Hi all. Was recently diagnosed with an anal fistula, and after looking around for all the information on the issue that I could, I stumbled upon this forum. As for the issue, it happened like this... I'm a 28 year old male, and about 5 weeks ago I had a single instance of constipation, which I've never been constipated like this before ever, and then about 5 days after that I started having some discomfort. I chalked it up as pain from that, and just dealt with it for about a week and a half. It kept getting worse, so I just gave in and went to the doctor. He diagnosed it as an abscess, basically drained it, gave me an antibiotic, and told me to come back in a week to get it checked out. At my return appointment a week later, I was officially diagnosed with having an anal fistula and was told that while I could live with it, I need to get a fistulotomy.
So now I've been living with this fistula for about 4-5 weeks, and I'm just counting down the days until I get this fistulotomy done. I'm planning on some time in early September. I must say I'm nervous about the whole ordeal. On top of everything, I'm in a wheelchair and I can't walk, so the idea of not being able to stand up while dealing with the whole post-surgery process makes me dread the whole situation even more. I went through the whole abscess thing, and that was pretty damn bad itself not being able to walk and having to sit all day, so I guess the healing ordeal can't be that much worse. Right?
Also, just based on my constant Googling on the subject, which I've done constantly since I was diagnosed, I fear the prospect of incontinence. I'm probably just over reacting, but like I said, the sensitive nature of the procedure, mixed with the apprehension of the healing process, has made me crazy.
Anywho, I'm glad I found this forum, and I would love to hear from anyone regarding their experience with a fistulotomy and the recovery. Thanks for reading, and I'll look forward to hearing from you all.
- Agint (pronounced like "agent")