Swelling and Pain After Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery

Oh my...it is amazing how you think you are prepared for everything and then you get those unexpected bumps along the way. I don't think I had my first BM until day 3 post op. The first thing I passed was the dressing. Did you pass the dressing yet. I had so much gas (and it was painful). Once I passed the dressing, it was easier to pass gas and I was also bloated but I think that was from the meds. I looked pregnant and I wobbled a little too, like a prego. Try sitting in a sitz bath tub thing if sitting on the tub floor is too painful. I kept mine after delivering my son 14 years ago, thinking I would need it for my next pregnancy, but little did I know I would use it for my butt post surgery.

Oceanarcher...you sure know so much. Are you in the medical field? Ocean Breeze, I don't think you will be in that much pain since you've already said that you feel better than before surgery. You really do need to rest though so I don't know what to do there. I think I just napped during the day and slept whenever I could. T.V. was great. Try reading maybe? It is too bad about your back pain. Definately stay positive. The worst is over!

I just called my surgeon. Short of going to the er there isn't much I can do tonight. I don't have the heart to wake my hubby and I don't want to go to the er and get poked and prodded again. Not to mention that I would probably sit there for 4 hours waiting to be seen. I am in a good deal of pain. Since I stopped the percs the gas has improved a good bit. I did take one vicodin from an old prescription and that relaxed me a little but oddly enough did not touch the burning pain. I was feeling ok in the night and morning so I am worried and discouraged that it has spiked. And I haven't even had a bm yet! The surgeon said I could take advil and I told him I already had. Not much help. Wowzer. I feel pretty low like I'm a weakling. Only getting 2 hrs sleep since coming home is not helping. The percs madde me very hyper and I couldn't sleep. Now the pain is just so bad I can't sleep. I'm sorry to be such a drag. It helps just to know someone is out there caring.

I don't think I have any dressing to pass. It was all external. And no one said anything to me about it. I don't know! I'm not real clear on whether he removed an internal or not. I was pretty out of it when dr was coming and going after surgery. I am trying to remind myself that it will get better. Its hard when you are in pain. I also worry that if I take the max pain amount I will get constipated and create other problems. But really the percocets just were crazy for me. it took me a while to connect the hyperness with them. anyway I think pain is always worse at night. My hubby was injured in a fall last november. Thankfully he wasn't hurt worse but he crushed the calcaneus in his right foot and it was a very painful journey. He is still limping (thus one of the reasons I can't bring myself to wake him.) He always had worse pain at night. Thanks to both of you for just being willing to be there. It means a lot .

No try not to wake him unless it becomes unbearable. Are you able to sit in water? That seemed to help me. Here is the poop report link. You aren't alone. So many people have gone through it. Take Advil maybe? I use to take 4 of them. Drink lots of water and just work on managing the pain and not fearing constipation. Drink the prune juice so that will help. Remember, fear makes things worse...so try to relax.

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Thank you soar. I am trying to relax. I think something is starting to kick in finally. Its not as intense at this moment. I will go look up the poop report. I'm on my cell and it is acting up so I may or maynot be able to check in again until morning when I go downstairs. Thanks again. N

ocean_breeze I wish you a speedy recovery. You poor thing!! I've been reading the posts and oh my gosh, you have gone through so much. I'm so sorry to hear about it. Looks like you've got a great support team here though which is great! I wish I had found this forum when I had my surgery. I know what you mean by your concern about the yucky stuff getting in contact with your girl area. I was freaking out about that and actually convinced myself that the sitz bath gave me a UTI. So much that I started feeling a lot of discomfort in that region too! It turned out to be okay and I didn't get a UTI. I really hope it doesn't affect you in that way and the problems you have with YI's don't come back right now, as it is NOT a good time! Not that having a yeast infection at any time is good, but you know what I mean :)   I think you'll be okay. And I can't believe the dr only wrote you out for a week!? That's nuts. My dr asked me if 4 weeks would be okay for me (he said my full recovery may take up to 6 weeks) but fortunately for me I am not working at the moment so I have all the time in the world to recover. It sounds like you're taking good care of yourself which is good. You'll feel much better mentally after your first BM. At least I was. I was stressing hard because I didn't go until the 4th day after my surgery and I was having all kinds of anxiety about being plugged up and more anxiety about the pain to be expected when I do have the first BM. Dr instructed me to down a bottle of Magnesium Citrate (3rd night) and it did the trick in the morning. I won't lie, during my first BM I really regretted for having the surgery done lol. Heck, the days before my surgery I had contemplated calling and canceling my surgery I was so scared. But I am SO happy I got the surgery done. And you will too. And yes, keep reminding yourself that once you're over the worst part, it will all be up hill and you will love not having those little annoying and painful things anymore! :)  This pain is only temporary. All the pain we were having before surgery, well, they would have been permanent. I'll check on you again soon!

Good of you to be considerate of hubby even through so much pain. Hopefully you won't need the ER. So far with the exception of your back pain from anesthesia, your recovery sounds pretty typical. Hang in there. Take it minute by minute, hour by hour. I know it's mentally exhausting too especially with the sleep deprivation. My sleep deprivation started a few days pre-op from hems pain and lasted until maybe 2 or 3 days post-op. Even after 3 days, it was hard to get more than 4 or 5 hours a night, but it was better than 15 to 30 minutes. During the first week I often fell asleep in the tub, which was the only place where the pain went to a more manageable level. There are a lot of dangers associated with sleeping in a bathtub with narcotics in your system (Elvis and Whitney come to mind). I'm not recommending you or anyone else do that. I'm just relaying my experiences.

Day 2: Thank you for the posts. I have read them over and over today. I have started this post several times now and for some reason it will disappear for no reason. Not sure what is going on.

I took the hydrocodone I had at home for most of the day. The surgeon called in a stronger prescription of Lortab but my husband had to wait until after work to pick it up. That has helped. I think I am making a mistake at trying to take the minimum amount and need to focus on better pain management. Still trying to figure out what is best after the terrible, terrible experience with Percocet yesterday/last night. Adding in Advil has also been a big help. I've been taking 400 mg every 4 hours. I hope that's not too much. The surgeon said I could do 800 mg every 8 hours but my stomach won't tolerate that large of a dose all at once, so I'm splitting it up. I sometimes have stomach trouble with NSAIDS after a few days so I will see how long I can take them.

I pooped 3 times today. They were fairly soft. Not well formed poops, but I think they count, right? It was painful, especially afterwards, and the tub did help. I was not able to poop in water. Every time I tried, the process just stopped. I guess I have something in my head about going in water or something. So I did it without the water and then got into the tub as soon as I could. I watched some stand up comedy on Netflix to try and distract me. I think having better pain management is going to be necessary to help with the BMs. I have just been afraid to take the full dose today because of fear of constipation, but when the pain gets bad the idea of a BM is unbearable.

I am eating fruits - apples, kiwi, some prunes and grapes - eating whole grain, drinking lots of water. I was nauseous today some so I ate crackers and applesauce and had some ginger ale. I had kale and brown rice for dinner tonight. So I'm not eating a liquid diet or anything and the BMs are soft. I guess that is as it should be. ??

The spinal block location is still bothering me. The anesthesiologist called me from her home this afternoon to check on me, and she gave me her home number in case I need to call her at anytime. I thought that was pretty nice of her. Most surgeons/doctors can't be bothered. She was very caring. She said that based on what occured during the attempt, she does not think it is permanent nerve damage which is very rare but is possible. She feels that it will resolve. I have numbness and tingling on both sides of the back on each side of the site and discomfort. It's hard to tell how much discomfort with all the pain meds, and I can't lie on my back at all. I am really, really hoping it does resolve on its own. She encouraged me not to worry and just to focus on taking care of myself.

I was able to get some brief periods of rest today. The new med helps with that. Thank goodness.

I have a few questions. Do any of you ever dab (NOT RUB) with a Tucks after a BM just to try and catch any larger pieces before you get into the tub? Also, what has been your experience of BMs getting more firm as you go along? Is it okay to have them be soft and sort of mushy instead of well-formed at this point? (Thinking of avoiding stenosis - I'm sure the soft is better for pain levels!)

My surgeon didn't want to prescribe a numbing cream. He didn't think it would help and could irritate that area since I had reactions to a few creams the other week with the flare up. He is probably right on that one. I seem to be developing allergies and sensitivities at record rates the older I get. Geesh.

Well, I am going to try and soak one more time before bed I think. I appreciate your posts and have read them over and over today for encouragement. It really does help so much. You all kept me sane last night and early this morning, especially. I'm looking forward to being a few months out so I can return to encourage others.

 

I just wanted to share that I did not wake up my husband last night. He is a great guy and a wonderful support. I know if I needed him, he would have gotten up without complaint and taken me to the ER. But he still is recovering from his own surgery and I would rather not have to bother his rest unless absolutely necessary. If I hadn't had any hydrocodone at all, I probably would have had no choice. Thank goodness for having that around! 

 

congrats on having and surviving your first BM!  :-)  

Also, soft and mushy BMs is exactly what you want. You're not going to get anal stenosis from not having well formed BMs--ever. Did your surgeon tell you stenosis might happen if you don't have well formed BMs? If that's the case, then take his advice. I asked my surgeon about this issue, and he said it's not possible. He told me stenosis comes from too much of the hemorrhoid tissue being cut out. Hemorrhoids are what helps the anal sphincter contract and relax. Without them, you'd not be able to open your anus much at all. As long as only the pathological parts were cut out, you should be okay.

Day 3. I am pretty nauseous this morning. I also had bleeding this morning. I think the bleeding is the NSAID because this is typical for me if I take too much of Advil. My hems always bled if I took too much Advil, for example. I think the nausea is the Loratab. It's been rough trying to manage pain with all  the side effects I'm experiencing.

Hey...congrats on the first BM. I couldn't wipe for a week or more so Sitting in a sitz bath was how I kept clean and I had some brown bits settle in the water. As the days went on, less blood was in the water. Two days after surgery I also got my period so that wasn't fun. ARe you bloated? I sent you an email. Did you get it in your inbox? Check under the my profile tab. Hope you are better today. Soft is good!

Had another BM today. Not fun but I am trying to focus on being thankful that I am not constipated!  Still nauseous but that has improved a little. I think it is the Lortab. Called my dr earlier but haven't heard back so I am going to try again.

Soaking does help, more than it has the past 2 days. And having a laptop to be distracted with while soaking helps too. I have been watching some stand up comedy. Not sure I am laughing any, but I think what helps most is how unpredictable the routine is. It keeps my mind busy. I have discovered Eddie Izzard, who I had never heard of before. Watching him on Netflix.

I have a question for you all. I had some light bleeding earlier, which I think was the Advil. So I have not taken anymore of that. I did have a small blood clot at my last BM. Nothing horrendous. Is that okay? Should I worry?

There is so much they don't tell you!!!!!! If it weren't for this board and knowing some of what to expect I would be a worried, freaked out, anxious mess - well, okay, I am all of that, but I would be 1000000% times worse!

Soar, I sent you a message back. Thanks!