abscess - is this normal (sorry if this is the wrong place to post)

Hi everyone

I am probably posting this in the wrong place and for that I apologise in advance. I do not have Crohn's Disease but I have a problem that it seems like many of you have experience with and I couldn't find the right place to post this.

2 and a half weeks ago I had a posterior vaginal repair and anal sphincter repair surgery due to an obstetric injury years ago. 10 days after surgery I was readmitted for IV antibiotics for a perineal abscess that developed due to an infected blood clot (the explanation the colorectal surgeon gave me). It spontaneously drained and the antiobiotics were stopped after 24 hours and replaced by a seven day course of augmentin duo (which I finished about 2 days ago). I felt really great last week when I got home and like I hadn't even had surgery or an abscess, although there is still some skin raised and left over from the abscess area.

The problem is that the last 3ish days I have had a real increase in pain. It has become hard to sit and walk. The pain radiates into my butt cheek stemming from where the abscess was. I have noticed an increase in discharge and a change in the colour of it from a rusty colour to a more yellow colour. Today I pushed near the area and had a good amount of discharge come through a hole in the abscess area (from where I think a stitch was in place) which has made the pain a little better, that or the voltaren I have taken has started kicking in.

I was just wondering if this increase of pain and discharge is a concern or is part of the healing process and how long I should expect to feel this pain. It's very disheartening to have been going really well last week and now feel so yuck. I would like to go to a dr however my GP has just moved clinics and there are no doctors in the area that I think I could trust with something like this. I would really like to avoid going back to the emergency at the hospital, especially if it is something that can be treated with antibiotics or something. I also can't just call the surgeon and ask, to speak to them would probably mean a trip to ED first.

Thanks again and like I said, sorry if this is in the wrong place. I really didn't know what else to do.

NK

I agree with Ides. Unfortunately, I don't think that what's happening to you is part of a normal healing process, and I think that you should seek medical intervention as soon as possible. So sorry that you're continuing to suffer with this--it doesn't seem fair, does it? But please get some help, even if it's really inconvenient (which it sounds as if it is). I hope that somebody can end this nightmare for you, so that your life can get back to normal.

Hi ninjakat, sorry to hear about your troubles and I hope you start feeling better soon! I don't know much about fistulas, but my boyfriend went through something similar 4 months ago. He had excruciating anal pain (we thought was hemmeroids) that ended up being a horseshoe fistula and he needed surgery to repair it (had setons put in). As I understand it, setons cut off circulation around the abscess so it can't continue to spread. The wound/abscess stays open to allow the infection/pus to drain out slowly as it heals itself.

At first, the drainage issue made him depressed. We were not adequately prepared and the surgery hadn't been properly been explained to us...we didn't know what to expect, but when the drainage issue came up, we were both a little freaked out. Luckily, he only had drainage for 3-4 weeks at which point it gradually "dried up" and now it no longer drains.

For it to reach your sphincter, it sounds like it's pretty "high" up there. My boyfriend's horseshoe fistula was higher on one side than the other, but no danger of getting too close to his sphincter though. I've read there can be issues with anal incontinence if the seton cuts that high, as it is cutting through the muscle. I'm not totally 100% on this, so I could be wrong. Anyway, hope this was helpful. I found some very informative links through this site.

I know it seems hopeless right now. The pain can be hard to bear and mentally taxing. But after your seton surgery, and it starts to heal and drain, you'll start to have less pain. It's kind of a slow and long process of gradually feeling better. My boyfriend probably started feeling better about 2 weeks after his seton surgery, and now he is 4 months post-op and pain-free! No pain from the setons anyway, but he still has IDB issues (stomach pain, frequent bowel movements). Anyway, I know its hard, but just know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! As our doctor said to us just before surgery, "in a few months, you're going to look back on this like it was a just nightmare". Take care, and I hope you have a good support system :)