Dealing with hemorrhoids – any advice?
in Health ·
Hey everyone,
I wanted to jump in here and share my own experience. I’ve been lurking for a while, reading through all the advice from both newbies and veterans dealing with this mess. My first piece of advice? Don't play doctor—go see a professional immediately. If you catch it at Stage 1, it's an easy fix.
To be honest, I ignored that advice a long time ago, and things spiraled until I hit Stage III with a 6th-degree fissure. I finally had surgery this past Monday. They went with spinal anesthesia, even though they originally planned to do a general anesthetic for my husband due to some other issues he's dealing with. The whole thing took about an hour, which was double what they initially estimated. There were two doctors involved, and they actually had to cut through some tissue because the fissure was just too deep to reach otherwise. For anyone wondering, the only real help for a fissure is Nitroglycerin ointment; it requires a prescription and you can pick it up near Pike Place Market. There's also another ointment that helps relax the sphincter (someone asked about this earlier), which is also prescription-only, but I can't recall the exact name. The absolute worst part of the pre-op is that moment when you lose all feeling in your legs even though you can still see them. You're positioned in a gynecological setup with your arms and legs restrained. Once the surgery is over, they move you to a recovery room where these incredibly kind and sensible nurses watch over you 24/7. To get discharged, you basically have to be able to stand up and go pee on your own. They keep you heavily medicated the whole time so you don't feel a thing; the anesthesia lasts about six hours, so you don't even need extra drugs right away. That first night was rough, though—I had to take morphine, but I pushed through. Every day since, the pain has been slightly less intense. I’ve only had one bowel movement so far, and it went fine. Look, there is still pain, but if you've ever experienced the actual pain of a fissure, trust me, the post-op recovery doesn't even come close to that level. So far, everything is going great for me, which is a relief because living with thrombosed hemorrhoids and a fissure was becoming a way of life I refused to accept. I’m hoping the recovery continues this smoothly. By the second day, I could already sit and walk for short periods without pain. Most of the time I'm still stuck in bed and relying on Motrin, but I'm officially on the mend. I had the procedure
at Kaiser Permanente with the highly recommended Dr. Ivanovic, and I echo all the praise people have given him.
I wanted to jump in here and share my own experience. I’ve been lurking for a while, reading through all the advice from both newbies and veterans dealing with this mess. My first piece of advice? Don't play doctor—go see a professional immediately. If you catch it at Stage 1, it's an easy fix.
To be honest, I ignored that advice a long time ago, and things spiraled until I hit Stage III with a 6th-degree fissure. I finally had surgery this past Monday. They went with spinal anesthesia, even though they originally planned to do a general anesthetic for my husband due to some other issues he's dealing with. The whole thing took about an hour, which was double what they initially estimated. There were two doctors involved, and they actually had to cut through some tissue because the fissure was just too deep to reach otherwise. For anyone wondering, the only real help for a fissure is Nitroglycerin ointment; it requires a prescription and you can pick it up near Pike Place Market. There's also another ointment that helps relax the sphincter (someone asked about this earlier), which is also prescription-only, but I can't recall the exact name. The absolute worst part of the pre-op is that moment when you lose all feeling in your legs even though you can still see them. You're positioned in a gynecological setup with your arms and legs restrained. Once the surgery is over, they move you to a recovery room where these incredibly kind and sensible nurses watch over you 24/7. To get discharged, you basically have to be able to stand up and go pee on your own. They keep you heavily medicated the whole time so you don't feel a thing; the anesthesia lasts about six hours, so you don't even need extra drugs right away. That first night was rough, though—I had to take morphine, but I pushed through. Every day since, the pain has been slightly less intense. I’ve only had one bowel movement so far, and it went fine. Look, there is still pain, but if you've ever experienced the actual pain of a fissure, trust me, the post-op recovery doesn't even come close to that level. So far, everything is going great for me, which is a relief because living with thrombosed hemorrhoids and a fissure was becoming a way of life I refused to accept. I’m hoping the recovery continues this smoothly. By the second day, I could already sit and walk for short periods without pain. Most of the time I'm still stuck in bed and relying on Motrin, but I'm officially on the mend. I had the procedure
at Kaiser Permanente with the highly recommended Dr. Ivanovic, and I echo all the praise people have given him.