If you need to have this surgery... Keep in mind that everyone has different pain thresholds, different size hemorrhoids and different amount of hemorrhoids. Everybody's experience is different!
Prior to my surgery I read so many different forums and to be honest it scared the life out of me and I think it made everything much worse. So if you are reading this, I will be as real as possible but not with the intention of trying to scare you. Please remember your case will be different so hope for the best.
I first noticed my internal hemorrhoid about 10 years ago and my local GP said don't worry about it and it will go away by itself use this cream. On the occasion it would bleed but never hurt... Over the years it got bigger and for the last 2 years, I would have to push it back inside after going to the toilet, which would classify it as a level 2 or level 3 hemorrhoid. Late last year it started to hurt when I sat on a chair which was strange and was bleeding more frequently, so I decided to see a different GP. He suggested I see a specialist...
The specialist had a look and straight away said banding would not work as I had left it too long and it was too big and that I would need to get it cut out. After reading on forums how painful it was and the recovery time, my heart dropped immediately. The surgeon said it is going to hurt a lot, so think carefully if I want to go through with it and when, as I would need at least 2 weeks off work. Being a professional boxer I have never been afraid of pain but was more concerned about my training routine. He said no boxing for about a month and wait 2 weeks before returning to gym just no heavy squats. I agreed on the spot to do it asap. He suggested I stay overnight due to the pain...
Post operation: Everything I had read said that the first bowel movement is the worst so when I had to go at 3 am I was mentally prepared to feel razor blades come through me. However, because of the pain medication I was on and inflammation there was no pain at all just a lot of blood. While at home for the next 3 days it was still pain free and thought I had escaped the pain.
Day 4 and 5 = I was wrong... The pain wasn't so much during the bowel motion it was immediately after. It hurt so much I couldn't scream or cry. The pain would last about a minute then go away like nothing happened. The mix of emotions was almost comical.
From Day 6 on the pain gradually disappeared. Due to the discharge I did get bad 'nappy rash' but overcame this by blotting regularly.
It has been 2.5 months since the operation and I occasionally get little dots of blood on the toilet paper but my surgeon said this is normal and takes time...
Reflecting back on it... It is normal to google things but I made this operation worse by reading horror stories... I should have perhaps seeked another opinion and not just trusted my GP that it will go away by itself. Also... It was only really about 8 minutes of pure hell of pain I experienced and the fact that I don't have to push the hemorrhoid back in after every bowel movement and buy expensive creams and wonder if this trip to the toilet will be a lot of blood... It was worth doing...
I hope this helps people who have to have this surgery.. Just remember for every horror story and people saying don't do it there are lots of people who haven't told their positive stories :)
