Recovery Time For Hemorrhoid Surgery

I just had my surgery two days ago and I am in PAIN. I found this post very helpful - but now I'm terrified to pass a BM! Yesterday, I was able to pass gass which I had been afraid to do because of the pain! I have never experienced anything like this before! I took a shower this morning and was suprised to feel a bump back there, I'm afraid I have developed another one! The doc didn't send me home with ANY pain killers and I thought I was going to die from all the screaming and crying. He also said I might feel something back there but not to worry, it will go away. Any second thoughts? I thought I'd be able to go back to work but in this condition, I can barely standup. Not sure how to explain this to my boss let alone I don't want to rest of the world to know what happened to me. Any cleaver excuses?

I had my surgery 2 days ago and ever since I got home from the operating table, I have been reading this thread! Thank you all for being so honest and open with your stories and I really appreciate all the details as I'm sure is hard to share in such a private matter. Like many of you, I had never experienced anything like this before. Post-Op, my doc. did not send me home with any pain meds. He said I would be out of work for a couple of days and things should heal up. Its day 3 and I had thought I'd be at work today but instead, I am having difficulty even getting out of bed. I was happy to have passed gas yesterday which I had been terrified to do since there was so much PAIN. This morning I showered and felt around back there and noticed a bump. OH GOD, is it another one? Can anyone give me some help? I'm terrified of going through this again. The past two days have been the worst of my life and I'm so scared to pass my first BM since I haven't been using stool softners!!! I tried to look around but I didn't see anything, but I could feel a little bump.

Its day 3 and I'm beginning to feel depressed with my condition. I'm expecting family and friends to arrive for the holidays as early as tomorrow but now I'm in no condition to host them, let alone have anyone see me like this. I'm so embarrased that I'm debating on what I should tell my team and my employer. :-(

Gustivo,

I'm now on day 10 and feeling much much better. No real pain unless there's a BM which is still slightly sore.

Your doc sounds a harsh guy not giving you any painkillers.. However, mine gave me Tylex which containe Codeine (Which causes constipation... AVOID CODEINE!).

Drink plenty of water, at least 6 glasses a day.
Take a laxative, (Don't go overboard like i did the first 2 days!!! Stick to the dose!)
Eat loads of fruit. Chuck loads in a blender and drink it, works a treat.
Warm baths work wonders. Your heating bill might be a bit costly but a warm bath works better than any painkiller imo.
Call work and talk to your manager and explain. The last thing you want to be doing is worrying about what work will say, and chances are they will have known someone to have gone through the same thing so don't be embarassed about it.

BMs weren't pleasant for me, but just relax and take deep breaths. No straining! If nothing comes, then go lie down again until you know you need to go.

Good luck, i know your pain. Just keep thinking to a weeks time when it'll be nearly over with!

Thanks for the encouragement Hifty. I am doing a bit better today. Yesterday was the worst day. I had 3 BMs and it was so painful, I cried. The sting is what gets me, I am nearly Paralyzed when I go. Thank goodness the tub is nearby and really helps calm things down. I noticed it was taking longer each time but that could be because it feels so raw every time I go. I think I over did the fiber being too afraid of my BMs being hard. Any suggestions on how to have an easier experience? I'm so afraid to go. HURTS! During the rest of the day I'm sitting on ice-packs that seem to reduce my pain level to a minimal. Eating fresh fruit and veggies are great (if I would have known it was this simple, I would have made the change months ago)!

My thoughts are with those out there with similar symptoms! I know your P-A-I-N!

Hi All,

YIKES! OK, I had surgery performed by Dr. John Casper in Spfld, MA on Friday, December 18. Had I read all of this I would probably NEVER had the surgery, fortunately, I did not!

I will be following up with another email because I can't for the life of me remember the exact procedure (it's something"new"). A surgical tool (round of course) is inserted in the rectum. Another "insert" compresses the Grade 4 Hemorrhoids (I had to manually "insert them every single time I defecated. Gross, especially if your not home) the rectal tissue is brought back "up" and then the excess tissue and Hemorrhoids were "removed". It's a perfectly round "cut" and reconnect - simply amazing even reading about it. Plus this guy was so nice, and so honest about all the options.

Truth be told (I swear to you) - I was given a Lidocaine Ointment and a scrip for Perc. I only took Advil (2 every 8 hours Sat and Sunday - none as of Monday) - I use the oinment like religion! I went to the gym on Saturday morning. I lifted weights. I went to a party. I ate too much food. Sunday I paid for that. I tired to "pass" all this from midnnight until 8:30 AM on Sunday morning (I was afraid to "push" since I was afraid to tear all the new work!). The first B.M was pretty unplesant. It was very much like trying to void through a straw. HOWEVER - on a 1 -10 pain scale (after this "first" void) I'm like a 1 maybe even a zero most of the day. Again, had a very bad Sunday. Worked a full (and difficult) day today (Monday, December 21). Yeah, I'm having to go to the bathroom like 5-6 times a day, stool softeners, changed, up my diet a bit, but I swear to you - nothing like what I am reading here. NOTHING. I am a little sore and on occasion I have pressure (yes, taking a pee the first few times - I had to actually concentrate! - which made it worse!). This surgery has changed my life for the better. Seriously. I was in constant pain and bleeding every single time I defecated. These things were HUGE!

I have a follow up with the Doc on January 4th. I will come back and write again with what I actually had done (medical term) and let you know if I "crashed"! The Doc told me I'd be fine and he was correct. I admit to having a very high pain tolerance, but it can't be this good based on what I am reading. I feel like a jerk writing this. I'm sorry for all the horror stories (and pain) - my heart goes out to you.

John

How's things now Gustivo?

I'm now 13 days post-op and feeling much better. BMs are becoming alot easier and normal, 'tho i'm still taking lactulose regularly. I'm back at work and able to do normal things, tho i'm still taking it easy in the way of physical activities for another week or so just to be safe.

John, sounds like your op went a huge success. I don't know the name of my procedure to be honest, i thought it was stapled but i'm not so sure... but either case, i'm starting to forget about it now i'm done.

Still drinking plenty of water, eating plenty of fruit and veg and not straining! These things will become the norm.

My wife had a Hemorrhoidectomy 2 months ago. She has been going thru a living HELL ever since!!! The BMs are not very productive at all, and the PAIN is UNDESCRIBABLE!!! Each time she visits the restroom, it's such an excrutiating ordeal that she has to psych herself up, and then the pressure and pain she has to endure are SURE to cause NEW hemorrhoids!!! I feel sooo sorry for her, and helpless, because I don't know what to do! She has seen the surgeon once and has another appointment next week for a 2nd follow-up. We understand there will be scar tissue, and some tightening of the anus, but, this is RIDICULOUS, now!!! We think the doc sewed her up entirely, and, now she needs to go back in and make her a "new one"!!!! I'm sorry, but, I can't stand to sit back and watch much more of this! Has anyone else had this much trouble following hemorrhoid surgery??? If so, PLEASE tell us (in detail) how you dealt with it.
I don't know if she has other health related intestinal problems, or not, but we are wishing we could go back in time...knowing what we know now...She would NOT, I repeat NOT have had this surgery done!!!!
Thank you for any and all replies.

Sorry to hear your Wifes having so much pain. I had alot of pain during BMs, indescribable aswell, but wouldn't have classed it as excrutiating as you and others have wrote on here.

The best thing i learnt, whether it helps with your wife or not, is just to fight the urge of 'wanting to go'. I found after a few days most of the feeling of needing to go to the loo was just because of the swelling and so i'd get on the toilet, strain, get into alot of pain but got nowhere.

I drank approx 2l of water a day, doubled my lactulose prescription (30-40ml a day), drank 2 smoothies (just chucked loads of fruit in a blender and drank it) and ate bran & fibre supplements.

I still had trouble with BMs with all that, so i'd dread to think what it would have been like without it.

As i say, the main thing for me was to just take plenty of hot baths to relax and only go to the toilet when you knew you had to. Keep them to a bare minimum as they're not a nice experience.

Also, check what pain killers your wife is on. If any of them contain Codeine like mine did, stop at once. Find ones that don't containe any codeine and switch to those.

Other than that, i hope things get easier as the days go on (Which they will) and your wife is back up and running in no time.

Thanks for your reply.
She has been off the pain meds for a month, now, which in turn led to another problem of bad withdrawal symptoms! This whole ordeal has been a NIGHTMARE for her! The surgeon tells her that she should be healed by now, but she's not. And far from it. It seems as though another colonoscopy may be needed. It still hurts her sooo much to have a BM. Maybe a little more time? It's already been plenty of time, but, she's still miserable!

Hello everyone. Happy belated holidays! I have been wanting to follow up my previous post but haven't found the time since we had family and friends staying with us. Today is day 18 and I'm 3 days shy of my 3 week mark. I have been out of work and I'm hoping to start tomorrow as my first day back. The past couple of weeks have been the worst. The first 3 days I was in pain day and night. Afterwards, it was largely contributed to the pain after each BM. Thanks for the advice of the postings, I only experienced a solid BM once (YIKES!). If anything, I went overboard the first week with fiber supplements that I went 6 times in 2 days! Now I have been having a BM every day which is more or less normal. I can say that I'm off pain killers, off ice - packs and as of 3 days ago, off the need to jump into a bath tub after my BM. I can wipe like a normal person again!! I'm thrilled! I'm about 95% recovered although there is still the bump from the surgery. It has gotten smaller in size but the bump is still there with the scars from the cut. The nurse called and informed me this was normal, but should shrink at the 10 days mark. I had thought it would just go away but its still hanging out about the size of a small pea. I'm still hopeful my life will return back to normal.

My husband has been extremely supportive and helpful during my recovery. I know this can be frustrating feeling helpless and watching a loved one go through this, but time will heal. I know when I was reading this awhile back, I thought the day would never come, but hiffty was right, and I'm much better. The best advice is to EAT RIGHT! Keep your chin up for it can only get better from here.

Hello,
I am 6 days post op and I am in severe pain. I had skin removed from two areas on my anus that were from years of fishers and 1 fisher stitched up. I am not doctor, but I am almost positive I already have another fisher and a HUGE roid. I was feeling better until last night when I had to go to the bathroom, but nothing would come out so I decided to hold it in. WRONG MOVE because I have developed a HUGE external roid now from the pressure. I went to the hospital but they said there's nothing they can do for me and that it may or may not heal on its own. I am heading to my surgeon tomorrow to see what he can do. I did an enema and only 1 little ball of poop came out. I was honestly getting better besides some spotting and leaking, but this new external roid has taken me back to square one. If I wold have read this thread before my surgery, I would have waited until the summer. I work at a school and am now jeopardizing my career because there is no way I can go back to work this week. I hope once I get rid of this new roid that I will be better. I am trying to have a good attitude and thank god for my wonderful boyfriend, otherwise I would not be able to get through this. I do NOT recommend anyone get this unless there is absolutely no choice.

It's now nearly 5 weeks post my op. I almost fully recovered and was back to normal activities (Was still getting discharge which was my main reason for going in for the op in the first place. I was rarely getting any pain, and when i did it was more just uncomfortable than anything).

2 weeks ago it started becoming difficult for BMs again. Push push push, but nothing. It's like i have no hole to c**p it out of o.O The pressure is there but nothing. It's most difficult at the start of the day and then by the end, it's alot easier. I have no idea what this could be? A build up of discharge perhaps? I'm keeping it clean (as clean as i can anyway) but it's been as bad for the last 2 weeks. I don't want to strain because that's just going to cause more roids, but i'm ending up having to as there's no other way to pass it. Does anyone have any tips?

No good :'( I have my 6-week app with the surgeon in just under a week so i'm hoping he's going to clear this up!

Hi all,

I'm 6-days post-op and feel great. I know what you're thinking, this guy needs to lay off the pain meds. But let me explain. 

Oh ya I do still have painful BMs and burning afterwards takes hours to go away. But once it does I feel fine. I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay in bed during the day with daily walks that helps greatly. Staying off your feet as much as possible is a good thing. 

I have spent hours reading these posts going back to 2007. I think if I would of read these before my operation I would of chickened out. But I wanted to say it's not as bad as you may think if you go about it the right way. 

Don't get me wrong this hasn't been a chip shot for me. You can read my other posts to learn about my horrific experiences over the first few days. But I do want to share what's working for me and helping make this as easy as possible. 

First off, don't go crazy with the fiber and laxatives. Your goal should be simple, one BM a day that is soft enough to pass. On day 3 I had three BMs and that destroyed me. As soon as I got on a one a day BM things have been much smoother. After my morning BM I hop in the shower (in a great deal of pain I might add), use the shower hose to rinse off and them fill the tub and soak. Afterwards I use a gauze pad to dry the anus and put a dap of Lidocane on. This is the worst time of the day. I still take one Percocet and then lie down. Honestly, it does burn for 4-5 hours. But after that I'm pain free the reat of the day. 

So you can tolerate this a lot easier if you can limit yourself to only one BM a day. Try and get yourself on a regular schedule. It will make things so much easier for you. 

Also, as for the foul smell from discharge I'm now disposing of my pads in the outside trash. The smell was disgusting and now we don't smell anything. Change your sheets every few days too. 

I hope this helps a little. I know this sucks and the pain can be unbearable at times. But this really does help make the best out of a bad situation. I can't wait to see where I am at day 14.    

Hi everyone,

Here's some background info. on me:

age: 38
sex: male
overall health: good
problem: prolapsed internal hemorrhoids
age of onset of prolapsed hemorrhoids: approximately 33
surgery: hemorrhoidectomy
surgery date: 1/05/10
post-surgery treatment (for 2 weeks):
stool softener 2 x per day
metamucil 2 x per day
sitz bath 4 x per day
followed by washing the anus and surrounding area with soap and water
drying then cleaning anus and surrounding area with which hazel pads
then stuff an analperineal pad between my buttocks so that it would keep the anus and surrounding area dry
plenty of water
prune juice
small snacks (up to 3 days after the surgery)
activity (being a couch-potato), relaxing, taking it easy (up to 5 days after surgery)
3 days after surgery I had my first bowel movement
returned to work one week after surgery (I work in an office, a lot of sitting, so it wasn't bad at all)
pain killer: I took very minimally (only when I thought that I was going to have a bowel movement did I take the pain killer)
alternative pain killer: advil (I took this for approximately 1 week after my surgery)
results post surgery 2 week checkup: good

I didn't really experience much pain after the surgery at all. The main pain that I experienced was from the discomfort I felt from not having a bowel movement until 3 days after the surgery. After the third day I had a bowel movement, that took care of much of the discomfort I felt in my abdomen. The bowel movement was painful, but after I got the first droppings out, the pain dramatically lessened. Every bowel movement has become less and less uncomfortable, and now (2 weeks after my surgery) it doesn't even feel like I had surgery. In fact, I feel much better than I did before the surgery. Before the surgery, I would always have to push my hemorrhoids back into myself after a bowel movement, it was always messy, and I spent much time in the bathroom because of this. Also, when I had hemorrhoids, after having a bowel movement, the water was always red with blood.
Had I known that the process to recovery would have been this quick then I would have had my hemorrhoids operated on a long time ago.
The doctor said that my hemorrhoids were really bad, he said that everything appears to have healed since the surgery 2 weeks ago. he said that I can begin to exercise as much as I want now, eat what I want (eat healthy) and enjoy life. I understand that I won't fully be healed from the surgery for several months, but right now I can not honestly feel any discomfort at all.

A hemorrhoidectomy may be painful for some, but that has not been my experience. Hence, if you have hemorrhoids, get them taken care of by surgery if necessary and get your life back. I realize that the recovery experience varies for everyone, it just so happened that my experience was not all that unpleasant. And like I said, its only been about 2 weeks since my surgery, and even my bowel movements are no longer painful. Be well.

I'm now about 8 weeks post-surgery and still having problems :'(

I saw the surgeon last week for my post-op and his exact words were 'I don't know what's happened there... i've never seen that before'. Encouraging words...

I felt fine up to 2 weeks after the surgery (obviously the normal pain etc) but then once i was back up and moving i started having difficulty passing stools again. This got increasingly worse until i had to start on Lactulose again. The surgeon says my anal passage has shrunk, tightening up for some reason. Where as it should be full size, mine has decreased to roughly 1/4 of the size it should be.

He's rushed me another appointment under general anaesthetic for an EUA (Examination under anaesthetic ) and a ....something to inflate and stretch the wall. Anyone have any ideas on this as i'm a bit cautious that i'm going back under when his words were 'i have no idea what that is, never seen it before'.

It's got to be done as i'm really struggling at the moment and still getting the symptoms i had before the op.

Will keep updating as necessary, but hopefully someone can link some info on the treatment i'm about to have.