Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

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Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Jonathan » 08 Jan 2018, 16:51

I had an abscess. I feel that it is necessary to say I received it after beginning mountain biking. I didn’t wear a chamois at the time.

There was a lot of pain in my butt. I felt around and felt a huge pimple (how i described it to my girlfriend). I decided the pimple needed to be popped so I went mountain biking more.

One night the pain reached a peak and popped in the shower. I was freaked out.

I told my girlfriend what happened and she was concerned. I tried to empty the pocket manually just as I would have done with a zit. The pain was gone. I was happy.

The hole healed over. YAY. But the build happened again. And again. And then there was a hole that formed. After some research I found out that it was an abscess that fistulated. There is no stool.

I went to a colon specialist that was versed in fistulas. He put me on an antibiotic. It did nothing except for mess up my skin for about 6 months. I think biofilm is to blame here. Antibiotics have a hard time with biofilm and it needs to be manually removed.

I felt hopeless. Got depressed. I would go in to a stall and pretend I was pooping so that I could put some toilet paper between my cheeks to collect the discharge. I avoided sex for a bit. Avoided being seen naked, doing things with friends, going to massage, going swimming. I went swimming at a party once and forgot to take out the TP. I was horrified and grossed out and didn’t get in another pool (swimming is one of my favorite sports). Any time I felt moisture I basically dropped everything and went to pretend to take a poop. Most of the time a false alarm. There was no pain. I continued MTBing.

I talked to people about the issue. A couple coworkers that opened up about health issues they had. Friends. Family. I wanted to share so that others didn’t need to deal with this.

I changed my diet. Tried different alternative remedies. I became my own test subject. I can attest that my body produces more discharge when I eat more carbs. So I went KETO but became obsessed and had to just do a basic low carb diet. Minimizing bread, sweets, chips, yada yada.

After a year and a half I told my parents that this issue persists and they insisted on paying for the procedure claiming that it was affecting me in ways that I did not know. I denied this claim but knew it was true. I denied their gesture and after some pressure from my father decided to get the procedure as a Christmas present.

I decided to get a second opinion and went to another colon rectal specialist who didn’t just shove their lubed up finger in my butt like the previous one. He seemed sympathetic and his team was very nice so I scheduled a procedure with him.

I was told that they wouldn’t know what to do until I was under.

I have a hard time with needles and blacked out. Went to 40 BPM. Common for young men. I am 26. I decided not to do the procedure and changed my mind and went under.

I woke up and talked to the doctor and he said that they could not find an entry point in the anal canal and that he cleared out the existing infection using knife and a laser cauterizer. There was another, smaller fistula that he fixed up. Neither received stitches and were laid open to heal. Three times a day, every day for the last two weeks I take a shower to remove all grime from my body and then take a warm water bath with no additives. Twice I added tea tree oil but it seems to agitate the site more than I am willing to deal with. So warm water only. I have opted to use a shower head to rinse after pooping in place of the bath three times.

I am now two weeks post. I have returned to my normal daily routine except it still hurts to sit and I only go for walks and easy hikes. I don’t drive if it hurts and I’ve noticed that if i had a particularly active day or do a lot of sitting the next day i basically just sleep and hurt. No biking, swimming, nor running yet.

I took the Percocet for the first 4 days.

I woke up in a fever like sweat on night 3 and 4 and called the doc. He said i could come in but everything sounded okay. I did some research on fever like cold sweats after surgery and found that some people get it after general anesthesia.

It still hurts and regularly take ibuprophen. It was difficult to go to sleep last night due to pain. Not sure why it hurts more but am trusting that it’s part of the healing process.

My gauze has been a yellowish fiberous discharge with clear/yellowish fluid. I had a lot of discharge one day about a week in. Discharge has reduced in severity every day since. I have used approximately 100+ 4x3 gauze pads. Changing them for every bathing sequence and sometimes just throughout the day to keep the site dry.

Today my bum is itching like a wound does when it heals. A very promising sensation for my healing experience.

My internal wound seems rather large and I think the doc made a large wound in his exploration for a connection from the fistula to the anal canal.

I have taken my extra time to build a new wheel for mtb. Rebuild some stuff and can’t wait to get to get back out.

I see the doc tomorrow for the first follow-up.
Jonathan
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Jonathan » 08 Jan 2018, 17:42

If you read this and have any feedback at all, please reply.
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby patience_and_healing » 08 Jan 2018, 21:21

It's great the you're on the road to recovery after dealing with this problem for so long. I had surgery on the perianal area in August last year and the area can be slow to heal because of various reasons. The important thing is to keep it clean as you're doing, and keep pressure off it until it's done healing. I found that lying on my stomach with a pillow under my hips helped with that. The pillow prevented my lower back from hurting. Make sure you report any fever or symptoms of infection to your doctor.
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
patience_and_healing
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Jonathan » 08 Jan 2018, 22:15

Thank you for reply.

I am an extremely active person and am having a very hard time patiently sitting when the rest of my body feels so capable. Watching my bodies athleticism slowly deteriorate. I performed a light physical therapy and yoga inspired workout today that did not include any pressure to the butt. It felt fine. How far along is your healing?

Laying down as you described is seeming like a way of life a this point. :drunken:
Jonathan
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby patience_and_healing » 09 Jan 2018, 00:35

My skin healed up fully in October, but the scar is still sensitive occasionally. These things just take time and can't be hurried along. I know what you mean about feeling sedentary. I was sick and tired of lying around and had hip and back pain from lack of movement. However eventually I was able to be mobile, and you will too. It's important to take time out to heal because our bodies need all the help they can get.
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
patience_and_healing
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Jonathan » 09 Jan 2018, 17:31

Patience_and_resting... you are patient. I walked through your history on the forum and you are consistently positive and translucent with your knowledge. In a positive way you make suggestions without claiming to have the answers. I just got here and I really appreciate your presence on the forum.
Jonathan
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Jonathan » 09 Jan 2018, 17:54

Update - went to the doctor and brought my concerns about color of discharge, type of discharge, pain, and a tube that connects to the main fistula that has become hard and is the cause of all of my pain.
He said that the color and type of discharge is perfectly normal. Looked at and in my butt and said everything looks great. I can go back to running and hiking if I want. No biking (I'm not that much of a sadist anyway).
Yellow discharge. Mostly liquid but some thicker discharge is all part of healing.
I do not have pain other than what I have described below:
I pointed out what I thought was a channel he had cut in surgery that feels like a 3 inch bar going from my fistula reaching just past the tail bone. He poked and prodded and thought and decided that it is likely a hematoma that appeared post op and will take some time to absorb in to the body. He seemed apprehensive but calm about this feedback. No alarms in body or verbal language and it is not on his radar for immediate issues.
We scheduled an appointment for February 13th and will see what happens but to keep him posted if anything significant changes.
He is aware that the shower bath combo has cleansed me 37 times and that I have used over 100 gauze pads and he laughed and declared that I am good to just bath once a day or even just shower using a manual shower head to rinse. I am opting to shower then bathe 2 times per day (unless I poop outside of this schedule, then I use manual shower head to clean up) until significant enhancements are seen.
Running and hiking have been given the go-ahead. I immediately changed out my gauze and went for a 2 mile trail run to our local peak and holy crap my muscles have gotten weak over the last two weeks.
Nervous about this hematoma, if that's what it really is. Other than that everything is going really well. Yay!
Jonathan
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby patience_and_healing » 09 Jan 2018, 20:24

Great to hear that the doctor had good news for you. :) I hope your healing continues on track and you will be back to your former activities in no time. I had yellow discharge from my wound as well and even though everything I read said that indicates infection, it was part of the normal healing process.

Thanks for your kind words. :) I try my best to give some sort of support to those seeking it on here. Other forum members have helped me a lot as well during the past year.
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
patience_and_healing
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby Amandaleeann » 19 Jan 2018, 09:51

I'm going threw the same thing right now with having to put TP down there cause leaking, I've been going threw this for years it's gotten worst over the years from having my son in 2013 and my daughter in 2017, I have finally been seen by a dr that is actually going to help me he has given me meds to out down there to help and to see if that will fix the problem, I have even gone under for surgery to be woken up because it wasn't what the dr thought it was that was back in 2014 I thought I was the only person with this problem until I found this page and I'm so happy I did and am able to read every ones stories.
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Re: Interesting fistula - two weeks post op

Postby patience_and_healing » 21 Jan 2018, 00:49

Get yourself an MRI if possible. It may show the tracts under the skin if that's what you have
8/16-12/16: Fissure due to antibiotics
5/17: Botox to sphincter, fissure healed
9/19: Trigger point injections and pudendal nerve block
11/19: Botox to pelvic floor
8/20: Botox to pelvic floor in new location.
On and off in pelvic physical therapy
patience_and_healing
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Posts: 1157
Topics: 40
Joined: 24 Feb 2017, 15:46
Location: California
Has thanked: 71 times
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Gender: Female


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