Hemorrhoid Surgery and Recovery

this is sooo true....the first time the pain is unbearable. u begin to have a phobia for food cause you dont want to do it again...geeez this is one of the most painful and horrific moments of my life...

I am 38years old male. Had hemorrhoid surgery december 28th 2013. although 1 month has passed but still sometime i see little blood in my stool. and everyday i go toilet 3 to 4 times for bowel movement. I am tired of it. is it normal?

Are you still on stool softeners? You might want to cut back some because going 3 or 4 times a day sounds excessive to me. I am just 4 weeks out and no longer have any pain or blood but I am keeping my stool pretty soft for now through lactulose, miralax and stool softener. 

As to the blood, my doctor told me it would take 6 to 8 weeks for everything to heal. I guess I am healing up pretty fast since I haven't had blood for several days now. 

My whole surgery was a lot less traumatic than what I read on here. Things were uncomfortable for me at most.  I hope you had a good recovery too.

Thanks for your reply. I am happy that you are recovering fast :). Usually my bowel movement was 2 to 3 times before surgery. after surgery it became 3 to 4 times. I am not taking any stool softeners but having bananas, milk, yogurt, green vegetables and fruits everyday. I do not have any pain/uncomfortable feelings but little blood in stool or tissue and 3 to 4 times bowel movements. Feeling light after sharing these.

I have had hemorrhoids for over 40 years that were not really painful, just irritating.  For the last several months they got to the point where I was in pain and uncomfortable most of the time.  I knew I had no option other than surgery, but after reading all the horror stories on various forums, I was just petrified of what I was sure was going to be the worst experience of my life.  I reluctantly decided I had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it telling myself that eventually it would get better.

I had the surgery 10 days ago and tried to prepare for the worst, and to my surprise, it was no where near as painful as I was expecting it to be.  I spent hours on forums and tried to use the suggestions from the very few people that had the least problems with the surgery.

A couple of days before the surgery I went on a soft diet with lots of fluids and stayed on it several days after surgery.  I am just now beginning to eat a little meat and still lots of water.  I am also still using fiber to keep my stools soft.

I really believe it is important to go to a colo-retal surgeon rather than a general surgeon.  She put me on norco for pain and valium to relax the muscle spasms.  Another thing she did was give an injection of a time released local anesthetic in the incision that lasts for approximately 3 days. I can't remember what it was called but it is fairly new, it's little balls that gradually dissolve at different rates.  I can honestly say that the only real pain I had was before they gave me my first norco. In half an hour the pain was gone.  She told me to still use the norco, which I did for about 3 days and only a couple a day. I have taken nothing for pain since the third day.  I have no trouble sitting, which I had  trouble with befroe the surgery. 

Since the stool was soft I haven't had actual pain with bm.  The worst part is that there is burning with the bowel movement, but I immediately sit on the edge of the tub with my hand held spary nozzle and it eliminates that.  I do get q twinge now qne them from a couple of small spots that haven't healed over yet.  I wish I had done this a long time ago.

I am hoping this helps ease some of the fear associated with this surgery.

 

I was laughing out loud during part of this....but had great empathy also....
I need the surgery and know it is going to be painful...but everyone I've known all say, "why did I wait so long to have the surgery?"

I am a 35male all I can say is be carefull on being constipated. Pain meds will cause you not to go im on my second week and was constipated from the pain meds well I had to pass poop today and it was verry painfull I gave been sitting a bath all day takinv hot baths helps a ton I still get a lit of leakage after a bowltoday it felt like I was pooping football's the pain is so bad I had internal and external hemroids removed. And after two weejs I still bleed wich my dr. Says is ok I do use baby wipes to help keep it clean dont wipe just dab your but and take a bath im still affraid to poop....

eat high fiber diet,metamucil,colace, grapes,prune juice and no meat, things will get better.

I had 2 large roids removed aug 8 2014 , peed fine while at hosp . at 4 in the morn I gave up and went to ER for catheter , what a relief !!!! had to use it for 8 days . I had to have the Harmonic scalpal used on me , nothing else tried had worked . Im a 54 yr old male . Here is the good part , my roids were so big and bad that I had the second surgery today to remove the other 2 internal roids . It hurts a lot more this time !!! the percet 10 every 4 hours helps a lot but once again as the evening went on , could not pee !!! I found out that some people used ice packs in a towel so I tried it . Why did the DR not tell me this ??? within 10 minutes i was able to pee !!! WAHOOOOOO !!! the ice pack also helped with the pain and pressure I was feeling in surgery location . I found a bag of old frozen vegs in the freezer , outdated and not going to eat and it was more comfy than cubes . I know that some of you may ask why would anyone go through this 2 times in 2 months , answer is easy , internals were so big that I could no longer poop , prolapse was hanging out blocking me 95% . I lost 35 pounds in 5 weeks because I could not eat , cant put it in if you cant get it out !!! After the first surgery , removed 2 large internal I was up to 30% able to poop , hoping after this it will be 60% , or a lot more . I really have my hopes up on this last surgery , wow how many people take for granted going to the bathroom ,,,, I wont ever again If this works !!!  and not that it matters , just for reference , I have never had sex there and I was never constapated , dr has no idea what caused them

Sounds like an awful experience. How are you doing now? Definitely get other opinions

I am a 45 yo female who is 20 days post surgery, 3 weeks tomorrow!  I wanted to share my experience with those of you considering surgery and to just get this out in hopes that it will aid others who will be going through this ordeal.

I've suffered horrendously for 3 solid months with the most painful internal thromboid hemorrhoid and other internal/external hemorrhoids.  I was trying to work through it by way of a non-invasive approach until it came to a point where my colon rectal specialist didn't think I had a choice but to go through the surgery and frankly what I was experiencing – I was in total agreement – I only wish I had agreed to it sooner!

I had scalpel removal and stayed the night at the hospital (at my request) as I wanted to sp our three boys –only what did I know… a few days later I was in the pain of my life!  When my Dr. came in to discharge the next morning she said it was a good thing I had the surgery when I did because I was far worse then my last check in with her which was about 4 weeks prior.

I didn't have my first BM until 5 days post (and Milk of Magnesia was recommended by my Dr. to get things moving) and passed my BM in the sitz bath.  I'm so thankful I read about that prior because I couldn't have imagined doing it without the sitz bath.   Two hours post taking the MOM I had my first BM. I did pass a lot of blood and a lot of stool.  I felt like I was delivering a Mack truck through the wrong exit - no joke and I thought I would pass out from the pain. I know pain, I delivered three healthy boys – naturally.  It took me roughly 6 hours to recover from that BM to only make it to my second.   Second BM was much better than the first, yes it hurt, but wasn't as excruciating.  Keeping the stools soft is the most important thing to remember.

20-days post, I will admit this has been one of the most challenging times of my life.  The physical and mental toll it has taken really is hard to put into words, like many of us. 

Here are some things that continue to help me get through this and perhaps may help you…

1. Sitz bath / normal bath - the hotter the better; don't be afraid to go in the sitz bath, especially your first BM - IT REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE = equally as important was a heating pad (for some reason heat worked better for me than ice).

2.  Stay on top of your prescribed meds.  If they make you nauseous, request that your doctor provide you an anti-nausea medicine. 

3.  I can’t stress enough to drink your water – lots and lots of it! 

4. Follow your prescribed diet.  This can sometimes be tough for us because we what comes in must come out.  The last thing you want to experience is a hard BM.  I’ve read that enough to ensure I stayed on top of this.  I stayed with a soft diet mostly – smoothies, peas, beans, oatmeal and I also drink one serving of Citrucel (sugar free) for extra fiber.   And my BMs are so much better then what I was experiencing prior to the surgery.

4. Meditation and gentle yoga.  I have done, I can't tell you how many downward dogs (yoga) through these last several months in dealing with my TIH - removing the pressure and blood focusing on the backside gives some much needed moments of relief!

5.  Blue days, they are not uncommon to experience post surgery, unfortunately I experienced several days of this - and it felt like an eternity, I felt so hopeless.  Share your thoughts with someone – partner, husband, friend so that you don’t bottle it – talking to someone, it helps.   Hugs help too!!!!!  My husband was my rock.

6.  Walks --- when you are up for it, start slow – walk around the house, then the block.  Getting outside will help with the mental side of this experience – and walking will also aid in the healing process – I walked like a turtle the first few walks outside – but it felt good to be out and not in my bedroom cave!

I thank all who have posted and shared their experience and appreciate that we are not alone in this.  Godspeed in your recovery should you decide to have this surgery! 

I hope to visit this site in weeks ahead to say that this was one of the best decisions I’ve made in having the surgery.  But for now, I’ll relish the good hours and days in hopes that it will be a long distant memory in the future.

I had my surgery on Dec. 26, 2014. The external roid was very large and my surgeon photographed for training purposes. I had two more interior which were cauterized. My wife found this blog after about two weeks of the post sugerical pain you have all been experiencing. It was a blesing to me to read your posts and it helped me to know i was not alone.
My Doctor, a colon-rectal surgeon tried to band the roids because he wanted avoid the" horrible" surgery. The bands could not be done because the roid had to be inserted in to the anus, where it could be banded. Not possible. We went from his office to a Buffalo hospital with an available operating room.
I was pain free after surgery due to an injection of a 72 hour pain med. One night in the hospital and. I was sent home with percocept and valium.
I made the mistake of taking low dose aspirin again after I got home. Three days later I began losing of of blood and was taken to a nearby hospital. The EMT could not get a blood pressure reading in the ambulance. I kept losing blood in the ER while I received two units of blood and platelets. About four hours later I was put in a hospital room for two days and returned home.
All of the treatments described in your comments were valuable to me. I would only add that Depends makes a fine product which is probably for urinary issues, however if you reverse it there is plently of absorbent material to deal with any fecal leakage and the briefs do not leak , and they fit very well. Adult wipes are also available at the same store. ( Walmart)
I tried getting off percocept but the pain caused by the spasms was to hard to deal with at this time. I am hopeful that I will heal and get back to normal.

God bless and be well

I'm a 51 year old male that underwent a hemorroidectomy on Wednesday February 11th.  My doc said he cut two places.  Procedure was a breeze (since I was fast asleep) and my recovery has been great.  I took Percoset that evening and the following morning then switched to Tylenol as I didn't want the constipation.  Had first bowel movement (small) Thursday evening then things really got moving on Friday.  I barely have any pain.

I'm so thankful that this has gone so well.    I've continued my normal diet of primarily VitaMix veggie slurpees and lean proteins along with lots of soaks in the bathtub, stool softeners and fiber supplements.

I just had a baby and got awful hemorrhoids during labor. I underwent surgery last Wednesday and became so constipated that I was admitted into the hospital that next Monday. I would rather go thru labor again than feel this. I literally have been in so much pain that I cry and pray to God for help. I had to be put to sleep for them to go inside of there to break up the feces inside of me. I was given 5 different kinds of laxatives and I've had explosive diarrhea for 5 days now and feel no relief. If I'm not having diarrhea, I get constipates, there is no medium or balance. I am in so much pain and am becoming addicted to my pain pills. They're never enough. What did you do to help you?

Very very helpful.