Hey everyone,
First of all I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences here. I just stumbled onto this message board when googling "hemorrhoidectomy" the night before my procedure and I was very happy to read about what others had been through. It gave me somewhat of an idea what to expect myself - even though most of your experiences scared the hell out of me! :) That said, I thought it was only fair that I log back on and share my own experience and maybe mine can put someone else's mind at ease before their own procedure.
First of all, I'm 29 years old and live in the United States. I developed hemorrhoids approximately 1 year ago and though they were a slight annoyance, they (3 in all) were all pretty small, external and non-thrombosed. They caused me some itching mostly (sometimes pretty intense and uncomfortable) and the occassional bleeding when having a BM. If I'm being totally honest, and since we're talking about bumps on our anuses I might as well be, I really wanted to have them removed for cosmetic reasons. Vain maybe, but it is what it is.
I had my surgery 5 days ago (Friday morning, today is Tuesday) with a colorectal surgeon in my area who has a very good reputation. Got to the hospital, registered, gowned, etc. Had to receive the dreaded enema which I wasn't really expecting but I guess I should have. Then, I was given an IV line and wheeled down to the OR. I elected to have general anesthesia as opposed to a spinal. Both were offered to me and even though I know the general carries greater risk I elected to go that route to spare myself the embarassment of having to be awake while a room full of people observed my behind. My surgeon used a harmonic scalpel for my particular procedure.
Woke from the surgery and wasn't really in any pain because the surgeon had injected a large dose of local anaesthetic which hadn't quite worn off yet. What I mostly felt was pain in my throat from the intubation and also the sensation of discomfort from the massive amount of gauze that was wadded up my rear. I was discharged with a sitz bath kit, some extra gauze and a perscription for Lortab/Vicodin (hydrocodone + acetaminophen, 7.5mg+500mg) and instructions to begin eating a high fiber diet and taking Colace stool softener 2x/day.
Over all, through the last 5 days I've got to say that my biggest complaint about the recovery is the constipation and the bleeding. I should mention perhaps that I have a very high pain tolerance so maybe that's why my experience hasn't been as bad as others', but so far I'd say I'd do it all over again if I had to. I didn't have my first bowel movement until approximately 36 hours after my surgery which led to some pretty bad bloating, and now 5 days later I'm still only having very small movements 2x/day which are very very firm (so much for the efficacy of the Colace). The pain when having a movement, though painful, is certainly tolerable. What I suppose I was the least prepared for was the bleeding. My surgical site bleeds constantly. I mean 24 hours a day. I have ruined more underwear than I care to count. And when sitting on the toilet the bleeding is bad enough that blood is actually dripping into the water and turning it bright red. I have a follow-up appointment with my surgeon in one week during which I'll ask him if this is normal, but I suspect that it is.
Anyway, just thought I'd share my own progress so far since I benefited so much from reading all of your posts. Good luck to everyone with your journey through this wreched affliction and procedure and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to check back periodically!
just wondering how the outcome of your surgery was as i've read several other people post that they developed skin tags after hemmorhoid surgery which is what i'm trying to get rid of in the first place? are you 'normal' looking down there now? thanks
Today is day 3. I went again this am and there was a bit of pain more than yesterday. (Yesterday was just uncomfortableness. Today there was a small amount of actual pain when it was coming out). But then again I ate regular meals yesterday. :( but nothing unbearable. I was able to wipe without pain. There was a little bit of blood in the toilet again. I did the warm bath for less than 5 minutes, as that's about how long for the pain to disappear and turn back to a dull ache/uncomfortableness. Today I drank 2 Metamucil (am and pm), no percocets, and barely any ice. Heading to bed now. :)
Good luck tonight everyone and myself. Speedy recoveries to us all! :)
I did lay on ice packs the first night I was home and most of yesterday. Today I haven't the need for any of those. I just feel like my anus is a tiny bit uncomfortable (not sore) as if I just passed a huge hard BM. There were times yesterday (day after surgery) that if I sat too long it would get painful but I would just lay on ice and went to sleep for a bit.
I'm hoping it will continue to be an easy recovery. I hope that those haven't tried ice would try it. I put it in a regular size towel and I would wrap it according to the pain level (more layers vs less layers). I also didn't eat much Tuesday but I did sleep a good 50% of the time. No otc pain either.
I also had lamb chops, empanadas and half a glass of wine Tuesday night (night before my surgery).
I am not overweight at all, and not very active person to begin with. I debated long and hard before I decided to post this. I don't want anyone to think I'm gloating, but I do want ppl to know it is doable. I walk fine and even now I just feel like I need to go and there is something stuck there. That's it. I originally had this scheduled back in May, but I chickened out the week I was supposed to go. I almost didn't go again this time because I am terrified of pain and needles.