Swelling and Pain After Hemorrhoidectomy Surgery

Thanks for the encouragement, Archer! I hope the party is awesome!

 

Hi Breezie, pain in the ar$$, ocean archer and others,

I made one post on the other thread a couple of weeks ago, and have not got back to you till now, although I have been reading your posts and keeping up to date with your progress. My haemorrhoidectomy was 4 weeks ago (tomorrow) and I would say I am about 70% recovered now. I went back to work after 3 weeks, and was really nervous due to the pain and also urgency of BMs (I catch a train to work and was terrified I would get the urge on the train, but so far this hasn't happened). Everyone at work has been telling me how drained I look, and one man in his 70's even suggested I get the bags under my eyes fixed! (of course he doesn't know the trauma I have been through in the last few weeks). Anyway, I survived last week at work. However, I was getting up at 5.30 am so that I would have time to get all the bathroom stuff done before I left for work, so the days were long and tiring. After all the trauma, my body is exhausted, so working for the week made me extra tired. I found that sitting on a small hot water bottle, which I take with me, is really soothing, and I would recommend this. If anyone mentions it, I just say it is for my bad back. Like some of you, I can't seem to get regular with my BMs as yet. I cut out all the laxatives and metamucil 2 weeks ago, as I was going to the toilet about 6 times a day, which was excessive. Even now, I go at least twice, and today it has been 5 times. I think my bowel is having spasms like someone else mentioned. Anyway, it is nowhere near as painful as it was, although still not pain-free. And afterwards, I feel an uncomfortable feeling of pressure for a while, but not bad pain like before. This operation almost causes a post-traumatic stress disorder!! At least thats how I feel, and judging by what you all write, it sounds much the same. I am writing from Australia, but I gather you guys are in the US - is that right? But I feel we have a lot in common now! Well, best wishes for continued recovery to you all.

Hello Aussie! I'm sorry to hear you're still having pain. I don't think doctors are very forthcoming about the pain and how long it may last. Everyone is different, it seems, and they should allow more for those of us who take longer than others. I can imagine the anxiety about the train ride and not wanting to have BMs at work or have more than 1 or 2 a day. You are indeed right - I think this does create a post traumatic stress disorder, or at least similar symptoms. Maybe acute stress disorder would be more accurate.

I am at Day 18. I am having 3-4 BMs a day with no laxatives or stool softeners. I didn't take Metamucil yesterday - still had that many BMs and not as soft so I added the Metamucil back in today. I am having a lot of spasms after the BM. Passing the BM is somewhat painful but not too terrible, but immediately after the BM passes I start having the painful spasms. Is this normal? Does anyone know? The most intense pain lasts for about 30 minutes and then continued pain for an hour or two afterwards. I see the surgeon on Thursday for a checkup and I'm anxious that he will think I am just making it all up in my head and not let me stay off work longer. My time off is unpaid, but I don't want to go back until I am absolutely ready. My job is just too demanding to go back and be in pain.

Every day I get up I am hopeful for less pain. Still waiting! I worry that the 4-5 days of diarrhea either just set me back (which I could be okay with if it gets better) or caused some other problem (which is what freaks me out).

I also realize that I just seem to take longer to get over things. And I tend to have more problems with things than doctors typically expect. I had back surgery in '04 and was out of commission for 6 months. I had whiplash after a car accident in '10 and only finished up PT right before this surgery. I just don't feel like I can take an extra long time to recover from this surgery since I need to work and I do a lot of sitting!

I am in the US.  And yes, I think this operation does give us all alot in common!

I hope you keep healing well. And I hope you are able to get some rest to rejuvenate yourself.

Hi. I'm just wondering if it is "normal" to still have pretty bad pain/spasms after a BM, with some bleeding. I'm at Day 18 (about 2 1/2 weeks). I guess I am fearful that all that diarrhea gave me a fissure or something. My anxiety is getting the better of me.

This morning was awful, awful, awful. This evening's BM wasn't as painful but had more bleeding and itching.

It is pathetic that doctors do not prepare us more for what is "normal" and what is not!!!!! 

Hi Breezy,
Well from my experience, I think it is "normal" as that is exactly what I have been experiencing. I am at Day 28 today! It is much much better than it was a week ago. My BMs were uncomfortable, almost like bearing down to deliver a baby, but the pain worsened afterwards, as you have found. It seemed to reach a peak over the next few hours, then slowly die down, so about 6 hours after a BM, I was just about pain-free, but exhausted from battling the pain. I was also having multiple BMs a day, so every time I visited the bathroom, the whole cycle started all over again. About a week ago, I started taking paracetemol/codeine tablets for pain (not sure what the American equivalent is), but also to reduce my frequency of BMs. The codeine constipates you somewhat whcih is why the doctors prefer you don't take it, but I figured no one needs to go 6 times a day! So taking them reduced my BMs to twice a day most days, which is much more manageable, especially if you have to go to work. I also try to drink 8 glasses of water, to help keep it a bit soft. I also agree that with this operation, recovery is 2 steps forward, and then 1 step backwards. You have a better day and think things are improving, and then the next day you are in pain again. So i would say, measure your progress weekly, rather than daily, and you will see a bigger gain. I am much better this week than I was last week overall. I even had to have a BM at work this morning (my worst nightmare) but survived without screaming, or jumping in the shower afterwards (take wet wipes to work) and am not in much pain now. You will get there too, hang in there.

Aussie, I'm on my cell which isn't the easiest to type on. But I wanted to thank you for your reply. It helps just to be reminded that what I? Experiencing falls in the normal range. I'm also sorry you are having so much pain still. I will write more tomorrow. Be well!

Hi People,

How are you? I got used to pain now and it is far less than what it used to be. Thank you for your help.

Hi there lonely.road. I'm so glad you are doing better!!!  I hope you continue to recover fully and enjoy life again! Good  luck!

 

Hi Aussie. Again, thank you for your post. It really does help to be reminded of what can be "normal."  I have considered taking a pain pill to control the number of BM's but I have so many other issues from those meds that I think it may do more harm than good. I am having 3-6 BM's a day. For instance, last night I woke up at midnight because I had to go! That means, coming downstairs to have the BM and then climb in the tub. It's crazy. I have never been like this in my entire life. And the BM's are soft but formed, not loose at all. It's just weird. I keep thinking that as time goes on maybe I will get back to having a normal BM routine. I hope so! 

Today is Day 19 for me. The pain after BMs is still pretty bad but better if I can keep Tylenol and Advil steady. I can't take too much Advil because it upsets my stomach. The past few nights I hadn't woken up in the night to take the Advil because I have to eat with it. But the pain in the mornings was soooo bad. So last night I did make myself eat something and take one Advil so that it would be in my system for the morning BM and it seemed to help. I've also realized that soaking in the tub is not getting the area clean!  So I am having to use wipes before or after the soak to make sure that it's clean - I'm trying to be very gentle. This has helped with the itching too.

Has anyone noticed that the drainage changed from the greenish/yellowish color to a dark brown? I have been following Archer's advice and trying to dab/wipe every hour or so. I've noticed that whatever is there is dark brown now. I don't know if it is discharge, dried blood, or leaking poop. Gross I know, but I just don't know what it is.

It's Monday morning 8:30 and haven't heard anything from the surgeon yet. They open at 8. I guess I will find out lab results one of these days!!!! No news must be good news.

Archer, Soar, PITA, I hope you are all doing well!  I hope that not seeing you in a few days means that life is going well and you are feeling wonderful!

Hi Breezy,
I'm sorry you are still having so much pain. I found that I didn't really start to improve a lot until about day 21-23, so hopefully in the next few days you will start to feel better. I was also having frequent BMs like you, but now it has reduced to about twice a day, and not very painful either at the time or afterwards. I am at Day 29 now and life is starting to feel normal again. Such a relief because for over 3 weeks I felt like things would never be the same. As far as cleaning, I found that using a warm hand shower straight on the area after a BM, was good, and also soothing. Then try patting dry with a towel, then use a hair dryer on a low, warm setting for a minute or so, to dry the area off completely. The skin around the area had been looking red and yucky before this (probably from all the soaking) but using this method made it pristine again (ha ha). In fact, I'm now wondering if I wasted my money on the surgery to have such a pristine bottom that no one would know about! Maybe I should have spent the money on an eyelift instead and others could have seen the result! But seriously, I'm sure things will get better for you in the next few days. As far as your pain relief, it is better to take it at regular intervals, as you say, rather than wait for the pain to start, otherwise it will have a lesser effect. I am an RN, and this is one of the principles of pain control. So if the Tylenol helps, take it regularly every 6 hours or so whether you have pain or not, rather than waiting for the pain to start (providing it doesn't upset your stomach). If you need to eat first, make sure you do this. Also try sitting on a hot water bottle or hot wheat pack if you have one. Hope this helps a bit. Keep your chin up and I hope you get your results back soon too.

Hi Aussie. Today was a better day than yesterday. I have been taking Tylenol and Advil regularly, alternating. I don't seem to have problems with Tylenol, only Advil. I hate having to wake up in the middle of the night to eat and take Advil, but I found that doing that does help. It helps to keep the med steady in my system rather than let it run out overnight. I was up and about more today as well so maybe that helped. I'm actually having a little more bleeding after BM's than I used to, and I'm hoping that is normal. Nothing terrible, just more than it was. I think I worry most that all that diarrhea I had last week caused some harm, like a fissure. I wish I wasn't such a worry wart!

I love your sense of humor about the eyelift vs butt surgery. haha! 

I never heard anything from the surgeon today so I am just assuming the labs show nothing. Which means it was probably just a virus or possibly just a very bad imbalance of bacteria in my gut that was corrected by taking intense probiotics, plus possibly a nasty cycle that started between the diarrhea and muscle spasms. Who knows! I'm just so glad that is behind me. It was so horrific.

I have yet to look at the surgery area. I have intentionally not looked because right now the image in my mind is probably nowhere near what it really looks like, and if I look I will probably just freak out more. I think I will wait to look until at least after I see the surgeon for my check up on Thursday.

Tomorrow is 3 weeks!  The pain is better than it was - worse in the morning for some reason, better in the evening, and mostly after BMs. I get the little sharp pains that I've seen others describe, sometimes in the middle of the day for no reason, but they usually don't last long. Still having too many BMs in a day - up to 6. Some are more well formed and others are like little plops. I can't figure out how to get things to be more regular and less often. The itching is still there. Also some discharge. I'm not sure how long that will last.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Breezieeee!!! I'm so sorry I've been so MIA lately. I've been a busy little bee since they've given me some assignments again to work on (I stopped working a couple weeks prior to my surgery) and on top of that catching up on grocery shopping, doing a ton of cooking, cleaning and stuff I used to do before my surgery ha! I'm feeling pretty good these days and today is exactly 6 weeks post op! Woo hoo! I've missed talking with you guys!! I got on here a little while ago and have been catching up on all the posts I've missed since I last posted. Breezie I'm glad to hear all the diarrhea is behind you now and seeing how the dr's office didn't immediately contact you for your lab results I guess that's a good thing huh?! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that it was something minor and is gone now forever. I'm sorry to hear you're still having 6 bm's a day. I think it's good that you're controlling your pain well with the Advils and Tylenols even though the Advils are a pain in the butt (ha!) to take with food in the middle of the night :( I'm hoping your bm's will be less frequent soon. As for the brownish color you're seeing, I had that too. I wrote it off as leaky poos because I didn't know what else it was. It didn't last but a week, I think. Week and half tops. I haven't had a bm today and I'm super worried. My bm's still hurt but not too badly, some days worse than others. And there's still blood when I poo. I'm still having to take stool softeners and laxatives to go. Ugh. I tried to wean myself off of them but then I'd feel constipated :( so I'd get right back on them. I emailed my dr earlier to address some concerns I had (taking laxatives for this long, and also blood still present in my stool). We'll see what he says.

Welcome Aussie!! Glad you could join us here on the forum. Yay!! We have a nurse in the house! I'm glad to hear you're doing better and congrats for making it to your 30th day! I think 30th, right? Oh and btw I was doing the exact same thing you were doing...using the hand held shower head and putting it directly on the site to clean it. After washing/showering I'd pat the area (if there wasn't too much pain) then use a hair dryer on low heat. That method worked very well for me too!

Archer, I didn't get a chance (before Saturday) to say have a blast at your son's party! Well I'm sure it was fun and that your little boy was the happiest kid!

Soar, where are yooooou? lol I hope you're doing well.

Lonely, glad to hear you're managing your pain these days. Hope you'll be free from pain soon!

Hi Everyone,

Welcome back Paininthe a$$! So good to hear you are busy again and feeling so good at 6 weeks. You are our role model! Yes I am at 30 days today, and back at work full-time again. I don't work in a hospital, but in an outpatient clinic, so I am not on my feet all day, thankfully. Most days I am OK, but yesterday I had some pain at work, after a hard BM, so I added some prunes, dried apricots and Metamucil back into my repertoire, and today was good again. Like you and Breezie, I also have a bit of discharge and streaky blood on my BMs. The discharge isn't noticeable on my underwear, just when I pat with the tissue, and it is sometimes bloody and sometimes brown.
Re your laxatives, it is fine to take Metamucil every day, but yes ask your doctor about taking the others for so long. I think its probably the lesser of 2 evils at the moment, as you don't want to get constipated and cause pain and problems again. I hope you have had a BM by the time you read this!

How are you today Breezie? Its true, your doctor should have contacted you if there was any problem with your results, so it sounds like no news is good news. Are you still going to the bathroom 6 times a day? Perhaps this is all part of the recovery process, as quite a few of us have had the same problem. I have a couple of theories why this might happen. One is that while the rectum is healing, all the nerve endings are also healing and irritated, and this gives us the feeling that we need to have a BM. (However, the fact that we get the feeling and actually have a BM might mean this theory is wrong!). And I guess the other theory has been said before - that we have a BM, and the pain involved causes us to stop midway, but of course if it is incomplete, we need to go again soon after. I already told you I am a nurse, but I don't specialise in gastrointestinal/colorectal, so my theories are just that!

Well hope you both, and everyone else on this forum continue to improve. Best wishes to you all.

PITA, Congratulations on reaching the 6 week mark!!! What an inspiration! I hope you continue to have improvement with the quality of your BM's and pain reduction. Let us know what your doctor says!  I'm super glad for you that you are back to working and doing things that you want/need to do!!!! yay!!!!!!

Aussie, Congrats on reaching 30 days! I'm glad you are also back at work and doing okay overall. I think your theory about why some of us have so many BM's may be a good one. I really do try to just breathe and relax and let it happen - that has been my motto all along. But I think the body reacts instinctively. However, the past couple of mornings, I am not sure that is what is happening. I have to have a BM as soon as I wake up - I can't hold it. And it is usually a fairly large, but soft and smooth, BM.  Then an hour later I am having another BM which is also usually a good bit, albeit soft and smooth. It's not like they are just little bits. And when I have to go, it is immediate. As in I have to go NOW and can't wait at all. This morning I tried to finish up something I was doing before I went and it was almost an accident before I realized I couldn't hold it!  Very disturbing not to have that control. I am thinking maybe it is just swelling and that it will get better with time. I don't feel I can return to work until I can get some control over my BM's.  There is no way I can just run to the bathroom the minute I feel the urge, and I don't need an accident!  I think it will just take time.

I have another theory that may play a part. I wonder if all the laying around and resting and soaking has loosened up the muscles down there, along with the surgery and swelling, and that things are just really sensitive. I wouldn't mind the frequency of the BM's if a) the urgency was controllable and b) the pain was not there. I'm sure frequency would get annoying, but it may not be as anxiety producing without those 2 factors.

I am eating a high fiber (whole foods, plant based) diet, so that is keeping things smooth. On the Bristol Stool Scale (which I found online yesterday) I am usually around a 4 or 5, and that isn't too bad. I have gone back to taking Benefiber as the Metamucil was giving me stomach pains. I may try it again one more time in a few days as I liked the bulk better, but I may be sensitive to it. (Story of my life!) 

As for my work, I am a licensed professional counselor at a public service agency. I sit a lot and for extended times, with clients. I can't just get an urge to have a BM and up and run out of a session. I also have to be able to sit and be fully present (mentally and physically) with my clients, and if I am in pain or discomfort I worry I won't be able to do my job as required. I also sit in a lot of VERY LONG meetings/hearings in the community and juvenile court where I can't just get up either, not for immediate BM's or for just walking around, and forget about sitting on a hot water bottle or heating pad!  I work with high risk, high needs kids/teens, and I have to be able to do physical interventions if necessary - this is rare, but it is possible. I take all  of this very seriously. I love my job and enjoy what I do, but I am in no hurry to go back before I am really ready. My workplace is great about me being out, but when I go back they want me 100% (for all the reasons I just mentioned). I know that and accept that. I just worry my surgeon (who I see tomorrrow) will not agree to let me be off until I feel I can go back to work when I can really function the way I need to. But I will cross that bridge when I get to it.

I still have some swelling down below, mostly all along the right side of the anus.  It's like a big long bump. I still haven't looked at it. This seems to be the source of most of the pain in between BM's. There is a little tiny bump in the rear part of the anus but it doesn't seem to hurt very much. I have read that many people get this and it will go away eventually, I hope! I can see where it will make things hard to clean if it doesn't, but the pain bothers me more now.

Pain after BM's is better than it was just a few days ago. I still have more pain with the frequent morning BM's, that includes some spasms and the radiating pelvic pain, but the BM's in the afternoon and evening are usually not as bad. That just seems odd to me, but I'm grateful whenever I have a BM and am not in terrible pain!  I'm also sitting more today on a soft pillow, and that is AMAZING!  I'm sitting as much as I can because I'm hoping that it will help get me back to a normal routine with the muscles down there and also I need to know what I can do in terms of sitting for extended times.

Overall, I am better than I was a week ago. Aussie, your suggestion to count weeks instead of days has really helped my mindset. Monday was a good day, Tuesday was bad, today has been better, and I'm trying to remember 2 steps forward, 1 step back and to think in terms of weeks. Great advice!!! I am definitely better than I was a week ago!!!! The bad days are  hard to take because you start to feel better and more hopeful and like, "Wow, maybe I can start to get back to normal" and then Wham, you get hit with a bad day and it is depressing. But my husband also reminded me "You knew this was going to be a long recovery before you went into it. You'll get there."