Hi dcordero1. Yes I'm still here. Ask away. Will definitely try to answer any questions you may have. Sure hope you're doing OK.
dicordero1 and sorebutt, it helps if we all share our experiences. I had my hemorrhoidectomy on Oct.9,2012 so I am now about 15 weeks out. I had two major clusters of external hemorrhoids removed and he rubber banded 1 internal hemmorrhoid. . The first 4 weeks were really rough. Then weeks 5-8 got better, although I was still weak. Since week 9 doing much better. The key for me is watching what I eat to avoid hard bowel movements, drinking 8-10 glasses of water per day, high fiber cereal,every day, and taking a walk every day. I am using 1 stool softener capsule per day most days. The stool softener may not be required but I am afraid to risk a hard bowel movement. Cottonelle wipes are still my best friend. Still wearing stretchy clothes to avoid seams or pressure on rectal area but that is easy to do. finally only sitting on a pillow when on hard chairs or for all day sessions at work. I still have2 skin tags which he will remove maybe next month,because he needed to see how the rest of the skin heals. hang in there, I am no longer bleeding and my life is so much better!
I do agree about sharing experiences. I wish I researched the procedure before I had it done (but I probably wouldn't have done it). It took me 12 weeks before I would say I'm pretty much back to normal. I still hate wiping though and I, too, use wipes. To keep me regular, I take a rounded tablespoon of polyethelyne 3500 (it's by prescription, but it's just like Miralax) every morning and a rounded tablespoon of Metamucil every night. So far, it's been working good for me. I know I don't drink enough during the day and that has always been a problem. I bought the Forever Pillow for $20 (sold by Bed Bath and Beyond) and have one on my office chair and one at home. Definitely helps when sitting for long periods of time. Can I ask, what are skin tags? Where do they form? Are you going to go through all that pain when they remove them? Do you have to remove them? So glad to hear you're feeling better. I hope docordero is doing OK too.
these are called anal skin tags and are extra pieces of skin still right outside the anus. They were probably from prior bouts of externaL hemorrhoids. They can be itchy and can get irritated after bowel movements. My doctor does the removal as a procedure in his office. I am told the shots to numb the area can hurt more than the healing but who knows. He says because he does not cut into muscle healing should be much easier, but I think still an open wound of sorts that has heal to heal. He tells me much easier to keep clean once skin tags are gone. Hang in there!
Could I develop these? Or would they have already developed after my surgery if I were going to get them? I can't even imagine a doctor going anywhere near my anus again. Please let me know how you make out when you have this done and I hope the recovery is quick!!
Hi everyone, still not had the guts to book another operation. Unfortunately due to scarring my anal passage has shrunk and if I pass a hard stool I start bleeding again. Cant believe am still bleeding after going through so much. My original op was 5th October seems so long ago. If I keep my stools soft no pain yippee. Hope you are all doing well.
Hi Bigmama,
So sorry to hear that you're having such problems. I would do whatever it takes to keep your stools soft to hopefully avoid another surgery. On a happy note, did your daughter have her baby? Hope she's doing well. Hang in there.
I think Ihad the skin tags before my surgery in Oct., but my external hemorrhoid clusters were so bad it was hard to tell. I recall other posts here that others had to deal with skin tags after hemorrhoid surgery too. I can say it helps to keep stools soft, and stz baths either in tub or in portable stz bath are wonderful for skin tags, along with Cottonelle wipes.
Hi All! So glad to see folks still here :) I had my hemorrhoidectomy on Dec 14th.....silly me, so close to Christmas eh I also had botox injections at the site of an anal fissure to relax the muscle to help it heal. I didn't do any research either (I'm the research Queen)......figured a few hems snipped off, no big deal, right? Well, of course the surgeon told me about 2% of what to expect. That night was the worst night of my life. During the night DH started reading online (found this forum) and couldn't believe all the horror stories he read. I hope posting links to topics within this site is ok, because here at the two that helped me most. The first is written by a Pain Management Doctor.
https://www.steadyhealth.com/Hemorrhoidectomy_Surgery_Post_Operative_Healing__t268048.html
https://www.steadyhealth.com/hemorrhoidectomy_recovery___tips_and_insight_t299215.html
So, after reading everything I could find online I had to totally readjust my thinking and accept the fact that this wasn't going to be a quick and easy healing process. There are a few things that I've done that I haven't seen mentioned alot. #1 I NEVER used one of those sitz bath that fit on the toilet.....have tried that in the past and it only put more pressure in the area. So my BEST FRIEND was my hand held shower head. I do sit in hot baths almost daily, however I use the shower after EVERY bowel movement, making it so that I have to hardly touch the area at all. Thank God I've not had to go to a public restroom yet! #2 haha, I would stand over the toilet when I felt the urge to go, ball my hands into fists and use my knuckles to massage from under my rib cage down my sides to help get things going. Sometimes I'd actual start my bowel movement while in the standing position.I've had really bad days and some pretty good days since this all started. More good days now, but the bad ones seem to hit really hard. I call them my Pity Party days. Those days when you just want all this to be over with. I've been drinking 10 - 12 glasses of fluids a day. Mostly water and some prune juice and a cup of decaf tea in the mornings. Trying my darndest to eat right. Fruits, veggies and I've found that I can't handle the amount of fiber that's recommended daily. So it's definitely a balancing act. My main question for sorebutt was to see if you still took the Miralax daily and I see you still do. How safe is that to do every day? When I use it my bowel movements are perfect the next morning. I was only using it occasionally, but over the last few days I've mixed it with 8 ounces of prune juice after dinner. I am still taking a stool softener in the am and pm and I'm terrified to stop because even now it hurts more often than not and I still have bleeding. Plus, I can't always drink so much water.
Ok, my brain just frizzled out lol. Thanks to anyone who read my 'book' :) I'm sure I'll think of more to add as soon as I post this.Just thought of something....I've not gone to a follow up appt yet because I just can't even bear the thought of anyone touching that area. Will post more later.
Hi Dicordero. So glad that you're coming along and I think you're doing pretty darn good for only having your surgery in December. Amazing how the doctor's don't let you know how bad is really going to be. Loved your shower head idea. Never thought of that. I used the bag from the sitz bath and filled it with water and used the end of the hose to clean the area. And I traveled with it! Always had it with me, just in case..... as there was no way I was wiping anything. I still cringe when I have to wipe and it's been 15 weeks now. Really, I just stopped using the "bag" about three weeks ago.
I started taking the Miralax (I get a script for polyethylene glycol 3500 - same stuff, but cheaper as I have a script card) at about 6 weeks post op. I had been taking it daily for the past year as I had a bout with diverticulitis and wanted to make sure my stools didn't hang out in my intestines too long. My doctor didn't want me to take it until then because he wanted me to have stools with some substance so the anus stretched enough after the surgery. I couldn't wait to get back to taking it and I swear by it. I take a rounded tablespoon in my morning decaf coffee and it keeps the moisture in my stools. I really don't know if there's any long term effects, and to be honest, I don't care, because I'll never go through this surgery again. It was so horrible. I also take a rounded tablespoon of metamucil every night before bed and so far, I've been great. The Colace (stool softener) didn't work for me and neither did the prune juice. Wish they did as I love prune juice and that would have been great. But all it did was give me gas. LOL
Are you back to work? And if so, how long were you out of work? I bought the Forever Pillow and sit on it every day at work since I have a sit-down job and sitting so long got really tough. Hope you heal soon!! Keep me posted.
I had 2 internals and one external hemorrhoids excised 10 days ago. Whereas the pain is much better I am quite distressed about the appearance of what someone called "accessory roids". They are disgusting! I am going to be mortified if these don't go away b/c they are 100x worse than the originals. As for the initial pain that hurt like a mofo, ibuprofen was the best pain relief along with cool hypoallergenic (sensitive skin) baby wipes and get ready for this- a hair dryer on the cool setting. That was a huge relief! I have a very high pain tolerance and the first BM about brought me down. I had to work the next day and had no time off but I lived on ibuprofen for the first 5 days. Oh and of course lots of fiber, metamucil, or whatever works for you. Good luck and if anyone has any experience or advice on the "accessory roids" please share!!
Ice is nice. That's what my surgeon said, and he was right. I had three externals removed. I put on an adult diaper (so as not to bleed on my undies. And between the diaper and my sleep pants, I kept an ice pack there most of the time. And it greatly minimized the pain for me.
I did do the Sitz baths as well. The hardest (yet one of the most important parts) is to keep that stool soft. The painkillers constipate you so that's usually what makes the first BM hurt so bad. I just hunkered down, took deep breaths and let do its thing.
Also, I ate significantly lighter a day or so before the surgery so that my first BM wouldn't be too rough. It was still rough, but may have been a bit easier? I also drank citricil.
I'm about 5 weeks post-op and it was STILL the best decision. The pain is totally manageable. Not fun... but definitely manageable.
I have been reading this post before and after surgery.
I had Hemorrhoidectomy sugery on 10 Jan 2013 to remove a large internal and 2 external hemorrhoids.
I was in bad pain for the 1st week but things started to ease from week 2 onwards.
I stopped using pain killers on day 10 and the pain was manageable after that.
Even after taking stool softner I still had hard stools but did not strain.
Today is day 17 and I don't have any pain even when I sit.
The only problem that I have now is that I have some yellow fluid coming out from inside the anus.
Also, there is some bleeding from one of the external hemorrhoid site.
Can someone tell me when will the fluid and the bleeding from external hemorrhoid site end?
Hi notthatbad -
I'm so happy to hear that your surgery went so well. You're really doing great. At Day 24 (after surgery), my leakage stopped and I was so glad. I had terrible itching with it also. I kept a Tucks pad against my anus to help control the leakage. My bleeding stopped after about a month after surgery. Hope your recuperation continues to go so well.