Hemorrhoidectomy countdown

Digestive health
1

41 year old male. Had piles on and off since I was 15 (damn exam stress). Last year things got worse, explosive toilet sessions, blood everywhere... Decided to go see my GP, it was a new doctor, heard my symptoms and immediately referred me to a hospital. A few months later, saw the conflating (nice chap) and advised to go for the chop.

was due to have a pre-op on 22nd Feb but they had a cancellation so moved my procedure to 11th!

is there anything I can do to prepare myself in the remaining few days?

2

Hello I'm sorry I can't help re op because I haven't had it done but maybe you could help me please. I've had piles since having children .....47 years ago. Recently I have been having them pretty badly and I'm cracking up thinking all sorts. Cancer for one! Toilet episodes are horrendous but I didn't know piles could be to blame! They're just as u described. I have severe health anxiety which makes it impossible for me to go to doc! Stupid?. You're right it is! I'm feeling stupid typing this but I need to know that maybe what I'm experiencing is not terminal! I would be extremely grateful for any info. Tia. 

3

I too was worried about it being the big C, but felt a huge relief after a blood test showed nothing sinister. My friend nagged me for years to go to the doc's as she has a similar condition but I kept putting it off, until it got so bad that pretty much every visit was a blood bath. When it just kept dripping like a tap for 20 minutes, with no sign of stopping - that's when I made the choice to bite the bullet and go to the doctors. I'd been a few weeks earlier and was prescribed suppositories but they didn't do anything. This was a different doctor and I explained my symptoms and they immediately referred me to a consultant. The loss of blood, the fact it was happening when I wasn't on a toilet probably convinced her. Maybe it was because she was a woman doctor rather than a male and had more empathy, I don't know. I'm glad that it is being taken seriously (which was one of my worries in the first place) but a bit nervous having read lots of horror stories on the net. There are a few good stories though, I suppose those who have the op and it goes OK for, don't feel the need to complain on the web or seek advice.

If there is blood, spattered all over the pan, a drip, drip of blood for a few minutes after, it may well be internal hemorrhoids. There was never any pain with the passing of blood. Just an ache from the swollen external one after the bowel movement. Then I'd need to sit a warm bath for an hour and then lie down in bed on a hot water bottle (sitting on one now)

If you can force yourself to the doctors, be honest with them about the situation (hopefully you'll have a good doctor like I did the 2nd time around) then the process of fixing it can start. We all have internal hemorrhoids, but some of us have bigger ones that pose problems. I just hope I've got there before I needed a colostomy bag or something similar.

Good luck with your situation and I hope you get the treatment to let you live your life to the full.

Callum

4

Thank you sooooo much for your reply. Can I please ask you if piles affected your bowel movements? I always feel something is "blocking" mine. I'm smiling that I can be having this conversation with a stranger but who knows about these things if they haven't suffered? I wish you well with your op. Please kp us updated! 

5

The piles affected my bowel movements in as much when I strained in the movement (due to some food stuffs affecting me, probably a sort of IBS), they swelled up. Then it feels as though you need to keep having a poo, due to the swollen hemarrhoid feeling like a stool that needs to pass, so you keep straining, but nothing comes out apart from hemarrhoid and blood. A bit of a vicious circle. I'm slowly re-training myself in terms of going to the toilet. A year ago I would be going about 5 times a day, now I've got it down to once or twice. I've also managed (through my diet) to alter the stool consistency, from a mousse like stool, to one that actually maintains its shape.

I'm quite enjoying talking about it online, wife doesn't like the topic of conversation. A lady I knew as a cleaner about 13 years ago had the operation and told me it changed her life for the better. Fingers crossed it happens to me.

Tuesday is my pre-op, lets hope I pass it.

Callum

6

Callum you,lol never know how much you've helped me!! Thank you! You've described what's happening to me to a tee! I particularly like the mousse description! Lol. My partner is the same as your wife! He won't listen . Just keeps saying to go to doc. This would be the sensible thing to do I know but try telling an arachnophobe  that a tarantula is their new best friend!!! The anxiety invoked is crippling! Also the constant need to "go". I'm sure it was more than piles disabling though they are! once again thank you sooooo much for helping put my mind at ease and also the very very best of luck for your op. I hope someone can give you the answers you're looking for at the mo and I.ll keep an eye open for your post saying how it went. Be prepared........I'm sure I.ll have more questions for you.! I sincerely hope you don't mind. You've helped so much. Thank you a million times. Elizabeth. 

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Callum you,ll never know how much you've helped me! I particularly liked the mousse description! Lol. What did you change in ur diet? My partner is the same as your wife! He won't talk about it and just tells me to go to doc. That would be the sensible thing to do but it's like telling an arachnophobe that a tarantula is their new best friend! The anxiety is crippling! Everything you've said I can apply to myself but be prepared!!!! I..ll probably ask you more questions! I sincerely hope you don't mind! I hope you can get answers to some of the questions you're asking just now. Once again the very best of luck with pre op and subsequent operation. I will keep an eye out for posts. You're a star for taking the time to reply. Thanks a million! Elizabeth

8

Hello,

Is you pre-op or your procedure on 11th?

You don't need to prepare for the pre-op, that will just be a million questions and a blood test.

For the procedure, make sure you drink plenty of fluids and take ducasate. The hospital might say 2 a day but you can actually take 2 twice a day if required to get your movement soft. You don't want it to be runny, but the softer it is the easier it will be to pass and the less you will need to strain. I use a 750ml bottle to drink from and made sure I emptied it twice a day plus a glass of water with each meal.

I prepared for mine by having homemade smoothies everyday for a week before (and several weeks after) with flax seed, pumpkin seeds and goji berries to increase soluble fibre in my diet. I also bought liquid iron supplements to try and help me not be so tired from the blood loss.

The other thing that really helped me was getting a sitz bath. It's like a child's toilet seat with a sold bottom that you can put in the toilet and fill with hot salty water after each bowel movement. It keeps keep it clean and is really soothing. I'd have one at least 4 times a day even without a bowel movement.

Also buy a child's toilet step or use something similar (I had a little pouffe) to raise your feet when you have a bowel movement. Lean forward and try not to strain at all as this will minimalise pain and straining for a fast recovery.

Buy some special incontinence wipes to clean yourself rather than using tissue. It does a better job, keeps it clean and is much less painful.

Also get some thick incontinence pads. This will help keep it dry, stop and leaks as you will spot blood for a couple of weeks and it will also help pad your bottom for comfort.

I also bought a doughnut inflatable cushion which helped on my journey home going over speed bumps etc when I left the hospital but it was embarrassing to take around and also put pressure on my bottom. I then got a cheap aeroplane neck cushion with polystyrene balls in it and used this to sit on. It was really useful to take out and about too.

Lastly, get a hot water bottle. It helped me relax if I had a bowel movement right before bed.

You'll probably get paracetamol, ibuprofen and dyhydrocodeine from the hospital. The dyhydrocodeine causes constipation so try to take it for as little time as you can. It also causes nausea for the first day or so and I found I struggled to eat much for a day or two. The amount of ibuprofen you need can cause stomach problems so I ordered gastrozyme from nutri-link to stop the effects. It makes your stools green so don't be alarmed!

Lastly, I prepared a few meals and put them in the freezer. I got an organic chicken and roasted it then put the carcass (not stripped too much) in the slow cooker for 24 hours with a few drops of cider vinegar to help break it down. I then strain out the bones added onion, carrots, some of the chicken, Rosemary, thyme and a little potato and let it cook for a few more hours then cooled it, blended half of it and dropped it back it then portioned it up in old soup pots and stuck it in the freezer. The bone broth is supposed to be really good for healing but also it was easy to eat, easy to prepare afterwards, easy on the stomach, easy to pass and fairly bland so still edible if you feel nauseous.

Also, stewed apples with live yogurt and a big spoon of flax seed is a tasty treat and easy to eat etc.

In terms of exercise, I didn't do much but found I could walk for about 30 minutes daily. This helped with bowel movements too. I walked 2 hours on one day about 10 days after and found this too much but I'm sure everyone is different.

I know this is a lot of stuff and can sound like a lot of work but it isn't really and helped me so much. There are many horror stories on here and it's true that it's not a nice experience but I haven't suffered anywhere near as much as some of the people on here and my bleeding stopped after 2 weeks which is pretty good.

I'm now 4 weeks post op and feel pretty good although I'm still tired and a bit slow, but I've had daily bowel movements (apart from one day post op) and I seem to be healing well.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

9

Just a small extra note!

You're going to be really sleepy for a few days from the general anaesthetic and as healing takes a lot of energy!

Make sure you have somewhere comfortable to hide and don't feel guilty for sleeping so much.

10

Thanks for the advice Ouchies. I'm drinking plenty of liquids and eating plenty of bran in preparation for this first bowel movement after the op...

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I'd be careful with bran as it's insoluble fibre and might cause quite bulky bowel movements. Fruit and fibre made my haemoroids unbearable. I kept eating it as I didn't realise and it ultimately lead me to decide to have the surgery.

It was only in my research after that I realised this which is why I switched to flax seed in smoothies and on stewed Apple as this is soluble fibre and makes the bowel movements soft without the turbulence!

12

Cheers, I took on the bran as I was fed up of having poos with the texture of whipped cream and needed the bulk to try and form a solid. How about bananas?

13

Bananas would be good but I'd really get ground flax seed to put on your food. Two tablespoons of flaxseeds contains about 5g of fiber which is1/4 of your RDA. The fiber found in flaxseeds provides food for friendly bacteria in your colon that can help cleanse waste from your system. It is 50% soluble and 50% insoluble fibre so will help get you to the right consistency.

Too much insoluble fibre is going to make your bowel movements really painful and won't allow you to heal quickly.

Once you are taking dyhydrocodeine and iron supplements (I'd buy these and take them on the days you bleed) you will become more constipated as the drugs slow your intestines in allowing your bowel movement to absorb water so it is going to firm up anyway.

The hospital will also give you laxatives but I did not take these as they can really unbalance your gut, ridding it of good bacteria but with the flax seed I never really needed to. There was one or two painful hard ones after I'd taken the dyhydrocodeine so I increased my dulcosate dosage and tried to drink more on the days I was taking the dyhydrocodeine and iron.

If your bowel movements are fairly turbulent I would definitely urge you to buy a sitz bath. I got mine on Amazon next day delivery to make sure I had it in time and it really was a life saver. Sometimes I would get muscle spasms and the bath and a hot water bottle were the only things that helped it relax.

14

Passed the pre-op. All systems go for Thursday. Have bought stool softener, squatty potty, flax seeds, vitamins and cod liver oil for after the op. Annoying thing is, bottom seems to be behaving itself now!

15

Hiya that's Sod's law for you! Won't be long till it's all over! I envy you actually. Still trying to get my head round going to docs! Did you ever have to take iron for blood loss?  What did you do to "firm up" bowel movements? What stool softeners did you buy?  What have you done this time to make your bottom behave? Just think very soon you will have a life after piles! Lol. You just might be the one to persuade me........after a couple of months tho!!! How you feeling about the op? E. 

16

Great! Good for you. Did you buy the sitz bath too or does the squatty potty double as this?

It's good that it's calm at the moment (the calm before the storm?) as you'll be having surgery when it's not angry which might make it less painful. It's possibly better if you're drinking plenty of fluids too which shows this helps so keep it up post surgery so it never comes back.

Try and relax and stay calm. It is going to hurt but I found it very manageable with the pain killers and diet improvements.

They will also give you a local anaesthetic while you are under which lasts 24 hours and really helps! They offered me oral morphine as soon as I was awake and I accepted and this took the sting out until I went to sleep again.

I'd suggest popping out your pill dosage before you go to sleep on your bedside table with a glass of water beside them so you can easily take them in the night if you wake up. If you have to fiddle around with the packets it might wake you up more and then keep you awake when you just want to go straight back to sleep.

I forgot if I said to get some wipes too so you don't have to use tissue for a while. Make sure they're not perfumed and as natural as possible.

Good luck for Thursday.

17

Well, the countdown is well and truly on. Nil by mouth now (and really thirsty but want to be clear for the anaesthetic). I've got everything ready, bath, potty, wipes, flax seeds, stool softener. Not going to be able to sleep though I guess.

as for firming my stools up, I found that eliminating meat and processed food helped a little. The big game changer for me was my packed lunch at work. Bananas, dry white bread toast and raw veg. It just seemed to make them less moussy and more in the middle of the Bristol scale.

Also have tried the squatty potty. Feels odd, but last two BM have been perfect. Why it is suddenly behaving I don't know.

ill start a new thread possibly and give a day by day account of the aftermath of the op.

bye for now.

18

Hiya sorry it's late but I do hope you get this before your op! Just think.......tomorrow at some point you will be pile free!!! Lol. I wish you the very best and hope everything goes perfectly! I.ll look forward to your posts. Get well soon. E. 

19

Good luck and sleep well!

Let me know how you get on.

20

All done. Will start a new thread for the post op