by postpartumfissure » 12 Aug 2017, 06:51
Hello
I wanted to share my experience as someone who has been reading this forum for the past 3 months.
I'm based in the UK & gave birth to a baby girl 3 months ago with forceps & episoitomy delivery. Following the birth I was plied with coedine for my repair pain which I willingly took however this led to a 5 day constipation (not helped by fear of going to the toilet from the stitches). Needles to say my first BM led to a fissure which at first wasn't so bad but over the next few months got increasingly worse with painful BM's and spasm's lasting 6-8 hours.
I spent the last 2 months attempting to look after my first baby with this incredibly pain which led to me feeling really depressed. I had to throw in the towel on breastfeeding because sitting down was too painful.
My GP was less than helpful and actually didn't diagnose a fissure initially, suggesting I was suffering from post birth heomroids alone. I got a second opinion and the fissure was diagnosed by the NHS and I was prescribed a 4-6 week course Movicol, Fibrogel & Dialtiziam - I also altered my diet to fruit & veg only with 3 litres of water and was having 3 coconut oil baths a day and using vaseline pre BM.
Unfortunately no relief came and in fact despite soft stools it seemed to be getting worse. I went back to the NHS with tears in my eyes (and my crying baby). They suggested a few more weeks of treatment and then botox if unsucessful but the wait list would be 6 months for that. This made my mind up - I decided I needed to see a specialist so bit the bullet and had an appointment with a private CRS in London.
He was wonderful and made me feel very at ease - apparently this very common in new mothers! He couldn't examine me as I was in so much pain (I couldn't even sit down in his office) but he could see the edge of a nasty fissure. His advice was 2 more weeks of conservative treatment (creams, diet & laxative/fibre) and if no success and I was still in the same level of pain we would discuss LIS. He could see how desperate I was to be better and be able to care for my baby properly. He did talk through the risks but advised the incontinence rate was 0.5% and none of his thousands of patients had suffered this - only one case of temporary flatulence inctontinence. He also said in a women of my age (32) and who planned to have more children his incision would be far more conservative that that he would do for a male. This did mean it might not work but I did appreciate his level of honesty and care.
2 weeks of the same of routine passed - I had 2 slightly improved days but then the deadly spasms came back even with a soft stool so I called his secretary and booked LIS for the following. I was miserable. Lying on the sofa crying in spasm pain while rocking my 3.5 month old who was wailing.
We could not really afford the surgery in the private hospital (total cost £1750) but I borrowed some money from my father as we needed to move forward from this hell.
THE LIS SURGERY EXPERIENCE (4 days since surgery)
Day before surgery: I didn't eat much, just soup and veg with lots of water. I was incredibly nervous and questioning whether or not I had made the right decision. I made sure to have a BM that day which was of cours agony and for hours after so I knew I was doing the right thing
Day of surgery: arrived at private hospital at 7am incredibly nervous with my husband. My CRS came to see me and explained the process. He said if he found troublesome Hemmies then he would inject them. He explained he would be making a small conservative incision in my inner sphincter to help heal the fissure and It would only take 5 mins. He read through risks again and also went through recovery advice. Important notes:
- 3 x baths a day and keep area clean & dry
- Try BM as soon as possible within 24/48 hours max (do not get constipated)
- Rest!
- Ibuprofen & paracetamol only
- 1 firbrogel a day
- Lots of water
- Keep stool soft as possible
- Fruit & Veg diet
- He also noted that for the rest of my life i need to be careful with diet
I was taken down to surgery room, the aneathetist gave me soemthing to calm me as I'm not great with medical settings and had never been under GA. It worked..
POST SURGERY
Woke up on recovery room, had been out for 2 hours but surgery only took 10 minutes. The nurses were very reassuring, was wheeled back up to my room. Felt spaced out but no pain due to nerve blocker they put in during surgery. Had some soup and water and watched TV with husband. 1 hour later, boom, pain started to creep in - felt like a deep throbbing pain. Took some Ibu & Para and then we drove home. kept taking pain killers every 4 hours. Took a fibrogel, a dulcoease and a movico in prep for tomrrow Was in bed feeling groggy and a bit sore down belowand incredibly nervous about what tomorrow would bring.
1 DAY AFTER SURGERY
Didn't sleep great as pain in incision site kept waking me but I don't think I was great at staying on top of pain meds. Got up incredibly nervous. Downed a litre of water, had bran flakes and went for a waddle round block with husband and dog - picked up a coffee as was determined to get things moving and get the BM out rather than keep it in.
Have to say i was absolutely terrified. Drank coffee and ran the bath.
First BM - day after surgery
felt it coming on sat on toilet leaning forward on tiptoes and let it come. Had towel in my mouth. It was a little hard so had to strain a bit which is what I was told not to do but I wanted it out rather than in. Finally it came out and it was painful but a different pain from fissure pain. It was from the incision site. There was a bit of blood. I hopped in the tub immediately and it felt OK no spasms. Asked husband to help dry the area with a hairdryer (so romantic) he noted by bum was bruised and a bit swollen. I got into bed and watched movies all day and lay on my side as it hurt to lie on my back. Took Fibrogel, 3 x ducloease, ate only soup & veg and drank 3 litres of water. lots of ibuprofen & paractemol
DAY 3
Actioned same routine as morning before, Short waddle outside to get things moving, coffee then dreaded movement. Thank goodness my BM was softer and came out easier due to water and diet. It wasn't pain free but the pain was from the incision site and there was less blood. Hoped straight in bath and was surprised at how little pain I felt. No spasms. I still havent sat on my bum, I took it easy again today and ate and drank well. Experienced some sharp pains throughout the day but nothing unmanageable. A little discomfort in the night but just a dull ache. 3 x dulcoease, 1 x fibrogel & vegetables and 3 litres of water.
DAY 4
Same routine as day before but slept in a little. Woke up panicking about doing a BM. Had coffee and sat down on toilet. BM was super soft and slid out and I had ZERO pain or blood. Hopped in bath to clean myself for 20 minutes. Slight stinging afterwards but nothing too bad.
That brings me to today.
I wanted to share this, I know it's early days but I feel like I have my life back and Im on the road to recovery. I will keep up the diet, fibre & softeners for the next 6 weeks and I've made the decision to become a vegetarian for the foreseeable which I'm a little saddened about as I love meat but I think I need to heal properly and diet has a huge part to play.
Have my first follow up wit CRS next week. After the surgery he said the fissure was very deep and unlikely would have healed without this help so I feel like i've made the right decision for me.
Living with a fissure is miserable, I only did it for 3.5 months and I know some people live with it for years. My baby and being a good mum was so important to me so I rushed into it but 4 days post op and I don't regret it and I wanted to share my LIS experience so it can help others make the decision.
I will update next week.
My heart goes out to anyone suffering, you're all so brave!