIS surgery and my abscess went on to try to form a fistula but was caught before a second opening occurred (I had a sinus form, not a full tunnel). My CRS unroofed the area but it was left open. No packing. He had me apply an antibiotic ointment to it to keep it moist (he said a moist wound heals faster than a dry wound). I have no advice except to say just like Sav said, to make sure to keep it clean. I spent a lot of time in the bathtub and was rinsing the area frequently as well. How are you doing? Are you managing the pain okay?

I hope someone who has experience with this chimes in soon.

Thank you so very much for the info.about me the pain is killing me , I haven't been outside for almost 4 months beside going to the surgeon , spending all the time in my triangle ( kitchen + bathroom + bed ) the only pain free I got is when I m under sedation for surgery . today my poor wife helped me to pack the wound but it hurt like hell we both start crying. I feel so sorry for her , this butt problem makes our life miserable I m very disappointed, from one misery to an other , bad luck , I really don't know what my I spouse to do ? and what I m doing wrong ? constipation → fissure with 2 lumps and 3 skin tags → damage from colonoscopy → LIS + 3 skin tags removal → fistula → the cycle continue... and I don know where I m going to end up ... .

You're going to end up on the other side of this Salamon. You are going to get your life back. Your last post sounds so much like I went through. You will get there. If I could get through it you can too. I was in really bad shape but even I healed. It just took a really long time. Simple fistula surgery is very successful and you are very unlikely to have it come back. I am so sorry you have to go through this. Your Wife and you deserve to have your lives back. I have my fingers crossed for you.

Are you having any constipation? Have you been given any pain meds for this last surgery? My pain was so bad after the unroofing but I only took ibuprofen as I was so afraid of becoming constipated.

Cavaici and Msimon Thank you very much .
Msimon I have been reading your stories perhaps the same as mine . but Im going to tell you one of the horror that happened to me . (graphic) when my fistula ( a hole 2cm from my anus) start acting up lot a lot of pain fiver chills... but the thing who get me worst is when I use the bathroom, the stool had to come from the fistula hole which is extra extreme painful even passing gas was agony I have never know in my life that a human been can pass poop from 2 holes at one time , also when I went to my CRS he looked at my raw butt and he immediately admit me for the surgery I can see the fear on his face .
Right now Im sitting in my bed the pain is 6/10 at lest not as bad as before ,an other good thing that is my CRS want me to see him every Monday , I took hydrocodone 10-325mg every 6 hours but today I switched for Ibuprofen 600mg . the CRS ask me to use Monuka honey on my wound and pack it for a week and use warm bath twice a day ,I eat lot of fruit veg with ton of water . but he want me to stop using Miralax , kind of confused ? although I have soft BM's . I still notice blood in my stool and in my gauze .
I wonder how long is going to take for all of this wounds to heal? how can I speed up the healing ? what is the expectation? please please somebody advice me .Thx

Do you get much protein? Protein is needed to heal. You can supplement with protein powder. My favourite is nut butters (peanut, cashew, almond, etc). High in calories and protein and low in residue (poop amount). I, personally would not suggest stopping the stool softener as your BMs must stay soft.

Heat also promote blood flow and healing, as well as lots of sleep and lower stress levels.

I, personally, would choose an antibiotic ointment over sticky honey. I tried both. the honey really burned. The antibiotic was soothing.

Blood is still normal, as is the pain. It's also typical to poop out of 2 holes when you have a fistula. I have heard that 3 months is a typical time to heal from a superficial fistulotomy surgery. Hang in there.

Thanks , How much protein should I take , and what kind of antibiotic ? also I want to know how do you clean after BM's ?, I jump in the bathtub , then dray with the hairdrayer , but one time I used the shower head but start feeling sharp pain then I quite doing it , I dont want the stool get in the wound I find it very difficult to clean however the cut is merged in my anus and I dont want any other infection . Thx Msimon