Unwanted Fistulotomy Nightmare

Hey Guys,

I'm coming off like the worst three weeks of my life, and I wanted to share my story (for moral support, and maybe as a warning). Four weeks ago a gynecologist officially diagnosed my persistent perineal abscess as a fistula. I called my GI back home, and he explained to me a number of clinical options, and told me that if I liked I could make an appointment with a colorectal surgeon to see what my surgical options would be, so I could understand all the possibilities. So I made an appointment with a surgeon that seemed well-regarded, operating out of a certain well-regarded Clinic hospital nearby.

The surgeon (after inviting 6 medical students into the room to watch while he gave me a mortifying and unnecessary rectal exam) told me he would need to perform an examination under anesthesia on the fistula to determine the extent of damage before he could make any recommendation. I agreed. We scheduled for a week later. I'm a junior in college, and it wasn't a good time for me to be missing school at all, so I spoke with all of my professors before hand and told them I might be out for a day or two, depending on the effect of the anesthesia.

Okay, there was a lot of build up. Basically, I went under for my examination and woke up in absolute agony. The doctor performed a fistulotomy on me. There's a snakey incision wound from my rectum to my labia. I have never been in more pain in my life. I haven't been to school in three weeks, and it still hurts terribly for me to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time; I think I'm going to need to take a medical leave and lose the semester altogether. And there's more:

Three days after the surgery I woke up covered in blood. Apparently the doctor accidentally nicked something he wasn't supposed to, and it burst. I spent two days at the ER because I had lost so much blood. It was terrifying, and to stop the leak they had to tear open the wound again and clamp something.

I wanted to share this story for support mostly. I'm devastated. I'm depressed. I can't stop crying, and nobody around me can possibly relate to this. My body is now unrecognizable, everything hurts, I'm losing my once promising semester at school, and now my pelvis will be full of scar tissue and who knows if I'll ever be able to make love again. I didn't want this surgery. I just wanted to know my options before I (inevitably) opted for a clinical approach. I feel like I've been violated. The doctor's office is accepting no responsibility for this, claiming I should have asked about all the contingencies before I agreed, but not only was everyone really dismissive of my questions, but this was an EXAMINATION and it never occurred to me that it would mean cutting!

Sorry for the long post, this is just so horrifying, and the wound is still there, totally open. It doesn't even look like it's healing.

Has anyone had this procedure before and can tell me how long it took them to heal?

Oh, my goodness. I am horrified. Just horrified. If your doctors aren't listening to your concerns, all I can suggest is speaking with the patient advocate at the hospital or, failing that, a lawyer.

My understanding is that, if you consented to an examination, then this shouldn't have happened, plain and simple, unless something life threatening was about to happen.

If it helps, I once asked my surgeon, before being put to sleep for a fistula examination, what would happen if he found something that required more drastic action, and he said he would do his best to wake me up and talk to me about it before going ahead with whatever needed to be done. I'm so sorry your surgeon didn't do the same for you. It must have been a horrible shock, and I don't blame you for feeling as upset as you do.

You trust these people to take care of you while you're unconscious, and it sounds to me as if that trust was violated. I am so, so, sorry for what you are going through.

:-(.

Ivy.

I can not believe he did that to you! I'm so sorry!! I've had a fistulotomy, to repair a fistula I had in the rectal area. I had it done in a hospital, long after he examined it. Where I knew exactly what was going to happen, what the risks were, and what I was going to wake up with. After 3 or 4 days I wasn't even in pain anymore!

I don't know, if I was in your shoes I think I'd go talk to a lawyer about my options next. Just does not seem right at all!

Bless your heart. This is awful. Exam under anesthesia is supposed to be only that. I had two and my dr told me exactly what she would do if she found something. She told me all of the different options. She said if I only wanted it to be an exam that it was o.k. That it was all up to me. What city do you live near? The 'clinic' you're speaking about sounds like the well known, supposed to be fabulous for Crohn's issues 'clinic' near me. If I were you I would get an attorney. My CR surgeon told me that fistolotomy on my RV fistula was out of the question as there was too much muscle involved. Take care of yourself and keep us posted. The surgeon and the hospital need to take responsibility for this. Even if you had agreed to this procedure it sounds like they screwed it up anyway.