When will my fistula heal?

[shmo]

Hello,

I'm new here. Just discovered the forum and it's nice to see how active it is (though not so nice to see how many people are afflicted).

In any case, I had surgery two months ago to drain a perianal abscess, but the wound still hasn't healed and there is still pus and occasionally blood oozing out of it. This is the first time I've had to go through this so it's all new to me, and so far what I've been expecting is much better than what has actually happened.

Is there any way to tell when the fistula might heal? There is no seton. I've been taking salt baths 1-2 times a day since the surgery. There are times where it seems like it doesn't ooze at all, but then an hour later it oozes a lot. Lately there have been a few times where it's almost only blood (not bleeding perfusely, but just blood). I don't know at what point I go back to the doctor's and tell him that my wound hasn't healed yet. 3 months? 5 months?

Right now I'm just on Asacol and I started 6-MP a little over a week ago. I believe the doctor is planning to put me on remicade in a few months.

Thank you anyone for your wisdom! Thank you...

 

[mickey]

I would suggest you run this by your doc. Feel better!

 

[Sascot]

Just thought I would pop on here. My son has a peri-anal abcess/fistula that was drained about 6 weeks ago. As far as healing goes- the surgeon said it could take up to a year (yes that freaked me out!), months likely. My son was put on Azathioprine 5 weeks ago. They take 6 - 12 weeks to start working so I would imagine it would take at least that plus a couple of months if the meds are going to do the trick. Sorry I am not the bearer of better news. I would run it by your doc that it is blood coming out. My son still has some pus coming out but has only every had a tiny bit of blood twice in 2 months.

 

[brooke206]

So sorry it's not healing, unfortunately every fistula is different and as such have different healing rates, some because of their nature will drain profusely for quite some time, even requiring further surgery to eliminate the part of bowel which is harbouring the fistula, I have known fistulas which have drained to such an extent that the wound had to be dressed with a stoma bag to collect the discharge, go back to your doctor as the bloody discharge must be concerning, he/she may suggest consulting a surgeon willing to consider further investigation. Don't let it get you down find out what your options are and don't give up
Very best wishes and keep us updated

 

[barkbbdog2]

I had my fistula for over ten months now....started out as a abscess. Have been on Humira for a few months, but it still hasn't gone away. Good Luck.

 

[MikeinBklyn]

Had a fistula for two years, with two surgeries and it did not heal until I went on Humira every ten days. It's been gone for 18 months.

Good Luck

 

[ontariomom]

i have two peri rectal fistulas, got a seton put in 4 months after the abscess ruptured and then it got drained then the seton.

that was a year ago. I remember at the beginning i used to drain blood/pus regularly. Now i can go weeks without any draining or very minimal and then i have weeks where it seems to drain every day.

on the upside it doesnt bother me daily anymore. I too used sitz baths , constantly. I got told to soak for 10 min everytime i had a BM. Which could be 8 times a day!!!! But it felt good so i kept doing it.

I believe it took about 6 months for my weeping to slow down after my seton was put in.

 

[shmo]

To me this just all seems so...well crazy. I'm having a hard time imagining going back to regular day-to-day life. Unfortunately I'm dealing through a bad bout of arthritis so walking is a challenge, but when I work through that it's hard to think about day-to-day things with a bandage on my bottom. Going back to work, going on a vacation.

I guess it's just another thing to get used to. Thank you all for all the help.

 

[brooke206]

yeah can imagine it must all seem never ending at the moment but do go see your doc and make sure you get all your concerns heard and surely things can only get better?
Keep us updated and keep smiling