Pelvic rectal MRI today

Hi. don't have any information for you but hope you get good results tomorrow!

Good luck. As annoyed as I was to have a fistula, I was happy when the MRI showed it was truly there, because FINALLY I had proof that I wasn't crazy, and could start definitive care. Keep us posted.

The dye part is just part of the specific MRI test. It enhances the pictures, looks at vessels, can show inflammation and infection that plain photos can't, and a number of other things.

Thanks for responses... here it goes MRI shows inflammation around abcess with a possible fistula but not 100% sure. So he feels that a exploratoy surgery is needed. He wants to see if there isa fistula he will put on a seton if there isn't one he will clean it and I believe pout soe type of medicine in wound?I am in no pain a little sore when it fills up but nothing excruciating... It's more of a mental thing with me and nervousness when the abcess fills up.. I said yes to the surgery it should take about an hour and ill go home same day(: Rachel I know you are happy with the seton and wonder how the recovery was after surgery?

Gina, that sounds like a good plan. Seems like this thing has been simmering for too long. And, no, it is not a mental thing. It's for real. Hopefully, there's no fistula and all that needs doing is drainage and a good cleanout!

Jan

Thanks Jan I really feel relieved to move forward on this whole abcess fistula thing!! As long as my jpouch keeps working ill do anything! I do have a great surgeon and he also told me no complications should arise from this surgery.What do you think is it pretty straight forward like he explained?

Well, I'd like to say it definitely would be easy-peasy, but surgeons tend to make things seem simpler than they really are. But, that said, it sounds like it is not that deep, since it would be a fairly short procedure, so it is not as if he will have to open you up like a big "enter the body cavity" sort of thing. The iffy part is IF there is a fistula, it gets more complex. But, you are in good company here, as there are many who have dealt with this sort of thing.

The downside is that they can recur and can take a long while to resolve. Look how long you have been dealing with it already. But, they can also heal up nicely, never to be heard from again. Just better to be prepared for the long haul, then you are not disappointed.

Jan

The first seton took him a little longer than he anticipated to get in. The inside "hole" of the fistula was small and hard to find, so I was dilated longer than normal (walked like Johm Wayne for a good 5 days after). I only took about 1/3 of a Norco 1-2X a day (yeah, I'm a lightweight) for the first 1-2 days after. Then, it was bearable. I just felt more "violated" than in pain, honestly, mostly from the dilation.

If I'd not had the outlet anastamosis narrow after the seton placement, it WOULD have been easy peasey. Whether that was a complication of the whole ordeal or not, he couldn't say (but I tend to think it might have been related SOMEhow)... Though my fistula is nowhere near my anastamosis or pouch. It's a very small, common, intrasphincteric one. When I was to have it placed, I was of course being a worry wart patient/nurse, and my CRS said, as he explained it, "We have already used too many words to describe it," meaning, it's like a blip on the horizon. (He's German/Austrian, and has a dry sense of humor... And in my case, he was right. It ISN'T terrible.

So yeah, the seton isn't awful at all, especially a week and a half post placement, but cleaning after a BM is a wee more complicated than without one. It gets easier as the days go on. I use a hot washcloth at work, a wet disposable towelette when out, and sitz baths at home when I can. Baths feel particularly nice.

Actually, the I&D of the abscess (when they cut it to facilitate draining) hurt WAY worse than the fistula OR the seton (plus, it was done in the ED with local anesthetic... A lidocaine shot to the anus? omg. NEVER want to be awake for that EVER again! It hurt for a long time, too, I thought it'd never heal. Our J Pouch poos just get "around" more than a formed stool, and it would burn. I suppose someone with normal formed once a day stools have a bit of an advantage over us in ease of healing, if they get one. The cycle of the fistula was painful to me in a burning, spasm-y way. When it would fill and then burst, the "after" burst was soooo relieving. But the seton makes that cycle stop. Honestly, most of the hours of my day, I forget I have my little rubber friend.

I hope you're lucky and escape the fistula, though!

Thanks for all the info.. Rachel your fistula was confirmed through MRI right? I am ready and prepared for this surgery through all the information I received on this forum(: I trust my surgeon and will have great support at home.We do leave mid July for a 3 week vacation in Italy so I hope I am recovered and knowing how to handle whatever I end up with..

Yes, it was confirmed by a pelvic MRI, done with and without contrast.

I hope by July, things are much more even for you. We were going to travel here on May 4-5, but I canceled those plans, because I just wasn't sure. Honestly, had I not had the narrowing and then breaking of the first seton, I think things would have been peachy by now... but I sort of had to start over.

We're taking this year cautiously with this fistula/seton issue, what with traveling. I have vacation time allotted at the end of July, too, but we're staying stateside. I was worried about the beach, and swimming, with this thing, but my CRS said that I'm clear to go wherever and do whatever. He said the beach would be fine... I'd probably draw the line at swimming in iffy waters (like back bay areas or whatnot, like when we'd go clamming when I was younger), but he said pools were definitely fine, so I'm planning on taking me daughter to the pools all summer long!