To that end, and if you decide anything I say here is useful, please refer to me as "Vic," a news reporter from a southwestern state. I'm 30 years old. I've had swollen hemorrhoid problems for about five to seven years. The battle previous to my most recent was more than a year ago, so I thought I had the situation solved. Not so. I just had a hemorrhoidectomy (?) three weeks ago. The doc called it a recurring thrombosed external 'rhoid and suggest the quickie surgery would be best. Fortunately, drugs prevented me from remembering anything for 36 hours. We won't even go into the painful bathroom trips for the week afterward.
But now, during my post-op visit, the doc tells me I may have a fissure forming. He's in a hurry and tells me we'll see how it's healing in two months, leaving me to wonder, "Just how the heck serious is a blasted fissure?" I NEVER want to go through a butt operation ever ever again. And that's where I am right now -- bulking up, softening my stool, and trying not to think about it too much.
So I look forward to any updates you may post soon. I need info for peace of mind. I'll check this page regularly. Thanks again.
First, the doc suggested my 'rhoid surgery on the same day I first visited his office. No pre-surgery preps necessary. I called my wife and my boss and that was that. He started at 5:30 p.m.
Afterwards, my wife recounted that I told the nurse, "the doctor took one look at my butt and told me it was so perfect, he was going to operate for free." My wife laughed, realizing I was totally drugged, but I spoke so clearly the nurse didn't know any better. (It's the only humorous aspect of the entire ordeal.)
The info sheet the doc gave me concerning fissures said "nearly 50 percent heal by themselves" and do not require surgery. I still don't like the implication that I'm in a coin toss, so I'm going to call him tomorrow and ask for any medicine at all that could help this sucker heal.
That's it. Thanks for listening.
Hey and howdy.
No need to reprint this entire note, but I thought I'd pass along the name of a delightful little book called "Your Gut Feelings," by Henry d. Janowitz, M.D. It's not a fissure-only tome, but it does offer some helpful insights to general intestinal processes, and it also gives a handy fiber chart.
And how am I doing? Thanks for asking...
The hemorrhoidectomy seems to have healed well enough. But my rectum will never be the same. No one told me that chunk of tissue doesn't grow back. It seems that one of my other 'rhoids has decided to stretch out and take up the void created by surgery. While it doesn't really hurt, I am scared to death that it's going to go thrombose, also. I'm online tonight to find more info about the mucus the intestine produces. I've got a followup doctor appointment in a few days and I want to be prepped to ask questions. Specifically, what's with the off-white discharge? Is it related to a fissure, infection, mucus, cancerous or what?
This entire ordeal has forged a direct link between my brain and my butt. It's all I think about anymore.
Here's a question for your readers: assuming we're all of fairly young age now, how is this going to affect us when the rest of our body parts start failing? I dread a painful, uncomfortable seniority.
Last modified: 07 Jan 97, back to home page.