uh oh! "popped" a stitch...11 days post surgery

Hi all,

My healing is going great and I am 11 days post-op. I have had zero discharge and zero bleeding since the surgery. However last night while taking a BM, I had some bright red bleeding right afterwards. I called my doctor's office immediately. It was a tablespoon or two's worth from what I can tell.

I realized that for the past few days I've forgotten to take my stool softener. The result was that I had become uncomfortably constipated by yesterday evening. Unfortunately against my better judgment I strained a bit while on the toilet. After a few minutes I realized that this was a BAD IDEA and gave up. When I went into the living room to resume a movie that I was watching with friends i felt what I thought was urine. Half an hour later I got up to go back to the bathroom and saw bright red blood. Yikes!

Though it seemed that I had stopped bleeding, I called my doctor immediately. Amazingly he was the on-call doctor last night and called me back about 45 minutes later (why on earth does it take them so long?)

He said that i most likely popped a stitch, but as long as the bleeding had stopped I should be ok, but just to keep and eye on it and to call if the bleeding resumed.

Anyone else have this problem? I am back to taking my stool softener. My doc mentioned using a mild laxative as well. Unfortunately I have only had bad experiences with laxatives. He said to try a senna based one first....First, I am waiting to see if things work themselves out today, so if not, I'll go the laxative route tomorrow.

Suggestions? I did have a small BM this morning, but know there is more to follow. I don't want to exacerbate the problem and am quite honestly a bit nervous about my bowels. Being on pain medication certainly helps with the pain, but i am also worried that it keeps me from feeling some amount of normal pain causing me to be over-confident in my daily activities. I don't believe my constipation is a direct result of my pain meds, but it certainly most likely isn't helping.

I have a short overnight trip tomorrow night up to Toronto and am going to Switzerland in a month for a wedding. Healing up well and being a good patient is my reward for taking care of myself. (doctor approved of course.) I am generally not very good at this being a classic type A personality who can't stand sitting still. I am def. playing it by ear and listening to my body, but I am quite afraid of getting an infection of any sorts from this seeming tear. Are the chances of this happening very high?

thanks,


Julie
!

I kept taking stool softeners for about 4 weeks or so. I just didn't want to take any chances and they weren't causing me any problems. I had to use glycerin suppositories a few times at the 6-8 day point and then a few times throughout the next few weeks. It just seems to take a long time for the bowels to get back to normal function, so try to stay on top with whatever it is that helps the most. I wouldn't worry about the risk of infection. I think the biggest concern would be popping any more sutures.

aww sweetie I'm so sorry... I have had issues w/ BM's too. My first one was agony. I didn't pop a stitch (which is shocking) but it did cause a lot of pain and it hurts every time I go. I dread it... I'm just trying to eat right and doing some Benefiber... Hang in there it'll get better! (I'm telling myself this too! LOL!)