Fistula advancement flap surgery

Hey guys so I am going to update this at the end of every day so you can see my progress for yourselves.

So I had my advancement flap surgery today 11th of October 2017. Seton was in for 8 weeks before plug surgery was attempted and this failed so now onto this.

Surgeon says It went well and no issues. Has prescribed me a strong anti inflammatory and Percocet. Also prescribed me Zofran for when I take Percocet.

I felt okay coming out of surgery a little sore but totally manageable. He has numbed me up inside though so not expecting lots of pain for first day. As the day goes on I am feeling pressure like I need to have a BM but unable to do one so not sure if this is pressure from surgery or I'm too nervous to poop. So far so good today. Will update you tomorrow to let you know how I am feeling.

Hope this is the end to my fistula nightmare

It doesn't seem the I&D is going to work if you have a fistula. It won't heal on it's own. Have they done an MRI to see if you have a Fistula?
To start off with the hospital didn't notice I had an abscess and sent me home with sciatica. Big mistake! My abscess was so big by the time they treated it they managed to drain about a coke cans worth of puss from it. It was the surgeon who told me I had a fistula but he wouldn't touch it as he didn't specialise in them so referred me to a CRS. Can you request you see someone else? I don't understand why if you have a fistula why they haven't at least put a seton in to stop you getting an abscess.

I'm sorry to hear of all your troubles as I totally understand these are a nightmare. Request a second opinion because you can't live your life with constant I&D's

So it's day two after the AF surgery. I woke up this morning in some discomfort again around 4:30. Enough to wake me up and be uncomfortable. Took my toradol which was overdue due to me sleeping and a Percocet. I managed to fall back to sleep for around a hour and woke up again but not due to pain.
I still haven't had a BM but very gassy today. Lots of air coming through the fistula exit wound on my butt cheek. Today I had a protein shake for breakfast, just a lunchable at lunch time (yes i know they are not the best) and a jacket patato with a little butter and beans for dinner. Also added benefiber to a bottle of water so hopefully this will help with the BM that is overdue.

So today I have had 2 x Colace in morning and 2 at night
Benefiber in water
1 toradol every 6 hours
1 Percocet as needed.

At the moment my pain is totally manageable with that Percocet which just takes the edge off.

I do feel a little stressed about the BM situation as I'm not sure if I'm just working myself up about pain and this means I'm not able to go or if I'm blocked. If anyone has had this surgery and can advise what their situation was that would be great.

Let's see what tomorrow has in store for me

Hey scifi, I would really like to have a BM but if I stop taking Percocet I don't think I can tolerate that pain. Especially when it wakes me up as soon as they have worn off. I don't think the toradol is helping with my pain this time around.
I don't know what to do... I am taking Colace and benefiber so hoping these will help move things along but concerned it's not

I understand, I really do. But just don't let yourself get into a cycle. When the BM finally happens, it's going to HURT. You're going to want to take more meds, but that will just slow you down again and make the next one super painful all over again. And you'd be amazed at how slow this can make you. When I had pancreatitis, c. diff., and a Crohn's flare all at once and was on heavy pain meds, I literally did not have a BM for THREE WEEKS. When I finally did, it was super heavy and hard for a bit, but then all of the backed-up blood and diarrhea came out for literally 15 minutes. I learned the hard way.

The thing is, the benefiber isn't going to help all that much. The pain meds actually slow down the muscle contractions, which is how stool is moved through your digestive tract. So it's not that it's too bulky to move (which is what happens when you don't eat enough fiber or drink enough fluids), it's that the muscles don't contract strongly enough to move hardly anything along. Things get backed up and squished in as you keep putting stuff in, if that makes sense.

The colace might help a bit, but again, it just makes your stool more watery, not actually help with contracting things out.

If you want to save your FLAP, get a hold of your GI's office now!
They should have something that you can take as an emergency med like a suppository or something.
I'm really worried for you Zoe!
Has no one called you to check in on your progress?

You can call the after hours nurse!
Call your surgeon's number and follow their directions in leaving a message.
Then your surgeon's after hours people will call you and if it's really bad, even your surgeon will call you.
That's what happened to me when I couldn't stop puking for 6 hours after my surgery.
Even on the weekend, they have someone on the phones because they have surgeries on Friday and complications can have anytime.
I hope it's not too late for you.

So this is my update 4 full days post op.

I have finally had BMs, 3 today. Sounds gross but first one was quite hard and the last 2 were very soft almost a fluffy texture to look at. The pain after the 3rd one I won't lie was pretty bad but had no percocet today at all l just my toradol more or less every 6 hours. After the BMs I jumped straight in the bath which omg these are a life saver. The pain soon subsides when you get in there.

The pain after i had a BM before the surgery was like a burning sensation all through the fistula. I could feel the fecal matter coming through however the pain now is more like a high pressure. So far no fecal matter has come through just gas which i can stop it I plug the wound up with my finger over the top of my gauze. Most of the time though I just leave it be sometimes a little unexpected gas comes out if i sneeze.

Will update tomorrow

Thanks scifi for all the info you gave me on what actually happens when you take strong pain meds and why things like benefiber won't combat it. You are the reason I stopped taking them at braved the pain and its a lot less than I thought it would be. Like i said the BM are enough to make you want to be out cold until its all over but instead of resorting to painkillers I jumped in the bath. Phew what I relief that was.

Gypsy, thank you for your advice too, i wont lie I was very worried and stressed and I think the more I panicked about it the more I was stopping myself from going. I'm sorry that you are in pain. How are you feeling now? are you in pain all the time or just after a BM?

So today I have taken no percocet and just 2 toradol since 8am. I had 2 Colace twice and benefiber again today but sadly no BM. Not that i like them but I get myself in a real mess because I worry so much about not going. I don't want to rely on laxatives to make me go so i am going to give my surgeons office a call tomorrow and see what he recommends.
My drainage is still quite a bit, puss mixed with blood and I change my dressing about 4 times a day. Pain wise I think i only really have unbearable pain when I use the bathroom but that bathtub in my new found best friend. Otherwise I can manage pretty well. I'm staying in bed or on the sofa bed for 99.9% of the day as i want to do the best I can to heal.

I think this is as mentally challenging as it is physical. Depression and anxiety have definitely showed their ugly faces whilst going through this.

Thanks for the support guys I will continue to post every evening to tell how my dad has been, almost like a blog and hopefully other people who are due this surgery will see it, regardless of the outcome its important to know as much experiences as possible I think

Sorry I forgot to post an update last night. Whoops
So yesterday I took my Colace in the morning and a toradol. Had shake for breakfast, wheat chex for lunch and a jacket potato with tuna for dinner. I struggled to have a BM again, I did eventually go but again not soft. I called my surgeon to see what they recommend and was advised to stop taking the Colace as it was obviously not working for me and take Miralax. So last night before bed I took that so we will see how that works.
My pain level was quite high before i went to bed, I just took a toradol and managed to fall to sleep.
Drainage is still the same and to be honest I'm not expecting much improvement as it has only been 1 week today.

Gypsy, im interested to know how you are feeling and getting on as your surgery was not so long before i had mine. How's your pain?

Well I do truly hope this works for You!! I can't imagine going through this for 2 years let alone 20. You have been strong and I really wish you the best of luck. I'm so glad you are not in pain right now as pain can really get you down.

I too hope mine works as 7 months of this and 4 surgeries I feel is enough. I had been so lucky up until this as i had never been ill before, the most i have had is sciatica which i thought was hell. Then I got this and now the sciatica seems like nothing. Although as soon as this is dealt with and fixed I will need to look at getting treatment for my herniated disc which im not looking forward to.

Keep us updated with your progress I'm keeping everything crossed for you!

U B tough, have you had your appointment yet? I'm interested to know how things are for you

Hi Zoe, I have no input to give on a technical level, as I have not yet had the FLAP. Just to say thanks for doing what you are doing, because it will help many of us in the future.
I am going to have FiLac Surgery on Wednesday (after having a seton in situ for 3 months), so I will try to post my progress as well.
I wish you all the best! Dimitri.