So following a week of constipation, yes great fun and a stomach ache which progressivly got worse, I made a trip to our local small hospital and told the on-call dr my symptoms and how I was not feeling well. She did what every single person does when you go to hospital and check the urine sample. As always when my crohns is bad, my urine sample came back testing positive for infection (for 4 different tests) So I was sent home with some antibiotics despite the pain being my back passage not my front passage which I had very clearly told her! You'd think with her having asked my medical history therefore knowing I had crohn's would have realised that it was not Urine related!
A trip to the G.P (who is also a surgeon) the following evening resulted in him putting his fingers where the sun doesn't shine and being anal probed. My G.P is the sort of G.P who actually does listen, he's great to be honest. He phoned up the hospital and told me that I'd need to go in now for emergency surgery as he had felt a "bigger than a tennis ball" sized peri-anal abcess.
As mentioned in a previous blog, surgery has always been my biggest fear. So when my G.P mentioned the word surgery, it was more than enough to break me down into tears. I've never had surgery before so was extremely terrified.
Upon arrival to hospital surgical ward (severe worst pain ever) I had to wait for 2 hours for any pain relief due to the fact that it was the doctors switch over time! Those were the most unbearable 2 hours in my life! I could not sit nor stand and actually ended up taking over the pre-admission examination bed! There should have been at least one doctor on who could have given pain relief, even mild like a paracetamol?
The following day, 6th of December I had my first ever surgical procedure.
22 hours after my surgery (tennis ball sized perianal abcess) I was sent to discharge unit... Luckily the surgeon who operated was outside the ward and saw me with packed bags and asked what was happening. I told him how I was still in agony, had not been to the toilet. My G.P (who is also a surgeon) had told me it'd be suitable for me to be in for at least 4-5 days with relation to my heart condition and no knowledge on how a General Anaesthetic would affect me. So after huge discussion with the ward sister nurse and the surgeon I was kept in for further 5 days.
The following day they were sure I needed further surgery, so had me nil by mouth (fair enough), however a trauma happened so surgery was postponed (yes, fine with that). The following day, nil by mouth, then told no surgery actually needed, no examination etc needed either - so 2 days of no fluids/food for no reason - obvious with my heart condition where I need to maintain 7 liters and excess salt I was blacking out left right and center - therefore causing havoc for the nurses with me being unconscious on the floor!
I was never told anything about what to expect after the surgery, so when it came to the fact I passed a LOT of blood out of my backside, I had no idea that this was "normal" after the type of surgery I had just had!!! You think they'd tell you what had happened and what you would expect from such surgery. As a result of this amount of blood which I had no idea that it was actually normal, I was absolutely scared. Why hadn't I been told that blood following abcess removal was normal?
There have also been numerous confusions with my medications, my gastroenterologist says for me to go back onto the azathioprine now home and the infliximab.... yet the surgeon has told me to stay off them until my sugical review in 5 weeks time! The immunosuppresants caused the abcess in the first place! However, without the immunosuppresants I go into a flare. The Surgeon and the Gastroenterologist just don't seem to talk between themselves and I have no idea which one I am supposed to actually go with and listen to!!!
What chaos.... hmm my first ever surgery incident (been lucky so far) and now I seem to be even more worried about any further surgical procedures that may happen in the future.
Letter received on the 16th December from the doctor following my surgery - so it appears it was my mother who had surgery and not myself? Weird...
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