Having Roids Destroyed

[Carolann]

Well, I have been putting this day out of my mind for the past two weeks, but alas I have to deal with it soon. I guess it is the unknown that has me worried. My hemmies were bad enough to give me bad anemia a few months ago. The thing is the surgeon will not tell me what procedure he will be using because he says that it is dictated by the condition at time of surgery. I dread this! I hope they put me out. Does anyone know what the recovery is for this. I know there are three options:

Alcohol injections

Banding

Lasers

CA

[dixieman]

Best bet is to consult your physician... I had my roids cut out... I was awake the whole time... thank god my doctor was nice looking...but, if mine had burst on their own he said I would have bled to death... so it was not an option for me... having the treatment in the emergency room did not matter about the pain.. they did a local, drip etc... 1st time in months my hole was not in pain... oh, I even walked around and went shopping at the malll after the surgery... UNTIL the awakening started up... no pain pill could give me relief.. and I have to wear under-gards... I lived off of jello and soup for 3 weeks... I did not want to consume solids... crackers, cottage cheese, soup and jello... I dreaded of ever going to the bathroom for a long time after the intial surgery... I had to sleep on my stomach for several weeks and dare I move... then one day the pain subsided and I was at last renewed.. So check out the options your doctor recommends... then get it over with... you'll remember this pain but, I'm sure... as all pain goes will visit another area of the body that will outdo this.... its a part of life... I wish you great success and get it done... enough with procrastination...

[livingpos]

Hi Carolann

Having had 3 similar procedures in the last 1.5 years I can sympathize. Whatever procedure your surgeon uses, you're likely to need some self-administered TLC afterwards. A few tips I learned along the way (sorry if they sound a little crass I tried to put it as nicely as possible)

(1) give yourself a couple of days to recover before trying to go back to work or normal routines, at least 3 days if you can
(2) lying in a warm bath really helps ease the pain ( I did that at least twice a day)
(3) ask for a strong pain killer, i got some tramal, and take it before a bowel movement (it killed the pain within 15 mins)
(4) when you do have to go....curse every injustice under the sun as loudly as possible
(5) to clean up afterwards, get some really soft tissues, wet them and pat gently, don't rub
(6) for extra comfort get a topical anesthetic that contains lidocaine or something similar
(7) panty liners to protect your underwear
( avoid spicy foods and ask for a stool softener if you think you might need it

The pain is manageable and its amazing how quickly the body heals itself. Don't be scared, you'll be happy when its all over and done with.

wish you all the best
Jonathan

[Carolann]

Thank you two guys for your insight. Today my appointment went well. After chatting it up a bit with the intake nurse, she told me to relax and walked me into the dreaded room. The nurse then told me to undress from the waste down and to put on the hospital gown. To my surprise, she was the assisting nurse which was kind of uncomfortable because I had shot the breeze with her earlier and now she was going to know me very intimately.

The doctor had a dry sarcastic tone, which made me nervous at first. He had a yeah, yeah attitude when I wanted to tell him about my symptoms, and where I was feeling the pain. \" Yes, I will see all of it for myself.\" he told me. \"Yes you will, I said. \" I kind of wished I had waited another month to get a woman  doc, but oh well, I was very obedient and assumed the postion.

The doctor chose to band the suckers. For those of you unfamiliar, banding involves pulling the roid forward and rubber banding it with a microscopic black washerlike rubberband, all through a very well lubed probe, and through it a scope and I imagine the banding device.

The most painful part of the procedure was the actual evaluation with the anal intruder probe, which hurt like hell because it irritated an already painful situation. After the initial pain, I felt a click, and he asked me how that was. I said it felt fine. \"Good cause that\'s all the pain your are going to feel when I am banding.

All in all he said my roids were mild, and not really as bad as the other reports from the gastrointerology reports stated.

He doubted that my roids had been the cause of the severe anemia, and said that I should insist they do more studies on me. I told him that when the bleeding stopped, my blood counts became normal, but he was still not convinced. I don\'t know, it may be coincidental that all the bright red blood, came with the pain right where I told him the buggers would be.

Anyway, he said the bands and the dead roids should fall off in a week or so. I hope this is the end of the hemmie horrors.

I am glad I bit the bullet and had this taken care of. Who knows what it will be like when I have to visit the throne tomorrow. Wish me luck.

CA

[Queen Tokelove]

Glad you made it through the procedure..But has a questions..Does roids itch? I have something going on with my trunk. I was told awhile ago that they were skin tags...Are those the same as roids? Am embarrassed about getting a colonoscopy much less whatever these things are that I have..But I guess if I can get pap smears, I can deal with this...

[Carolann]

Yes, they itch horribly, and I never feel clean down there since the roids worsened. It is called pruritis, and there may be some discharge. You may not need a colonoscopy. A less invasive exam will be able to spot them because they are usually near the exit. If they are really bad, they can descend out of the anus and have to be manually put back after pooping. They are common (50% of people have them) , but many people only get them taken care of when they decide to stop living with the pain. The doc said that most people can handle bleeding and not going to the doc because they feel embarrassed. They usually come in to see him when the pain gets unbearable. For me it was Anemia and pain. I hate the itching!!!!!!!


Get them checked out, sometimes a fiber diet is all you need to get better.


Take Care,


CA

[Cerrid]

I'm currently on sclerotherapy (alcohol injections) for the roids and it's a very mild procedure. Like rubber banding, it takes about 7-10 days to clear. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't choose the pride month, tho.

@ Queenie:
I don't know about your skin tags, but pap smears are to check for HPV and anal warts. Roid diagnosis is done with a little tube, you don't necessarily need a colonoscopy for this. Apart from roids and warts, there can be other uncomforting issues involved down there, like parasites or anal herpes. Let your butt doc check it, there's no need for shame. They are used to this.

[DanielMark]

Carolann,

Four years ago I had hemorrhoids in conjunction with a severe case of anal warts gone rampant for six agonizing months before I could get them both removed. So, although I can't address your situation per se, I can tell you that I had a general anesthetic and laser surgery, and neither has returned since (alleluia). The healing from that was just a few short days, and the pain of healing was nothing compared to what I had lived through prior.

Hope you get some relief soon.

Daniel

[dixieman]

Carolann, I'm glad you went and had the roids taken care of... thinking of you and wishing you a super healing recovery... John

[Carolann]

All in all the surgery has gone better than I thought. The I still feel minor discomfort, and some bleeding, I was expecting much worse. The pruritis is worse as well. But it is worth it to have some sembalnce of a near normal colon. Nevertheless, it is stressful because my t-cells hav dipped below 300 and I fear infection.

I am also fighting some sort of lung infection which is producing a light green sputum. I am going in tomorrow to have that checked out. PCP produces a dry cough or very clear sputum, but I am still worried because I am vulnerable with a percentage of 15 and low cd4s. I am now on antibiotics for PCP, time to buckle down and be optimistic, even though it is hard.

CA