Hemorrhoids Support Group

Hemorrhoids are the swelling and inflammation of veins in the rectum and anus. Two of the most common types of hemorrhoids are external and internal hemorrhoids. External hemorrhoids are those that occur outside of the anal verge (the distal end of the anal canal). They are sometimes painful, and can be accompanied by swelling and irritation.

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npellis 08/15/2007

I had my surgery 6 days ago and wanted to put up some notes for people in the future.
#1 this just plain sucks. It's painful but dont let that stop you if you are having problems! (more details on pain later)
#2 i went with liquid diet 2+ days prior and 5 days after.. what a way to lose weight!! but the first BM was MUCH easier than i expected this way. Protien shakes and soup were my life!
#3 pain killers.. well they didnt really help me, i can still only sleep about 3 hours at a time before they wear off.
#4 start on stool softner RIGHT away!
#5 the unmentionalble!!! - marijuana is the best pain killer in the world. Personally i hate it because of the way it makes me feel. I only smoked once since surgery but i was pain free and slept for about 5 hours.. no locked bowles from that one either.
#6 If you have internal work, they pack you before you leave.. this is NOT traditional gazue. This is dissolving packing. You do NOT have to pass it, given enough time it will dissolve (wish i knew that before).
#7 Back problems - get it under control first.. Go in for steroid injections the week before.. my only regret is i didnt and have combined anal and back problems.. no rest for the pained.
#8 that feeling of gauze or filling after surgery is severe inflammation. take some pain meds and try to drink LOTS of water

At 6 days i'm feeling much better much less pain but i still have problems sleeping.. i'll add more to this in a few days..

I may be slow to respond but i always respond to e-mails .. check out my journal for my pain log on the surgery.

npellis 09/03/2007

Just a little more info. Well the surgery can work. I am a little over 3 weeks out. This was a slow and painful recovery however everything seems to be working quite well. I hope if you have to have surgery you have as much luck as i did with it.

deleted_user 10/01/2007

Thank you for posting this. Very educational. You don't have to answer this... but I am curious. What size warents surgery?? I wish there was something out there.. that gives a guideline for talking with Drs. I am looked on line, but can't seem to find a good site. that describes sizes and relates that to treatments.

npellis 10/20/2007

Thats a good question ugotme42. I went in for the wonderful inspection due to excessive bleeding. I was bleeding several times a week. Size wasnt an issue for me i wasnt uncomfortable. HOWEVER when in dobut have it checked out!! (great i'm rhyming now).. catch it early.. use lasers and bands.. DONT get to the point you need surgery!!

lizgirl 11/01/2007

Your post is a very good description of what to expect. I also took pain medications and it just knocked me out. When I woke up I was feeling pain coming back but it wasn't time to take more medication. I read about cell salts and had some. Instead of taking a particular formula I took a cell salt formula that has all the salts in it. That stuff saved my sanity! It did reduce pain and it also knocked me out for some reason. I was very grateful for trying it.

deleted_user 11/07/2007

I had a complext hemorrhoidectomy on Tue 10/30 - 2 internals banded and external with imbedded skin tag was cauterized. It is 8 days out now. Yes, it was VERY painful, but it needed to be done. 13 years ago when I was pregnant they wanted to do surgery, so here I am now (I was having heavy bleeding, did the colonoscopy, large external with skin tag wouldn't go away and I was getting an infection. It took me 7 1/2 weeks to get into surgery because the gastro guy was a jerk. He told me that I just was too old (48) and he thought I should just live with it. General surgeon took one look and was like you are really sick (this ws on Thursday afternoon and I was in surgery on Tuesday a.m.)

Surgery notes: I also couldn't sleep more than 2 hours at time. Vicodin didn't do much so then I took percocet. Right now I am feeling better, but still very swollen (I am trying to ice it). I am still doint just the protein shakes and soup (great way to diet - yuck). BM's are excruciating.

I agree with the catch it early thing. Both my parents had surgery for this so I was just screwed genetically. Always had soft BM's, but on the large size.

deleted_user 11/10/2007

Help! I had my 10 day check up yesterday and the doctor is saying that my external repair (removal of skin tag embedded in hemorrhoid) isn't flat like it is supposed to be. He says maybe it is swollen, but there is too much tissue there. I do not have an infection, but have been having a horrible time having a BM even though it is soft. I go back in 10 days and if it isn't better then he will talk to me about my options. I'm scared - what does that mean? Anyone else have this?

lizgirl 11/10/2007

LisaLisaR , It is normal after 10 days to still have problems going poo. It really takes a long time until your butt settles down. So don't let that problem cause your imagination to run off. It is possible the doctors concern is that you might be at risk at developing another hemmorhiod? Also what I do know is that they like to remove skin tags completely. They do a biopsy on them to make sure there is no developing cancer underneath. Perhaps the doctor just wants to remove this thing down to the base.

deleted_user 11/12/2007

Well, I feel a little better. Things are going better with the output. As for the external thing, I really don't know. He said he stitched it together really tight, but it is more like a cauliflower than flat (maybe a stitch pulled out). He didn't seem to want to go there yet for what can be done to remove the excess skin. The external was biopsied already and wasn't cancer. I'm just wondering how they get rid of excess skin there. I'm trying to focus on the positive now (pain is so much better, sleeping well, and it is getting easier to have a BM). So something is improved. Thanks for the positive thoughts.

lizgirl 11/12/2007

LisaLisaR,
I am glad to hear the good news! It is possible that wad is skin is scar tissue? It shouldn't bother you then. However I want to warn you, don't get upset if you begin having lots of pain that comes back in a couple days from now. I experienced this for 6 months. Seems to feel like it is healed and then it pains like hell again. But followed by good days. Most of my complaints were during the day, not so much during the night.

deleted_user 11/13/2007

Don't know what it is. What bothers me is the surgeon says it shouldn't be like that (it is where he cauterized everything and took it all off). In the meantime, now I think I am constipated (already on fiber pills and stool softener) so it is a soft impaction. I don't know what else is safe to take. Surgeon didn't even think I needed the stool softener, but I did it anyway.

lizgirl 11/13/2007

LisaLisaR ,
The stool stoftener should work for you, but let me tell you; over time not much worked for me. Try to see what foods might be causing constipation and stay away from them. Miralax is now available over the counter and I found this to be very helpful during my surgery. You have to consider too that the anesthesia they gave you could be moving out of your system causing problems. That should be temporary.

deleted_user 11/14/2007

If it is really painful to have bm and you have lump like a cauliflower on your anus, then this could well be anal fissure. This is what I have at the moment, and they are really painful. Go to your gp and get some help with it.

deleted_user 11/14/2007

Yes, I am sure it was the Percocet and Vicodin along with not eating or moving much for the first 10 days. My doctor told me to drink prune juice and it sure worked. Still sore and swollen, but at least my system is working now. I'm sure the anesthesia didn't help either because I had a heck of a time with urination for quite a while, too. I am feeling a little better now - 15 days out of surgery now. Thanks for the support.

deleted_user 11/19/2007

Well I am now at 3 weeks out. I am improved about 30% during the last 10 days. Doctor says I am just a slow healer and it will probably take me about 2 more months to be at 100%. So I am feeling better. When all this is done, I never want to take a bath again. I am feeling more human at this point, but still tired. Thanks to everyone for their support. Take care of things early if you can.

deleted_user 12/03/2007

npellis,
I don't know if you are still on here since your surgery was a few months ago, but what surgery did you have done? And my husband had hemmroidectomy, and he suffered so bad with it, he had percocet, but it didn't do anything, and he doesn't do any drugs, and would not want to, but does marajana really stop the severe pain? Thank you.

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