Pain after fistula surgery!

[LouiseB22]

I had 2 fistulas laid open 3 weeks ago, everything seemed to be going okay until it really started to hurt this week! I went to the Drs who gave me 2 lots of antibiotics for infection (which in turn have made me really sick!). I have almost finished the doses and yet the pain feels no better! I have at least 2 salt baths a day, wash after every bm... Is there anything that I can put on them that will make the pain a bit better?! Any creams? I am worried about making an appointment with my surgeon in case he just says everything is normal and I'm just being a bit of a wimp!

Louise

 

[exit4]

I had a fistulatomy (lay open fistula) few years ego and was in a lot of pain – don’t feel bad about calling your surgeon – that is his job to help you! You are not being a wimp – if you are in pain let him know ASAP as you may have something else going on there. I took Vicodin for pain that helped me a great deal, There is no need to suffer if there are meds available to make you comfortable. Not sure about salt baths – it maybe irritating your wound, I took lots of sits baths with just water and used handheld shower to clean after BM.

 

[LouiseB22]

Thank you for your reply. It's difficult to judge if something is wrong when you don't know how much pain to expect. I will ring my surgeon first thing tomorrow and see if I can get an appointment. How long did it take you to recover?

 

[AlliRuns]

What antibiotics did they give you? I had similar problems after my last fistula surgery and ended up being on antibiotics for about 6 weeks.

 

[LouiseB22]

They gave me metronidazole and erythromycin stearate... Which have been making me very sick, but the doctor told me to stick out the full doses if I could. I have one more day left of taking them, but so far I don't seem to be feeling much better! It all seems a bit never ending sometimes!

 

[exit4]

To LouiseB22
I actually had a bad experience with lay open fistula, hence the pain meds I was taking. They always tell you about “as with any surgery there is a chance that something may go wrong”. I was the 1% that something went wrong. My diagnosis was actually changed from UC to Crohn’s after I was not healing after 3 months. Because of ongoing inflammation from Crohn’s in the mucosa of the rectum I should have never had it done as inflamed tissue does not heal well – I had a bad GI that did not address underlying cause and did not put me on biologic until after the surgery. Now I have what is called a “keyhole deformity” – the fistulatomy wound healed, but the anal verge tissue did not close. Obviously, I am the exception (lucky me! Why couldn’t it be the exception in hitting that power ball lottery :mad2 as most people are just fine.

 

[LouiseB22]

I am sorry to hear you had such a bad time with it exit4. Of course you're never the exception when it comes to winning the lottery... that is called sods law! My Dr did say it would take about 4 weeks to heal so I am hoping that things will start to improve in the next few weeks. I will take your advice and check in with my surgeon though just to be on the safe side! Although I was diagnosed with UC in april, there is still so much I don't know! This forum is really helpful and I am grateful for your replies!

 

[Ohbum1]

To LouiseB22
I actually had a bad experience with lay open fistula, hence the pain meds I was taking. They always tell you about “as with any surgery there is a chance that something may go wrong”. I was the 1% that something went wrong. My diagnosis was actually changed from UC to Crohn’s after I was not healing after 3 months. Because of ongoing inflammation from Crohn’s in the mucosa of the rectum I should have never had it done as inflamed tissue does not heal well – I had a bad GI that did not address underlying cause and did not put me on biologic until after the surgery. Now I have what is called a “keyhole deformity” – the fistulatomy wound healed, but the anal verge tissue did not close. Obviously, I am the exception (lucky me! Why couldn’t it be the exception in hitting that power ball lottery :mad2 as most people are just fine.

How is the keyhole deformity? There is nothing on line and I am desperate to connect with someone to learn how to cope!