Last July I experienced some excrutiating pain inside my anus. I'd had hemmorhoids before, but this was a 100 times more painful. After googling around, I figured out it was an abscess. Internal hemmorrhoids don't cause such pain as there are no pain receptors in that area of the anus.
I had to go to the ER three times until they listened to me when I said it wasn't hemmorrhoids, that it had to be an abscess.
Mine was located internally, between the rectum and my vagina, directly under the perineum.
Finally I was admitted for surgery where they opened and drained the abscess. They left it open (internally) to clean itself out and heal (no idea how they thought it would ever get CLEAN in that spot, being constantly bombarded with feces).
In December, it still hadn't healed and was still oozing puss, so they sent me for an colonoscopy to check if I had Crohn's. They saw no signs.
Finally in March this year, my surgeon decided it was time to close it up. I went in for surgery and got a week's worth of anti biotics.
Almost immediately after my AB course finished, I experienced excrutiating pain down there, and it spread to my right buttock. I went to the hospital on Good Friday, and was sent home with more AB and painkillers.
The next day I was getting even worse and went to the ER. While I was lying in the ER waiting for my turn at a CT, I needed to pass some gas, but instead I got this piercing stinging pain like it was trying to go into my buttock instead of the usual way. The CT showed my buttock had a pool of puss and AIR inside it, guess it DID go there.
I was sent in for another surgery. A fistula had formed. They put in a seton, kept me overnight with AB via IV and then discharged me on Easter Day.
I went back 2 days later, I was still in a LOT of pain. I was examined under GA, but nothing was done. They were going to discharge me again, but I put my foot down and was allowed to stay one night, getting morphine injections regularly - I must say it was the freakiest night I ever experienced (half asleep hallucinations etc). I was then discharged with a week long course of ABs.
9 days later I had a checkup with my surgeon. She felt everything was going good and gave me more ABs. 12 days later I got worse again, this time further into my right buttock. I went in and my surgeon cut a hole in my buttock under local anaesthesia. A lot came out. A LOT.
She ordered an MRI. I live in a small country and there is a 3 week waiting list, unless it's life or death.
2 weeks later I feel pain on the left side. I go in, but the doc that saw me didn't want to do anything as I had an appointment the next day with my surgeon. He gave me ABs to last 'till the next day.
I went to see my surgeon for my appointment and she sees it's spread to the left side and forward on each side of my vagina. She doesn't want to do anything until she has a clear image of the entire fistula system. This was on a Wednesday. I had my MRI appointment a week later, but she decided to make a call and have it moved up for Friday.
On Wednesday the next week I was back for surgery. She added another seton, created an opening on my left labia majora and inserted a drain, and also inserted a drain in the incision on my right buttock. I'm discharged the same day, as usual.
2 days later I go in again, the drain next to my vagina caused me a lot of pain. Turned out it fell out almost immediately after the surgery and was hanging by, and pulling on, the suture keeping it in place. Surgeon removed it. 5 days later she also removes the drain from the buttock.
Now, for 2 months I'd been taking Tramadol hcl for pain. I lowered my dose a bit, and didn't know it at the time, but I was experiencing some withdrawal symptoms. I felt like I was experiencing arrhythmyia, shaking etc, so I went to the cardiac ER. They couldn't find anything so they sent me home.
6 days later I go back for a checkup with my surgeon. She schedules another surgery. She feels my fistula isn't draining enough.
On May 26, I come in for the surgery. 7 hours later I wake up in the ICU, intubated on a ventilator.
They'd had some problems getting me properly anaesthetized and needed to give me more Propofol than usual. I went into a bronchospasm and needed more air pressure and oxygen to keep me breathing. They did the sugery, then kept me under for 5 more hours so my body could recuperate. I was kept in the ICU for 24 hours for observation, and a second night in a general ward.
I now had 3 setons and an open, draining wound on my buttock.
I have ups and downs. I take paracetamol + codein for pain and all openings are draining quite a bit. No further surgery has been scheduled yet, probably won't happen for another month or two.
One thing I've noticed is I seem to be passing a lot of gas, and I mean A LOT. About every 5-10 minutes. Most of the time it goes either through the opening in my buttock or along the seton on my labia.
I'm getting tired and frusterated. I work in an office and can't sit all day long while I'm like this. It's really affecting my mental health, and I was severely depressed before this whole thing, needing the maximum allowed dose of Prozac.
