Hoping that at some point this will be moved into Success Stories forum, I will give a brief overview of my journey, maybe it will help others... I am 34 yrs old female, no Chron's or similar issues.
August 2014.
Experienced anal pain and stinging, very strong, with perianal lump. After all the googling I figured I might have an abscess, was pretty confident about it, but...
September 2014.
At some point I had a fever for a day or two, but at that point I didn't relate it to the anal issue. Went to a doctor who briefly and, to my taste, carelessly examined me and diagnozed internal hemmorhoids and gave a therapy for that. Had no choice but to trust her. Of course, it didn't heal, but slowly it got worst, lump getting larger and more painful. Had to fix my health insurance issues and going from general practitioner to finding a CRS took time, pain was getting worst, and only got to see CRS in October.
October 2014.
A night before I went to see CRS my abscess broke and started to leak; pain-wise, what a relief! He confirmed I had an abscesses (and didn't want to comment on colleagues wrong diagnoses) and said that instead of doing a surgery on it right now, we should let it leak and see if it heals; and hoping that I will fall in 50% of people who do not get fistula after it. Had antibiotic therapy and potassium-permanganate sitzbaths for 3-4 weeks, through the end of November.
December 2014.
Of course, fistula had formed. Had a surgery scheduled for December 17th. I was silly enough to have some water the morning before so anestesiologist didn't want to give me total, but had only a local anestesia. Which was kind of OK, but a little bit creepy.
It was a simple fistulotomy, with curettage, I stayed in the hospital for two days, didn't have much pain then. Advised to continue with sitz-baths, 3 times per day, once after BM in the morning, and two more times during the day. Cleaning with soap before. No antibiotics prescribed. Didn't have to see the nurse for wound cleaning and packaging, it was enough just to put a large gauze pad.
Pain got worse when I got back home, I wasn't on time with my painkillers, didn't take them every 6hrs, but sometimes later, then it would hurt a lot! All was fine when I took them on a regular basis.
9 day post-op: went for a check-up, doctor said it was doing well, I just had to make sure it was perfectly clean after BM, so no 'poo' would get into the wound. I never saw the wound, but did touch it, and during week #2, I felt under my fingers that large part of it closed, I could feel the new skin. Wasn't sure if it was healing to fast maybe. I never went for a check up after that, because mid-January I went on a trip to the US (I live in Europe), so my doctor said I should just continue to take sitz-baths and if I really want I can get checked by a doctor in the US. I took a trip full of hope it will all be healed and well soon enough. Gosh I was wrong.
January 2015:
Took a long-haul (26hrs) trip, no sitz-baths and shower, was afraid it would somehow affect my healing. A few days after I had some mild pain, probably being tired from the trip and a lot of sitting. The thing is also that I sit a lot (for work) during the day, that may have affected slower healing.
End of January, I could see a scar forming where my wound was, but there was a spot, red-violet and looks like a small protrusion. I figured that was small part that had yet to be healed and closed. It is also hard when I touch, and that area feels kind of irregular (not rounded deep lump like abscess did), sometime feels tight. Discharge and bleeding never stopped after surgery, the amount varied, of course, but it never smelled bad. Discharge yellowish, greenish, sometimes just transparent, sometimes slimey. Bleeding was higher after BM, specially harder ones. Alway light blood. I knew that was normal after surgery, so I just waited that it heals and that discharge and blood stop. And waited. And waited. But things remained the same for months! That small red-violet spot is still there, discharging and bleeding. There was nothing (fever or very strong pain) that would make me think it has become different and that I may have gotten infection. I couldn't tell that, and as I couldn't see things changing I didn't go to another doctor (a huge issue when in a foreign country), so I decided to wait for healing and going back home to see my surgeon.
So finally I arrived 10 days ago, and my surgeon is on vacation. So I have to wait another 3 weeks that he is back. Other surgeons in the hospital would not see me, but just make me wait for the one who did a surgery. Agony continues, so I am still waiting and waiting and waiting to see am I really healing slowly or I have another fistula that needs to be treated.
To be continued....