Sharing my sphincterotomy experience

Hi guys,

As many of you know, I finally had my lateral internal sphincterotomy & fissurectomy on Thursday. I wanted to share my experience thus far, as I know several of you are scheduled for or contemplating this procedure.

It's a little embarrassing and TMI, but I hope this helps someone! 

 

As some background, I have been struggling with two anal fissures since April 2010. They occurred and recurred as a result of severe constipation. I had a history of "ass issues" prior to my DS, so I don't consider the fissures to be a direct result of my DS. However, the required supplementation certainly made the constipation a bit more difficult to manage, and the acidic stool seemed to make healing the fissures a bit more difficult.

 

My colorectal surgeon and I opted to be very conservative in our treatment plan, rather than jumping straight to surgery, due to the small chance of incontinence from the procedure. 

 

I tried every medical remedy available for treating the fissures (including nitroglycerine, diltiazem and anamantle). The treatments were generally pretty effective, but what would happen is I'd get about 99% healed, then I'd get hit with just a single instance of constipation and the fissures would reopen. Eventually, they got to the point where they were no longer responding to the treatment.

 

So, surgery was ultimately recommended, and I decided to go for it. The actual procedure involved a sphincterotomy (the surgeon cuts the sphincter muscle to relax it and allow healing), a fissurectomy (he cleaned up and cauterized the fissure wounds - which turned out to be very deep), and removal of my skin tags. I was given an option to remove my internal hemorrhoids as well, but I decided against it as they haven't been causing me any trouble, and it would have meant an overnight stay. If I need to have them removed in the future, that can be done in the office.

 

My surgery was done under IV sedation and I was given a spinal epidural. I do not remember the procedure at all, but it took less than 1/2 an hour. I had no complications. I was sent home the same day and given prescriptions for a mild pain killer (Ultracet) and an antibiotic. I have doubled the dosage of my stool softeners as well, as it's important to keep things very soft. I have to take sitz baths twice per day, which I was already doing.

 

The pain is not nearly as bad as I expected. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate it about a 4. Before surgery, the pain of using the bathroom with the fissures was easily an 8-9. The difference is that was a sharp pain and this is more of a dull, persistent ache. It has already improved today, and I suspect in the next day or so I'll be feeling even better. I have so far had no incontinence (with gas or stool), which is a huge relief. There is a little blood and discharge, but not on the level of what I'd expected. I am going to work from home tomorrow and planning to return to the office Tuesday. 

 

Personally, I am very glad I decided to have this procedure. In retrospect, I wish I had decided to do it a few months sooner, but I needed to feel I'd truly exhausted all my medical options before jumping into surgery. If you'll indulge me, I do have a couple of pieces of advice for those of you who might be experiencing a similar situation:

 

1. If you start having ass pain/bleeding, do not assume it is hemorrhoids and try to treat it yourself. Go see a doctor ASAP. I know it's embarrassing, but if it is a fissure, the sooner you treat it, the more likely the medical remedy will work. The proper diagnosis makes a big difference. I screwed around way too long, treating my fissures as hemorrhoids (I felt the skin tags and thought they were hemorrhoids), and I made them worse. 

 

2. Research your colorectal surgeon, just as you would your DS surgeon. They aren't all created equal. Some want to jump straight into surgery; others are more willing to work on medical treatment. Ask about their complication rates (particularly around incontinence). Make sure you have someone who is open to learning about the DS and understanding the unique bowel issues that can be involved.

 

If anyone has any questions about my experience, please feel free to PM me at any time. I know this can be embarrassing to talk about, but I know how much I benefitted from Diana and others sharing their experiences. I'd like to pay it forward too.

I am so glad that you are feeling better Jenna! You are so kind to pay it forward by sharing your experience. Thanks so much!

Thanks for sharing your experiences so openly.  Wishing you continued recovery and relief. 
Cindy

Here's hoping your recovery is complete very soon and that you NEVER have a recurrance of those symptoms. I think it's great that you shared your story for everyone, so that others can see that they really should go get it checked out. Hugs!

Thanks for sharing your story Jenna!  I'm newly out but I think it's great to see a firsthand experience on what to look for and/or expect should this happen to one of us down the road.  Thank you for your honesty and truth - it is greatly appreciated!

I hope your recovery continues to go smoothly for you and that this issue is solved permanently for you!

Hijack!

Kerry, WOW you are doing great! I just noticed your CW stats.  Congratulations!!

Awww...thanks!  I got a long way to go but every pound is a pound. 

You are doing great too!!  Keep up the great work!!

Thank you for sharing Jenna. I hope that your recovery is swift!

How far out from having your DS were you when you first experienced what you thought to be hemorrhoids?

Thanks, Jamille.

I was about 5 months post-op. It coincided with upping my dosage of calcium citrate, along with a day that I happened to eat not a lot of fat. That brought on the severe constipation, and bleeding. 

I felt the external bumps and assumed they were thrombosed hemorrhoids, which I've had before. I was trying to use Prep H suppositories to treat them for weeks before I finally decided to go in. By then, the pain had gotten so bad that I almost passed out in the bathroom a few times.

I haven't experienced it personally, but I had to watch my poor hubby go through months and months of severe pain!!! We went to several doctors who were very pessamistic, and basicly told him to deal with it. By the grace of God we found a surgeon who was truthful about the risks, but was also optimistic with options. He went ahead and had the surgery, after recovery has been pain free very since!!! We tried creams, and diet, and fiber pills, EVERYTHING before surgeyr nothing worked for him. He is a man and this had him crumpled and crying after trying to use the bathroom. I FELT HORRIBLE FOR HIM!!!!  I guess the whole point of this was to say I understand secondhand how horrible this can be for people!!!