26 days post hemorrhoidectomy

Hey thanks for the Victoria Secret thing, I might go to get a present for for my girlfriend (I'll be thinking of all of you too :-) :-) :-) )
Well I would like to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. I really hope that your health will be much better in nest year then in this one. And also I hope that Dawn will continue with her jokes all the time. She is really good. :-)

Best wishes to all of you.

Hi everyone, I'm just checking in on all of you! Is everybody doing ok? Did you have a nice Christmas? Happy New Year! Just seeing if you are all ok health wise? I'm still in the healing process but we had a good Holiday! Think we're getting my computer hooked up finally within the next week..... I hope I can still chat with all of you? And you have not left me???? Luv and Hugs to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 ;-)

Hi Lisa,
Holidays were really nice. I hope hat yours were good too. How is your condition now. We are looking forward to having you back online. :-)

How is everybody else?

Hi Dr. Red... I'm glad you had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! Well my condition comes and goes, one week I'm ok, then the next week I tear a little but hopefully the worst is over.... I really don't think my poor body could take much more (butt surgeries anyways) LOL... I guess Wendy and Dawn left us? I hope they are doing alright? I sure miss hearing from all of you... I still miss you all so much... You all have been so wonderful in helping me heal since May.... Wow! Never thought it would be that long.... I hope you and your family are doing ok? I willl keep you posted with things... I hope to hear from all of you as well!! Hugs to you all....

I'm here! I just don't get the messages for some reason! DR get on that will ya?!!! ;-)

I had an eye exam at the hospital last week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm not going blind!!!! I don't know if I'm in shock, or just think "Well of course this is happening" when I went to the opthamologist, he stated "Well we've seen something!" And I mentioned it to my husband and he said "Well of course they did!!!" It's like we just keep expecting c**p to happen! I take my boys to the local Childrens Hospital tommorrow, to see if they have the same condition!!!!! So I think I would like my crack group to send out a prayer tonight please and thanks!!!

We had a quiet but nice Christmas, and I stayed up till midnight just to give a finger to 2009!!!!! ;-) I'm sure you can attest to that feeling Lisa! If you think about your poor bum, no reason she tears so much, she has been through hell and back and keeps on working! I STILL tear! So don't worry too much about that OK? I think it's a lot to expect of our poor bodies to hold up their end of the bargain after being blasted over and over again! It always amazes me how our wonderous bodies handle things everyday!

I want us to talk more, so lets make a New Years resolution that we will keep intouch more than we have over the last couple of weeks!?

Love and hugs to all! Dawn

Hi, just stopped to say hi to everybody.

I wonder how are you doing now. Lisa, are you ok now?

Wendy, are you still paintball master. :-)

Dawn are you alright? (I see you on other forums often).

Dawn? Dr. Red? Wendy?
I sure hope you all still read on here? I'm so sorry its been so long since I've gotten back with you guys. I just now got my own computer hooked up here. I couldn't really get on my mother's computer because its her company computer, I know they are really picky about other people using their computer for their personal time.... Please somebody still love me? Don't be mad at me! I want to know how you all are doing? If I know you are still here, I will keep you updated all of my surgeries I've had. I miss you all terribly.... Hugs, Lisa

Hi Lisa,
Well it's been some time now. :-)
Tell us how are you now? Is suffering over?

How are your kids? Are they used to their new school?

Hi Lisa! Still here!!! Before I go on to talk about ALL the you know what - with my life! - how are you doing honey?

Hi my long lost buddies... I knew you would never leave me! The kids are getting straight A's and adjusting really well with meeting friends and such. My husband on the other hand is different (He does not like living here) too much arguing (can't take it). I just want my life back ya know? Sorry if this all seems like we're being selfish but there's a whole lot of things going on around here... But my kids are safe and secure and thats what matters the most. I had to go see my rectal surgeon for the 5th time, about a month ago. I'm still bleeding at times with really bad pain, and now I know that I have a blood clot down there still and some new hemis.... He said the only way to see if I have another fissure (which would be #3), he'd have to put me to sleep and go up with a scope to look at it. My body does not want to allow this to happen right now, ya know? Good gosh, I'm surprised I'm not totally incontient. Have scar tissue going on is not good I'm sure.... So anyways, I just wanted to see how both of you are doing? I truly miss both of you tons!!! Please tell me how you all are and your families... And DR. Red? are you married yet? LOL.... Lots of Luv, Lisa ;-) :-D

And I've really missed you guys so much, you have no idea!!!! :'(

I just can't believe that still you are having problems with this... I am so sorry to hear this. I am glad that your kids are doing good. Well for the husband, what can I say... He has to think of his family first.

:-) And I'm not married yet. But there is still time. If you have time and look on other forums and topics you will notice that we have a lot of new members that are regular here. And Dawn is like always very helpful. You can see that many are thanking her for her help. People love her very much. :-)

I'm new to this site but reading people's experiences with hem surgery has been very helpful. so here is my exerience, hope i'm putting it in the right place
Others have discribed the pain well so I thought I would put down what worked for me in hopes it might also be of help.

First of all this is a MAJOR surgery despite all the jokes…my doctor originally told me a two week recovery and I should be able to go back to work…WRONG it has been three weeks today and she admitted at the follow up visit that current studies are showing that for 90% of patients that 3 weeks is the average, it is individual of course and depends on your job and how much driving etc you do…

Okay my story, major interior and exterior hems, surgery went fine I was numb, thankfully, for several hours so the ride home was okay, my husband got me a memory foam pillow for the ride home and I used it a lot in these last couple weeks too
I had a lot of pain and a lot of fear of having a BM – this is very common so…
. Things that I found very helpful for these first several days
- SOMEONE TO HELP YOU, I cannot express how grateful I am that my sister-in –law came, I wasn’t sure if I would really need her as my husband is helpful but, I don’t know what I would have done without her help the first whole week really, but especially the first 3 days. I woke her up at 5 am the first morning as I was at my wits end she helped me get into the tub and take my meds then after that we both slept another 3 hours. She did things like watched my medications as I was out of it, and helped decide what to eat, and drew my bath and made sure I didn’t pass out a few times when I stood up too fast….and so much more.
- MEDICATION: I was ordered oxycodine and valium and told I could take ibprophen too for “breakthrough pain” well to make a long story shorter: after a lot of pain and worry about too much meds and a call to the doctor to clarify the unclear prescription amounts the suggestion was to take 2 oxycodone (bottle said 1 to 2 ever 4 hours) then 3 hrs later take 4 advil (800 mlgs) then 3 hours the oxy and so on so every 3 hours it was med time. For me every 4 hours was way too long for just the oxy and the docs are worried about your liver being overworked if you take that much Advil any more than every 6 hours. For me this worked great and I needed it for the first full week. The Valium was to help me sleep, if the oxy was working at bedtime I did not take Valium but if it had been several hours since I had taken it or as I weaned off the oxy the Valium really helped sleep.
- I was also given stool softeners, Senna-S and told to take 2 pills twice a day. And if I did not have a bowel movement in 3 days to take Citroma a liquid laxative. The Senna gave me diarrhea, which actually for me was almost a must as it forced me to have a movement, no choice day 2 ½. I choose to stay on that high dose for the first week to stay very loose as that was the only way I could go (the one day I didn’t take that much was HORRIBLE)…being that loose probably made me more tired but I figured that it was better than the alternative. My advice BE SURE AND DON’T GO MORE THAN 3 DAYS WITH OUT A BM the nurse said do whatever necessary – take more softeners, take the liquid laxative or even an enema (you’ll need to be soaking in the tub to get it in) if you don’t you will be in great trouble. Sometimes I sat on the sitz awhile to help ease things up down there, it was miserable and hurt like everything but grit and do it…. And then hop in a hot tub right away!!
- A SITZ bath for on the toilet, the first day I did not feel confident enough, even with help, to get down into the tub so sitting on the toilet Sitz felt good. They said to ice it the first 24 hours 15 min at a time, but I couldn’t stand even the slight enough pressure to make the ice pack effective so I stuck with the Sitz bath.
- but SOAK IN THE TUB as soon as you can because it is so much better, it helps decrease the pain and the swelling and also helps to relax all your sore muscles. This was the best part of my days!!! I put a towel in the bottom of the tub, made it softer and less slippery and seemed cleaner to me.
- Start small walks as soon as possible with someone along, I did a whole block on day 3 (wow, lol) and 4 blocks the next day, the next day none, I felt to terrible…this was up and down some days, some days, some hours, are better than others for sure.

The second week
- starting decreasing my oxycodone but stayed on the Advil. Being TIRED and just sick feeling in general was the worse.
- Also used Tucks pads, I would tuck them right between and let them sit there as the itching and burning was fierce.
- the days I took my pain meds upon my first waking (or if I temporarily woke up an hour or two before rising even better) were the easiest mornings. But just having a BM and getting clean and dressed in the morning took all my energy and required a couple hours rest afterward.
- BMs were getting easier, decreased the softeners to 2 once per day, and I still had to force myself even though there were still very loose. I had the sitz bath filled and ready so I could hop on it immediately upon finishing as it hurt more just after. This also cleaned me off pretty good, as toilet paper was going no where near the site. Then I would get into a hot tub and soak –I was exhausted and hurting, this was all that worked.
- I played around a bit with the stool softeners, what to eat and the timing and how much extra fiber I took – still am working on that, my intestines are very touchy – this is a tough one as how I feel is directly connected with what my bowels are doing, and when they are doing it. I could not imagine going back to work because the thought of having a BM not at home was VERY scary.

The 3rd week
- Am only taking Advil as needed
- Saw the doc day 14 she said I was still very swollen – DAH! And could not go back to work for another week. I asked for cream or something for the itching and burning and she gave me C-LIDOCANE OINTMENT (not cream) – it’s a life saver, it has a numbing effect as well as a lubricant.
- Still am doing baths after a BM but each one is easier, am passing the stitches – ugg. Still swollen but better every day.
- Even by day 17 I was very anxious about going back. But today, day 20 I did a 3½ hr day and was okay, felt much like a moderate hemorrhoid flair up day, and we know how to handle that, right?. Really needed a nap in the afternoon. I should have taken a Valium last night to help me sleep as I must have been worried about going back, so I did not sleep very well. I go back more full time on Thursday and for the first time feel I can do it, I packed a little bag with an extra pair of undies, Advil, Preparation H wipes and a pad in case of leakage.

Besides feeling so miserable and the pain one of the harder things is people don’t understand how major this is… my boss has been great but when I told her I needed the extra week off you could tell she was not happy and even my wonderful husband keeps being amazed at how long it’s taking and with the ups and downs thinks I should be all better because I had a “good” afternoon.
But be assured IT DOES GET BETTER, slowly and up and down but I would do it again as I already can see I will be so much better off having those awful things gone.

Hi Lisa DR and starhem - welcome - You know what makes me laugh about doctors and "recovery times"? It's the same thing when they say "you will feel pressure!, you will feel a little prick, pinch, tension etc" This means it will go from your eyes crossing to all out passing out after screaming ever swear word in history!!!!! When they say - "you should be OK in 2 weeks!" I would multiply that by 2 to 3! I would LOVE to know if they have had hemi surgery and how long it took them? Do they study rich people who don't work and don't have to drive to pick up their kids and make dinner and bring in groceries etc. Or is it they say 2 weeks for someone under the premise of doing absolutely NOTHING!? I think it's the latter - they aren't including LIFE into their equations!

Lisa - it has been 17 years for me and I STILL bleed and have hemis - the other day i thought I was going to pass out! I think it is from the MAJOR tears we suffered from - our poor bodies can't keep taking it! So perhaps give your body some time before they start prodding and poking again! I'm sure your poor sphincter goes into spasm everytime it sees a white coat!!!! ;-) XD I can just see you at the butchers and al of a sudden you go from this :-D to this :-S ! DR Close your eyes for this next question - have you tried the insert into your vagina for hard stools? It STILL helps me - I even had to go back to the darn love shop and find another "finger" it's embarrassing but I doubt I will see the girl at my local coffee shop - especially since I go to another part of the city (can you imagine shopping and someone you know walks in?!!!!!) I would PASS OUT!!!

My youngest son - Connor - is having MAJOR surgery at the end of June - this will be his 7th! So once again the doctors say "He wil be in hospital about 2 or 3 days!" This has NEVER happened - the lowest was a week and the most 10 days!!! I don't know why they say this, because when you are trying to get time off - just like starhem did - how can you then go and say - "OH it's not 3 days it's actually 7!" These guys have to do more surveys and ask what the people are doing while recovering!

Lisa! How is your new guy? Are you guys in any postion to move again? My husband hates where we live too, BUT we need to stay here till Connor has graduated - another 4 years! As it's not fair to pull him from his friends he's had since he was in kindergarten! You know how sometimes you fight over the toothpaste when it's not? It could be the same - he could be frustrated about ALL that's going on and blames the area! It's harder for men to pin point their anger! It could be frustration with your ongoing situation - as my husband gets frustrated with ALL of the ongoing stuff with me too! BUT how is someone that loves you supposed to say "I am getting SO sick and tired of you being sick and tired!"? I swear if they did there would be a WHOLE lot more murders!! ;-) XD BIG hugs to you honey! Of course I'm here - I just don't get the messages sometimes! BIG hugs and friendship and Starhem welcome and DR I KNOW that people love me - why wouldn't they?!!!!! ;-) Actually I was VERY touched to be voted again! I got a whole bunch of CD's to listen to when I'm alone! So that was nice!

Hi Dawn, Dr. Red and Starhem,
Thanks for writing me back! I will pray for your son for sure Dawn... What type of surgery is he having? I know you've probably told me before but I can't remember.... You always have a way of cheering me up, with your humor.. XD Thats what gets me through the days, is my kids and husband.. Oh and I now am getting pretty good at Gears of War 2... Ha ha.. I even want a pink controller for my b-day which is in a couple of weeks... Sad huh? I'm addicted to Xbox 360 and I always told my husband it was stupid... he he... I hope you are doing ok hon? I miss talking with you... Hugs to you.... My bum starting bleeding again this morning... sheesh one year later and still problems... Like you said, this is probably going to be a life time struggle for me no matter what... I'm fine for about 2 weeks, them BOOM, it happens... I hope you are doing well...... ;-)

Dr. Red.... You will walk down the aisle before ya know it! Ha ha.... I hope you are doing ok as well? What have you been up to? I have dial up here, so I don't get on the computer everyday because it sucks.. Ha ha.. but I have to be able to talk to people ya know? Hugs to you for always being here for me as well.... :-D

Starhem, thank you for sharing your story with me, I truly hope you heal completely real soon... I really do... I don't know if you have read all what I have written but I've had 4 surgeries since last May... Starting out with severe internal and external hemis had a hemorrhoidectomy, then 6 weeks later I had a fissurectomy, then a few months later I tore on the other side of my rectum and received botox injections down there (DON'T EVER DO IT)!!!! It was horrifying... you are totally awake and NO DRUGS, I cried so hard.. The botox did not work, so I had to have another fissurectomy a few weeks later, so my last surgery was around December I think and since then I have a blood clot, some new external hemis and I am pretty sure I have another fissure (a tear) further up.... The doctor would have to put me under and look and at this point, I really don't want anything else up my butt... EVER! DO NOT ENTER! Ha ha.. So most people do heal from this surgery fairly quickly. I'm a healthy woman, so I just don't understand why me.... But I know I've done nothing wrong, so I'm not blaming myself... I'm not blaming the doctors either.... Its just something, I'll have to live with and try to keep my diet as good as I can. I can't do those laxatives and stool softners anymore... My stomach was so bunged up, I lost 10 pounds, I couldn't eat anything but crackers, cereal and my sweet tea from Mcdonalds.. I now eat more veggies, fruit and some fiber and I now have been drinking flavored water or Sobe drinks (I can't drink just plain water)... But if all this helps you, then keep doing what you are doing. It sounds like you are on your road to recovery real soon...... It was nice to meet you as well.. Please keep us updated! :-D

Dawn, I forgot to tell you that I love you the most..... He he :-D

Dr. Red, I don't mean to sound stupid but I have never really read other forums, how do I see new members? Do I just choose a certain topic? Like women's health? I have just came to the butt problems.. Ha ha... thanks and hugs to you.. Oh I love you too, just so you don't get jealous of Dawn and me...Ha ha ;-)