Hi Cat,
I hope you're continuing to improve! Today is day 7 post-op and I wanted to post an update in case it can help others. Surprisingly enough, day 5 was a tough one emotionally. The burning/stinging while having a bm seemed worse, and I was just tired of the whole thing. Yesterday was much better. Although still painful, the swelling has gone down some, and the area is less sensitive. BMS ares till no walk in the park, but manageable. This morning, I was able to skip the tub soak for the first time. I've been experimenting with s squirt bottle and baby wipes in preparation for returning to work on Monday. As far as diet is concerned, I've decided to stick to my nightly Miralax dose for now. Stools are very soft, but definitely holding their shape. I made a vegetable beef soup yesterday, and it appears the beef was tolerated well. I have a cup of coffee with plenty of fake cream right when I get up, have my bm, then don't eat anything until 2:30, hoping that will prevent additional bathroom trips (trying to time things to my work schedule). We'll see how today goes. I do second guess myself every time I go to the bathroom, wondering if I've emptied my bowels or if there's more to come, since I avoid any straining. Something so basic has become a whole new experience!
I hope you are doing well. Would love an update!
Y
Good Morning Y,
How are you feeling? Have you returned to work? I still have another week off and I'm happy for the time to make sure that things are healed up properly.
I have more or less returned to a normal diet as I feel that I'm quite hungry. I seem to be craving a lot of carbs which I find a bit funny because for the previous couple of months I've done a lower carb diet. I'm still trying to drink a lot of water and I'm continuing on the Miralax. I'm going to slowly cut down on the stool softeners as I think it's time.
I'm really surprised at the changes that have happened in the past couple of days. Yesterday was the first day that I didn't spend any time in bed and was able to do several chores and even venture out of the house. The only challenge left is just dealing with the burning after the bowel movement in the morning. Today the burning only lasted 20-minutes and was relieved by a bath where as yesterday the burning lasted 2 hours and the day before the burning went on between three to four hours.
So sorry to hear that you're regretting the surgery. I'm surprised that your surgeon would perform it if your hemorrhoids weren't causing you significant trouble beforehand. Maybe they wanted to make sure they were taken care of before they got worse with age..? When I first saw my Surgeon 2 years ago they recommended a hemorrhoidectomy right off the bat. I persuaded them to try banding as I knew that I had both internal prolapsing as well as external and wanted to see if the banding would help relieve some of the symptoms. I had read that having internal prolapsing hemorrhoids banded could help resolve external hemorrhoids as it takes some of the pressure off. In my case that's exactly what happened. After two rounds of banding I was left with just the one mixed hemorrhoid that could not be banded. This is the one that I had the hemorrhoidectomy on. It was significantly impacting my quality of life to the point where I couldn't do normal activities without being in pain. Even just regular household chores would cause it to flare up on a daily basis. That's when I decided that enough was enough and chose to have the hemorrhoidectomy.
Maybe once your symptoms have resolved and you can resume your normal activities you won't regret the surgery as much. It's hard to know what the future holds but I have to keep telling myself that this was the right decision.
keep me posted on your progress. I hope today is bringing more recovery to you!!
We must have posted about the same time! I agree what a difference a couple of days can make! So glad to hear you are doing well. I agree about the bathroom times being tough, but like you, they are also improving. I go back to work on Monday and I think I'll be ready by then. I have a desk job, but will be borrowing a standing desk for the next couple of weeks.
Are you taking stool softeners in addition to Miralax? I am quite afraid of constipation, so definitely not back to my regular diet yet, but eating more things. It's funny that I find myself following the "intermitent fasting" diet, not for the purposes of losing weight, but regulating bathroom trips! It would be nice to lose some weight, though, a bonus really.
I am very glad we are able to experience this together. Have a lovely day!
Y
Hiya. Im 4 days post op following 4 haems being removed. So far not as painful as i'd imagined. Only taking ibuprofen lyscine and paracetamol. Got antibiotics too.
I have just posted my experience on the forum.
Hi To ya 77797,
I hope your recovery continues as well as well as it's going so far. Your experience with the banding sounds excruciating!
This is day 9 post-surgery for me, and I do feel better everyday. Barring any setbacks, I feel I'll be ready to return to work Monday, 11 days post-op.
Good luck in your continued recovery.
Hi and thanks for responding! I've just attempted a walk today but turned around as sooo lethargic. Good job i did as i needed to go.....3 days on the trot lol.
Yes, the banding experience was not one I'd ever want again!
Hi Tonya,
wow, your banding experience sounds horrifying! Glad that your hemorrhoidectomy experience so far hasn't been too bad all things considered.
How are you feeling today?
I'm 11 days post op. The past few days it has been a bit of 1 step forward 2 steps back. Still constant aching at the site, with some swelling and BMs are not very comfortable. I was convinced last night that I had developed an external hemorrhoid. Felt exactly like one of those almost pinpoint sized but long and protruding ones and was disproportionately tender for its size.
I may be just doing too much as I am definitely through the worst and am anxious to get on with things. I can see now that the recovery period is going to extend beyond the 2 weeks which is just in another few days. Luckily, I still have another week off of work to have things even more healed.
Keep us posted on your recovery :)
If you're reading this "Y" how are you doing and feeling about your return to work tomorrow?
Hi Cat49131. I'm ok thanks but think one of the sutures came out with a bowel movement. Not unduly worried as I've read that this can occur and not cause problems.
Still uncomfortable, particularly after a BM but not painful as such.
Hi Cat,
I went back to work today and it went well. i ended up having to go twice while at work, but my squirt bottle and baby wipes did the trick. Bms are still uncomfortable, but every day continues to be better, and the stinging/burning is much improved. i am now only taking Metamucyl (once a day), no longer taking miralax nor stool softeners. Still drinking 12+ cups of water per day.
I see my surgeon on Wednesday and I'll ask her more details about my surgery. I'm glad to hear you are continuing to improve. I still have lots of lumps/growths outside my anus but i do hope they'll continue to shrink and eventually disappear.
Hi Y,
Great to hear that you were well enough to return to work today!! Too bad about the BMs but sounds like you were prepared. I'll have to remember my squirt bottle and wipes when I return next week.
Was feeling a little down yesterday with where things were at for me. I was so happy to be over the worst of the pain that when I had a bit of a set back it felt like a leap backwards. Today I seemed to be much improved and have noticed another big decrease in the swelling. I do have a bit of a new symptom though and have been having a bit of a restless leg/buttox feeling on the side that my hemorrhoid was removed. I suspect it's from either internal spasms or from involuntarily tensing up on that side from discomfort. Managed to go for a 20 min walk today and did a bit of yoga so I consider that a win.
Really seeing how this can easily turn into weeks of healing and trying to be mindful that my surgeon did indicate 6 weeks of recovery. One day at a time!!
take care and good luck with your return to work day 2.
Hi Cat,
Walking and yoga are victories worth celebrating! Both can only contribute to the healing process! I'm glad you are feeling better today, but it's understandable that you had a down day.
I hope you continue to improve and feel better every day.