Advice on perianal abcesses??

[Banrockstation]

Hi there. My husband is 39 and was dx with CD around October 2009. He has been ok, had some side affects and generally feeling unwell.
2 weeks ago he complained of pains around his anus, but carried on working until last monday he could barely walk. He was admitted into hospital and operated on. He is now at home but the recovery seems really slow. He can barely walk and feels drained and has had lots of mouth ulcers and joint pain. He is self employed but I really cannot see him returning to work any day soon.
Would be nice to hear from others that have gone through this.
Thank you

 

[Banrockstation]

Sorry meant to add he was dx with having a perianal abcess in a & e and then operated on!!

 

[kello82]

hey there! yeah perianal/rectal abcesses suck big time.
what was the outcome of the surgery? did they drain the abcess completely? is he on antibiotics now?
and is he on any other drugs for his crohns itself? it sounds like he needs them, but at the same time any sort of immunosuppresant would be bad BAD news for the infection he has going on. hopefully his doc is carefully weighing the options.

as far as helping him to be more comfortable in the meantime, LOTS of warm baths always helped me. and even sitting/laying on a heating pad helped a bit. for me i always got pains in my tailbone area cuz my abcess was a bit higher up around my rectum.
for the mouth ulcers other members here have said orajel helps a lot, have never tried it myself though but it might be worth a shot.
and for the joint pains, again, heating pad but put a damp towel or something over the area and then the heating pad on top of that. thast was the only thing i eveer found to reduce the swelling and make it feel better.

good luck, i hope he starts feeling better soon!

 

[beth]

Hmm, perianal abscessessssss are horriblesssss. Not preciousss.

Yeah, WhatKelloSaid. Although any surgery is really non-trivial he should recover quickly from the GA in 12-24hours and then I think it usually takes me another 3 days to really feel 'myself' again.

What meds is he on? sounds like his Crohn's is out of control and he needs to get on, or up his drugs regime.

 

[chops]

eeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwww!!!! I hated my peri-anal abscesses sssoooo much!!!! I have had two seperate operations on these different abscesses with both times a seton being placed in the area so that drainage could continue (the last one was in for 7 months) - so embarrasing and uncomfortable. I found the only thing that really got these to heal were having concentrated salt baths after EVERY bowel motion. I would use nearly a whole pack of salt in a small amount of bath water and then just hang my butt in the water, making sure to splash up and around the effected area. Also make sure that your husband is sure the area is completely dry with a clean towel before getting dressed again. Good luck to you both!

 

[My Butt Hurts]

My perianal surgery was not trivial in any way. They cut right through my a-hole. It was very very painful, and I was out of work for 2 weeks. I could barely get off the couch for the first few days and I was knocked out on vicodin until it made me feel worse to be on it.
The incision still drained for weeks if I remember right.
When exactly was his surgery?
Hope he feels better soon.

 

[Banrockstation]

Hi, thank you so much for all of your replies. He had the op a week ago and does seem to be healing very slowly. Unfortunately he is self employed so doesn't get paid when he is off sick!!
He is on azithioprine (sp?) but it doesn't seem to agree with him!!!
Will definitely try the heat pads and salt baths. He is having a shower each time he goes to the toilet as he isn't meant to get his wound infected and then I clean and dress the wound. It does look a bit swollen though and we were wondering if you have already had an abcess can you get another one straight after??? thanks

 

[chops]

yes you can get another abcess straight away especially if your husband doesn't have a seton inserted through the initial incision. What happens is the area gets a small layer of skin starting to naturally heal over the top and the area fills back up with pus (infection). My first abcess had to be operated on (under anaesthetic) 5 different times until they finally put in a seton because it kept on healing over too quickly.....

 

[CDDad]

Hi,
This disease is just horrible. The setons are no picnic either. There are two kinds, drainage and cutting. I had the 2 of the drainage type for a few months before my Proctocolectomy. The 2 weeks to heal from the seton surgery was very uncomfortable. Afterward, they were only a bother when going to the bathroom. They made wiping a delicate matter. If you catch one of the strings and pull by accident, it was not fun. I ended up using a spray wand I installed on the toilet for cleaning.

Now I have the bag, but I'm glad those abscess and seton days are over.

Good luck to your husband!

 

[poolside]

Try a sitz bath, I bought one right in the drug store, maybe about 30 bucks. Comes with the IV bag that you fill with warmer water and the basin that you sit on right on the toilet. Fill it with epsom salts, get a book, and plop the behind down on there. "Read" for about 15 minutes, letting the warmer IV water dribble into the basin keeping the water warm.
That way you don't have to fill a tub every darn time the dreaded BM comes along.
This disease sucks big time.

 

[Banrockstation]

Hi Sorry not replied. My husband has been readmitted twice and after having an mri has shown he has extensive fistulas. Am going to start a new post about these. Thanks so much for all of your advice and help x