SavingShades 4/19/09 2:31 PM
I have had hemorrhoids since I was 13 years old (now 26). I first got them from the intense rehab sessions following having reconstructive knee surgery. At that point they were never a problem. I still played baseball (catcher), basketball and football. During college I was still very active and was into powerlifting. As I got older they would show their faces a little more. They would appear mostly after BM's and would have to be manually reduced.
Once I started medical school they started to get worse. They would not only prolapse but they would start to bleed after BMs. I would have to hold pretty intense pressure for about five minutes after my BMs to get the bleeding to stop. I was so busy that I never stopped to go get them banded. I never had any pain from them because they were internal.
Well recently the problem escalated. It happened after playing basketball for the afternoon. They prolapsed while I was playing (not unusual) but this time it was different. While they were prolapsed my anus started spasming and clamped down on the prolapsed hemorrhoids. I developed some external hemorrhoids as a result and they in turn thrombosed. This happened on a Saturday. I can tell you that this was the worst pain I have ever had in my life. It beats the pain I had when I tore my ACL and any pain associated with the ACL reconstruction.
I did not want to go to the ER because I knew that would be sitting out in the waiting room for 8+ hours. I just wanted to be able to make it to Monday morning so I could go to student health. It was the longest 36 hours of my life. I did not sleep. Monday morning finally rolled around and I went to student health. The doctor there opened they thrombosed hemorrhoids up and tried to remove the clot. She used lidocaine and because of that I thought I was cured but she warned that in about ten minutes I would hurt again. She was right and I was thankful that she gave me a script for Lortab. Also asked for a referral to a general surgeon.
I went to see him on Wednesday. I was still in pretty bad pain. If the pain before the Monday trip to the doctor was a 10, I was now a 9. He took a look and told me that the whole left side was prolapsed and necrosing. He said I needed a hemorrhoidectomy. I said let's do it ASAP. It was then scheduled for Friday.
Prepping for the procedure was ok. The toughest part was doing two saline enema's. It was so tender down there and inserting the tip hurt pretty bad. I also had to do the whole mag citrate deal too. That wasn't too bad till I had to have a BM. That hurt.
The actual procedure lasted about 20 minutes. I woke up pain free. He used a good deal of bupivicaine which lasts about 8-12 hours. That night it hurt a decent amount when it wore off. He had given me a script for Percocet and they did the trick. I did have a slight problem with urinary retention for a couple of days, but it would flow during my Sitz baths.
I started on Metamucil twice a day as well. I still didn't have my first BM until 3 days post-op. I had tried a couple times before that and got nowhere. That frustrated me pretty bad but when the Metamucil kicked in I had no problems at all. For the first two weeks I had some pain after BMs but not much at all.
I went back to the general surgeon 13 days after my surgery and he cleared me to do anything I wanted to do except riding a bike. He told me to hold off on that. I started back to the gym that night. No pain whatsoever with lifting. It was great because I was about to crazy not being able to lift.
I am now 3 weeks post-op and I have NO pain whatsoever. None. None with the BMs and none with lifting or activity. I will continue on the Metamucil for life due to the health benefits (lowers the risk of colon cancer/diverticulosis, lowers cholesterol and keeps you regular). Don't be scared of this surgery. It has changed my life. As weird as it sounds, I am no longer jealous of those who can have BMs without bleeding and prolapsing.
Once I started medical school they started to get worse. They would not only prolapse but they would start to bleed after BMs. I would have to hold pretty intense pressure for about five minutes after my BMs to get the bleeding to stop. I was so busy that I never stopped to go get them banded. I never had any pain from them because they were internal.
Well recently the problem escalated. It happened after playing basketball for the afternoon. They prolapsed while I was playing (not unusual) but this time it was different. While they were prolapsed my anus started spasming and clamped down on the prolapsed hemorrhoids. I developed some external hemorrhoids as a result and they in turn thrombosed. This happened on a Saturday. I can tell you that this was the worst pain I have ever had in my life. It beats the pain I had when I tore my ACL and any pain associated with the ACL reconstruction.
I did not want to go to the ER because I knew that would be sitting out in the waiting room for 8+ hours. I just wanted to be able to make it to Monday morning so I could go to student health. It was the longest 36 hours of my life. I did not sleep. Monday morning finally rolled around and I went to student health. The doctor there opened they thrombosed hemorrhoids up and tried to remove the clot. She used lidocaine and because of that I thought I was cured but she warned that in about ten minutes I would hurt again. She was right and I was thankful that she gave me a script for Lortab. Also asked for a referral to a general surgeon.
I went to see him on Wednesday. I was still in pretty bad pain. If the pain before the Monday trip to the doctor was a 10, I was now a 9. He took a look and told me that the whole left side was prolapsed and necrosing. He said I needed a hemorrhoidectomy. I said let's do it ASAP. It was then scheduled for Friday.
Prepping for the procedure was ok. The toughest part was doing two saline enema's. It was so tender down there and inserting the tip hurt pretty bad. I also had to do the whole mag citrate deal too. That wasn't too bad till I had to have a BM. That hurt.
The actual procedure lasted about 20 minutes. I woke up pain free. He used a good deal of bupivicaine which lasts about 8-12 hours. That night it hurt a decent amount when it wore off. He had given me a script for Percocet and they did the trick. I did have a slight problem with urinary retention for a couple of days, but it would flow during my Sitz baths.
I started on Metamucil twice a day as well. I still didn't have my first BM until 3 days post-op. I had tried a couple times before that and got nowhere. That frustrated me pretty bad but when the Metamucil kicked in I had no problems at all. For the first two weeks I had some pain after BMs but not much at all.
I went back to the general surgeon 13 days after my surgery and he cleared me to do anything I wanted to do except riding a bike. He told me to hold off on that. I started back to the gym that night. No pain whatsoever with lifting. It was great because I was about to crazy not being able to lift.
I am now 3 weeks post-op and I have NO pain whatsoever. None. None with the BMs and none with lifting or activity. I will continue on the Metamucil for life due to the health benefits (lowers the risk of colon cancer/diverticulosis, lowers cholesterol and keeps you regular). Don't be scared of this surgery. It has changed my life. As weird as it sounds, I am no longer jealous of those who can have BMs without bleeding and prolapsing.
