Hello to all of you fellow sufferers!
I am 26 years old, and i live in manchester
(I had 2x botox; LIS; Anal advancement flap)
Long story short:
A year and 2 months ago i had a long car journey from the UK to Poland
I was quite stressed as it was the longest ride i have ever had, I remember how constipated i became few days beforehand due to loads of stress and bad diet.
I remember the poo that started it all...
by the time i arrived in poland i was in a lot of pain.
I rented a flat in poland for a month it was a gift for my wife, perfect holidays. I spent most of the time at the flat thinking that it is just a hemoroid or something trivial, how wrong was I.
When i went back to the UK i went straightaway to my farmacist and bought all the most expensive remedies for hemmies. After about a week of using suppositories i decided to go to my GP, as my pain was worst than ever in my life. It took them more than 6 months to diagnose the problem. No one even looked at my bum, even thought i went to three different practicioners at my GP clinic they all just assumed that i have hemoroids...
The worst thing was that they prescribed me with codeine based painkillers which made me so constipated that i could not open my bowels for a week
The big day when i learned it could actually be something different than hommies was when I finally opened my bowels. Codeine based painkillers made it near to impossible, i was in so much pain, I bled extensively, and I felt like loosing consciousness any minute! I called for an ambulance, My first call was ignored! I was told that i should book with my gp asap and take some more painkilers! (Only call for an ambulance when you feel that your life is seriously in danger!)
I was fuming , so i called again and talled them that I will keep calling till they send someone! as I was still bleeding quite badly.
So they did sent an ambulance and when the paramedics came they treated me like an idiot cry-baby. The emergency ward called for a CRS to see me and after about two hours he came to tell me that hemoroids would not cause so much pain, and blood loss, and that I probably have an anal fissure.
(at that point I was in so much pain that they could not examine my bottom, and even thought no one thought about a proper examination under the anesthetic). He prescribed me with movicol, lactulose, diclofenac and paracetamol and send a letter to my GP to pescribe me with rectogesic... I used it sceptically for about a month but it made my head throb like crazy, my gp prescribed me with anoheal instead and referred me to a specialist. Both creams were for me a total waste of time...
I visited my specialist on at least three occasions with 4 weeks interval. Every visit ended in the hospital bed as the visits were in the morning just after the loo when my pain is at it's worst. Emergency admissions are for everyone remember that! On my last emergency admission i had a colonoscopy, and finally i learned that it is not hemoroids but an anal fissure. I was prescribed with anoheal for 8 weeks. It did not worked so my CRS proposed Botox. First few weeks after the botox injection were terrible, but than after the week 8 things started to look a little bit better, i was able to go for a walk with my wife first time in 8-9 months. But then it stopped healing, so i had a follow up botox injection... sorry to say but it was a U-tern all the benefits of the first botox were lost...
another 8 weeks passed, without any improvement so my surgeon decided that it is the time to do the LIS... He reffered me to the hospital in less than 4 weeks.
well when i was in the hospital bed he came and told me that he will carry two procedures instead of one.
He made an anal advancement flap and LIS operations. I was on the table 5 days ago. It is too fast to say if it worked or not...
All I know is that going to the toilet is painful as hell! I even think that it is actually worse than it was before the op. I think that if it will stay like that, and i will not stop bleeding badly after the toillet I will go to the ER, I fear that there was something wrong with my LIS as the spasms, even thought smaller are still there... and as far as i know LIS should kill that completely.
I will keep posting on my progress.
I can give few good advices regarding NHS:
- Do not be afraid to go to the emergency, they can sort you out faster than your GP, and can make refferals and prescriptions for you on the spot, just be firm and persuasive if you are not they will send you home with a bunch of painkillers
- If you have an appointement with a specialist they can arrange for an emergency admission to the hospital the same day if they decide that you are really suffering, so do not hide your pain from them! In that way you can get your examination the next day, and a refferal for a treatment in about 4 weeks! If you are in pain and your stress levels are at the extreme show them that you can not wait! Remember to be polite but firm. It worked perfect for me!
- If you can not walk or drive to the emergency unit call for a comunity ambulance (your GP can help you with that, they can give you a number to call), they are there for you. If you feel that your life is in serious danger (you bleed extensively, much more than normally, feel like loosing consciousness) call the ambulance and if they do not treat you seriously when you call them finish the call and call again there is a big chance that the next operator will take your call seriously! Remember that you will never speak twice with the same operator, so do not worry, if they are bad to you, call again... Still remember to use the ambulance services only when you feel that your life is threatened.
- When you are able to go to the emergency unit remember to tell in the reception that you are unable to stand or sit down for an extended period of time becouse of the pain in your bottom...
(Once I was waiting for an hour before they let me through, i was so uncomfortable that i started to cry... My wife was furious, as they let a violent drug addict before me :( finally i lay down on the floor in the emergency unit as i was unable to sit any longer)
- People do not know what an anal fissure is so when you enter the hospital, your gp clinic, or the emergency tell them you have got it, describe the pain you are experiencing and ask if they have a room where you could make yourself omfortable. Same rule apply: Be Polite but firm.
I will writte to you tommorrow on my progress on day 6