Swelling and Pain After Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery

Finally a dr called me back. The doctor on call is not the same surgeon that did my surgery. He said I was "stuck" in terms of pain medication. There isn't anything else I can take due to allergies/reactions I have had in the past, and that I definitely must be on a pain medication. I was like "duh." So he is calling in a prescription for phenergan. Don't know when the pharmacy will have it filled. I am so nauseous. It is miserable on top of the butt pain and the back pain. I feel so awful!

I had no bleeding or leakage the first 2 days. Then day 3 I got both. I bled so much from my hems I wasn't too worried when I saw a lot of blood in the toilet after surgery. All was expected. Blood volume decreased for me every day. I don't think it was related to NSAIDs (in my case) because I didn't really alter my NSAIDs consumption from day 1 to 14.

Congrats on getting past your first bm! I went for almost three weeks without wiping bc it still hurt. I used the sitz bath to clean and then after that I would get in the shower. I was fortunate to not have big pieces to clean off. Must were small that ended up at the bottom of the sitz bath. I'm almost at my fourth week after surgery and my poos are still very soft but that's bc I've been downing prune juice and eating a lot of foods with fiber in addition to taking stool softener pills that my dr prescribed and milk of magnesia that I got from the store. I feel like it's kind of overkill but it has been working for me. The thought of having a regular poo still scares me! Mine have been like soft serve. Bleeding in my poo stopped about a week ago. I have had leakage the entire time but it is almost gone now and my pain is minimal at this point. I know what you mean by so much that they don't tell you. I found myself panicking frequently bc I didn't know if this was normal or that was normal. I'm sorry your back has been bothering you. I hope that gets better.

Btw I'm the same person as PainInTheA$$. I wrote a post to you from my phone and I had problems logging in so it made me post as a guest and I didn't realize that until the end. You're probably wondering who meganwu is and why she's writing to you when you haven't even talked to her lol.

That's so weird that somehow I'm logged in now as PainInTheA$$ and not as a guest (meganwu) anymore! Sorry for the confusion! Anyway, I hope your days will get better and better!

Day 4:  What a day so far. I am going to try and time my meds better. It's been so rough with the nausea and other reactions that I've just been taking it when I can. So that meant a does of Advil at 2 am and Hydro at 5 am. Both times I wound up having to go poo. Now this was soft little plops of poo. But still painful and not fun in the middle of the night. The last one hurt so much I couldn't make it back upstairs so I just collapsed on the futon downstairs. I guess I should say that our upstairs bathroom doesn't have a tub - there is a toilet, shower, and sink, but no tub so I try not to poo up there!  I have to make it down the stairs and by then it's really ready. I know this is TMI, but when you're going through this, talking  like this is par for the course! Then at 9 am I had my first real BM. It was like a regular BM - well formed but mostly soft and lots and lots of it. I was moaning and groaning something fierce like I was in childbirth. And so much pain! It was horrific. There is no other way to say it. I am glad that I only this surgery because I had no other choice. I would not recommend it for reasons of vanity or just because hems are annoying. I am still fearful of the next BMs. Can anyone remind me about how long it is until they are not excrutiating like this?

One of the hardest parts of this surgery recovery, I think, is that it is so extended. It seems to take forever, and it's a part of your body that you have to keep using. I will say that my spinal disc fusion in 2004 was still worse. It was riskier and more dangerous and took me 6 months to recover with lots of physical therapy. But the intensity of the  pain with BMs with this surgery does take the cake.

The nausea is still a big problem. My husband went to pick up the phenergen yesterday but the pharmacy was closed by the time the dr even called it in. He went today and the pharmacist said they could not fill it because the dosage he left doesn't exist. What a nightmare!  So I had the hospital page him a while ago to call the pharmacy. They told me to wait and hour and check with the pharmacy and if they hadn't heard anything, I am to call the hospital back to page him. How does a surgeon call in a prescription and manage to make it a dose that does not exist? I am feeling very frustrated with all of this.

I was sipping lots of ginger ale yesterday for the nausea. Note to self: do not drink carbonated beverages as they make gas very bad. Gas is painful and makes me feel like I have to have a BM so I am in and out of the bathroom and not sure. I found some hard ginger candies to suck on instead. Not the same but preferable to the gas.

My back seems to be a little better. I think. It is hard to tell with the pain meds, but I'm hoping.

Oh and the surgeon did tell me to keep taking the Advil. He said 800 mg every 8 hours. Even if it increases bleeding. He said I would have bleeding anyway and that I need to be taking something for the swelling and pain more than just the Lortab. So I have added Advil back in. It does help with the pain.

I am tired of hurting and wanting to just get to the point where the BM pain is not so excruciating.

 

Thank you for the posts, Pain. I have had similar experiences trying to log in on my cell phone. Thank you for sharing that things do get better. I think the pain mentally just wears you down, as well as physically.

I'm so sorry to hear about all the frustration with trying to get your meds. I hope they get it all figured out soon so you can get some relief. Oh my gosh I went through the same thing with being so gassy all the time and having to run to the toilet thinking I was having to poo but would turn out to be a false alarm. And yup, every time I had gas it would hurt a lot, but as soon as it was out I felt relief. As far as my experience goes, my bm's started to hurt less after a week and a half. There was still pain but far less after that point. I agree with you that this surgery is definitely for cases that are severe or like unbearable and not for cases of vanity. For me, it was definitely the worst pain I have ever experienced. I've had many surgeries of different kinds one of which included removing 2 bunions on both feet (that supposedly is one of the most painful procedures to recover from). The kind of pain I experienced with bm's post surgery I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. But I am past that point and you will get there sooner than you think! But I was totally feeling the same way about why it was taking so long and kept thinking to myself can I really handle another bm without screaming?? I feel for you but know that relief is just right around the corner! :)

It is really helping to know you all are here. I don't know what I would do without knowing there was someone out there who understood and could offer support. I can't imagine getting through this without it. It helps to know you are not alone. It helps to know others have experienced this and survived. It helps to know what is "normal." It helps to know that it will get better.

I can understand now why some people wrote about feeling traumatized about BM's.  I can see how this could really affect you for a long time to come!

I emailed you back before reading here. I did have a small clot on my first BM and the dr. said that it was ok. I had slight bleeding with BM upto about 6 weeks after but it got less and less. I used baby wipes to wipe but not till about 1 or 2 weeks after and make sure you keep the area dry as I think I got a diaper rash from not drying so make sure you pat the cheeks and air dry a bit.

went up and read some more of your posts. FEAR was the worst. I was afraid to poo. I was afraid to leave the house. I wore adult diapers for the first few times I went out. I joked with my sister that I had developed poopophobia. The pain leaves you exhausted both physically and mentally. I remember thinking...why did I do this. If I had known I would have left things be and just dealt with them. But now that 2 and 1/2 mos. have gone by, I am glad it is over with. My butt doesn't look the same but I don't have to push the hems back in after every BM like before. Now I just have left over bits as I call them. Skin tags is what the surgeon called them. Maybe one day I will get up enough courage to have them removed but right now, I don't care what my butt hole looks like. I can wait thank you very much. I didn't realize that ADVIL makes one bleed. HMM? Each BM got a little bit easier each time, but I remember thinking, how the heck is it going to heal in there if I keep having poo scrape by it. But the body does eventually heal. So hang in there...and I recommend the sitzs bath tub that sits on the toilet seat. Lift the seat and it fits right in. That way you don't have to run downstairs to the bathtub. I had a pitcher and just filled it up with warm/hot water. Easy peasy. What about Gravol, doesn't it help with the nausea?

That is excellent advice, soar. It's important to keep that area dry. I developed a diaper rash too as I was not good about keeping that area dry bc it hurt to the touch! I didn't want to pat it dry let alone rub anything near it! I found that blow drying the area helped greatly! Wow, you had bleeding even up to 6 weeks? My bleeding subsided after 2 weeks and even at that point I thought that was a long time to bleed and was worried but everything turned out ok. I just went to the bathroom and it hurt today. I still have bm's that are painful sometimes but not unbearable. Other times there wouldn't really be any pain. I have found though that I'm trying to push again and that is not good!! I reeeally don't want those things coming back and will try my best to keep that from happening. I read somewhere that 5 in every 100 ppl have their hems come back. If I ever have them again, well, they're welcome to stay because I'm never going through this again!! Lol

Breeze-- is it getting any better by now? If I remember correctly, the post-BM pain on day 4 was just as intense as days 1-3, but it didn't last as long. There's never TMI when it comes to this type of recovery   ;-)

I will reply to your posts a little later when I can. I just have a quick question. Starting yesterday evening, it feels like something is coming out of my anus and that feeling doesn't go away. I think I remember reading that others had that feeling and it is normal. I'm trying not to worry. But I have been worrying about whether I did something? It started right after a BM but I don't think I did any straining.

Anyway, Day 5. The surgeon told my husband (while I was in recovery) that most people experience a peak in pain on Day 5. Was that your experience?

 

I do let myself air dry most of the time. I got some large bed pads and put them down under me for any drainage so that I don't have to wear anything against the skin during the day. Just lettin' it all hang out! haha But really, it feels better to let it get some air.