Success (soon) story

Hi Y’all. Posting using a throwaway for privacy reasons, but I’d (M30) like to share before I get on with my life after having this condition.

— pre operation (can skip to operation section)

As my background, I live in Japan and somehow developed an anal fistula. I think I’ve had this for around 5 years already, and originally thought i had some anal fissures due to it tearing usually during BMs.

I think it was after a year or two since I’ve had it when i saw some post on a japan sub about what to do about anal fisture (or was it hemorrhoids?) and people recommended going to a proctology clinic.

Tbh, all those times, I didn’t know what kind of expert i should see because this condition isn’t something you hear growing up, and it’s a bit embarrassing to open this up to friends and family. On top of that, even if i do know where to go, I worry about the language barrier with Japanese doctors.

So I booked an appointment and i mentioned i have anal fissures and the doctor was confused as to why i think i have it, but after more touch inspection, he said i have hemorrhoids and just gave me medicines for it and to ask me not to be constipated, and also to come back after two weeks.

The hemorrhoid cream helped a bit, but obviously didn’t fix it. when i came back, i was just told that it’s fixed (it wasn’t). Most doctors here aren’t really good unfortunately.

Every year i come back, usually around summer when it peaks uncomfortable-ness, and always get told the same thing.

Around november-december last year, i came back to have it checked again, and it was the usual come back after two weeks, but during that two weeks, i found this sub and read the experience was the same as what i had and thought i finally found the term for it. I googled the Japanese word for it and when i went back to the clinic, i told the doctor i had it and he doesn’t want to believe it because from his probing, he couldn’t find anything (which was surprising because i saw the outside wound before going) and he did an ultrasound and finally saw it. He said (in Japanese) that it’s a shallow one (superficial) and that it’s simple to fix with day surgery, but that i have to schedule a colonoscopy first to check for chrons.

Thankfully, i didn’t have it and scheduled fistulotomy on March 3.

— operation and recovery

Come operation day, the most painful part was being injecting with a caudal block anesthesia through my tailbone, and after it took effect, i was put under and when i woke up, it was done and i was sent home. I was asked to come again the next day then every 2 weeks for checks. I wasn’t allowed to do bathtubs and putting soap on it, so i only ran water by pointing the shower on my lower back. I was only allowed to do bath tubs after a month, and i was allowed to go back to the gym too.

I didn’t poop until the 4th day after surgery, but because of the meds and diet change, my poops were so soft and didnt have a hard time, but it did sting a lot when there are poop on the wound, so i always quickly run to the shower to run water through it (i couldnt use japanese bidets worrying it would hit the wound) to get some relief and cleaning.

For maintenance, i just wedge some gauze between my butt cheeks and put woven tapes to prevent it from slipping. I change it twice a day or more if i poop. I didn’t have drainage that really soaked the gauze. I also bought a small mirror i squat on top of, with flashlight so i can inspect it while doing maintenance.

Also, i was prescribed へもポリゾン (hemopolizon, hemmoroid cream) so i inject(?) it twice a day.

My last visit was May 3 and i was told that it healed already, even though there’s still some open wound which is getting smaller by the day. I can kind of see the scar if i look too hard, but i don’t really notice it that much, so im about to finally be done with it.

With regard to work, i took the week of surgery off, but I was actually able to work for a bit the next day (i wasnt forced, i do it when im bored), but only while standing. I also informed my office that i will be working remotely until i recover (i work in it, so remote is fine). I kind of regretted taking days off for the whole first week tbh because i was able to fully function, with some mild discomfort.

Anyway, i know everyone’s case is different, and mine is probably on the less worse side of things, but I still want to share it before i move on and un subscribe to this sub with my main account.

Thanks for everyone sharing their stories.

PS. English is my second language, sorry for my mistakes.