The exploratory surgery on my fistulae and Jpouch yesterday revealed pouchitis. This is the first time, after 5 or 6 pouchoscopies since 2009, that a scope has revealed pouchitis. Normally everything is nice and healthy pink, with just some irritation near the cuff. So, now I'm back on flagyl for 2 weeks (you may recall that I got taken off flagyl just recently because of candida infection, after being on it continually for 2 years). This time, I'm going to limit sugar intake (no bubble gum chewing marathons), and take my VSL#3 diligently to try and keep the bad yeasties away.
Believe it or not, that was the good news.
The bad news is the fistulae.
My right buttock was an extensive cave system of fistulae, 3 with setons and 2 without setons - draining freely. Rather than collagen plugs or leaving the network of interconnected setons in place, the surgeon opted for an extensive fistulotomy. I trust his decision because I trust him implicitly, but it is still an unexpected outcome which I was not prepared for. When I got home last night and removed a thick wad of blood-soaked gauze and looked in a hand-held mirror, it revealed my right buttock has a 3 dimensional diorama of the Grand Canyon carved deeply into it. The sight was so gruesome, I had to look away.
For those of you not familiar with fistulotomy (as I was not until now), the fistulas are cut open and a wide "v" canyon is cut into the tissue so the wound heals from the bottom up, rather than being sutured closed.
When I Binged images of "fistula" the night before surgery to show my partner what a fistula plug was (which is what I was expecting), I saw some photos of the aftermath of fistulotomy surgery and said, "at least I'm not as bad off as these poor bastards." I guess I forgot to knock on wood, 'cause now I am one of those poor bastards.
The recovery instructions call for sitz baths after each BM, but the sitz bath won't fit on my toilet because the Coco bidet is in the way. Any suggestions on solving that would be greatly appreciated. Maybe the sitz bath is more important than the bidet for a while? Don't know.
Believe it or not, that was the good news.
The bad news is the fistulae.
My right buttock was an extensive cave system of fistulae, 3 with setons and 2 without setons - draining freely. Rather than collagen plugs or leaving the network of interconnected setons in place, the surgeon opted for an extensive fistulotomy. I trust his decision because I trust him implicitly, but it is still an unexpected outcome which I was not prepared for. When I got home last night and removed a thick wad of blood-soaked gauze and looked in a hand-held mirror, it revealed my right buttock has a 3 dimensional diorama of the Grand Canyon carved deeply into it. The sight was so gruesome, I had to look away.
For those of you not familiar with fistulotomy (as I was not until now), the fistulas are cut open and a wide "v" canyon is cut into the tissue so the wound heals from the bottom up, rather than being sutured closed.
When I Binged images of "fistula" the night before surgery to show my partner what a fistula plug was (which is what I was expecting), I saw some photos of the aftermath of fistulotomy surgery and said, "at least I'm not as bad off as these poor bastards." I guess I forgot to knock on wood, 'cause now I am one of those poor bastards.
The recovery instructions call for sitz baths after each BM, but the sitz bath won't fit on my toilet because the Coco bidet is in the way. Any suggestions on solving that would be greatly appreciated. Maybe the sitz bath is more important than the bidet for a while? Don't know.
