Anal Fissure Support Forum

[jrock87]

Hello,

I frequently check this forum for advice and encouragement but I finally feel it is time to share my story to hopefully help others (based on my mistakes) and get some advise as well.

My story starts around 10+ years ago when I was in my early 20's. I did not drink lots of water or eat much fiber which caused me to get a fissure. After being in lots of pain when passing my stool I went to my doctor who prescribed me an ointment (sorry I forget the name) to clean the fissure and to have frequent sitz baths. I did this on and off for several years and I was never really able to heal it 100%. A few years ago it got really bad causing me to get a fever so I went to a colon rectal specialist who prescribed a more powerful ointment, after several months of drinking lots of water and applying the ointment it finally felt like I had it under control.

Well around a year later I developed a large abscess. I went to my doctor and he prescribed me some very powerful antibiotics. This helped and around 1-2 weeks later it went away. But around 2-3 months after that the abscess returned with vengeance and I scheduled an appointment to see the specialist again. Before I could see the specialist the abscess popped and over the following months drained slowly and went away on its own. For the next year I felt better but occasionally had some small amounts of bleeding (a few days of not enough fiber caused this). A year ago the abscess returned but this time closer to the anus. Knowing that the last one popped on its own I gave it a bit of time and used some natural remedies to try to get it to pop. After a week of trying and being in so much pain I had to go to emergency to get the abscess drained. This was one of the most painful experiences of my life, even with freezing it hurt a lot. I went back to my specialist again and we agreed to give it 1 months to see if it goes away on its own again. This sadly was not the case this time and so he sent me for an ultrasound and MRI.

After several months of waiting to get an ultrasound and MRI they diagnosed me with a fistula. Which made sense as I would be in lots of pain when having bowel movements. This was a big pain as I had to keep gauze in the area 24/7 as it was always draining. My specialist based on the MRI and ultrasound was not able to decide if the fistula was going through muscle or not so he sent me to another specialist who can do more types of rectal surgeries. After meeting with the doctor she was very positive that a fistulotomy will fix the issue. I felt very encouraged and could see light at the end of the tunnel. In May of this year I had my fistulotomy and I have felt great. In my case the fistula was very close to the surface so the recovery was not very long. Post surgery I had sitz baths 2 times a day which really helped and I was not in much pain, the occasional Tylenol worked for me. 10 weeks following surgery I started doing more stuff around the house and playing golf again. But I fear this may caused an infection. My wound is 100% healed form what I can see but a week ago I started have some pain in the area and yesterday I went to a clinic to get some antibiotics because the pain is getting worse. I am doing my best to stay positive. Along with the antibiotics I am have sitz baths again and take Tylenol for the pain. It doesn't feel the same as before as I am in no pain when have bowel movements so I hope it's just an infection and doesn't lead to anything else. I am for sure making an appointment to see the surgeon again. Fingers crossed.

Thanks for reading my long story but I hope some find it useful and encouraging to never give up. Always stay positive and don't make the same mistakes as I did .

- Drink lots of water
- Eat lots of fiber. I have high fiber cereal most days and apples help me also.
- Don't be afraid to go to the washroom. Not going will make it even worse.
- Try probiotics. I take 1 pill every night.
- At the first sign of pain do something about it, don't let it get worse before deciding you want to do something about it when its to late.

Has anyone else had issues post fistulotomy surgery? If anyone has any remedies or suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.