Rectal pain and pressure back! Need advice.

So, I foolishly wrote that once I started taking stool softeners the rectal pain and pressure had subsided. Well, the honeymoon is over. I had relief for a total of 2 days and WHAM, it has hit me again with a vengeance. I'm miserable. I literally had to spend the entire afternoon in bed the other day so I could lie on the heating pad against my rear. Does anyone have a recommendation? Should I give in and call my surgeon?? I really kept hoping this would pass, but it has become the biggest obstacle to my recovery right now. Feedback is appreciated.

Hi tudibird.  I'm not sure what your surgery involved.  Colostomy, ileostomy, reconnection?  I'm sure there are lots of folks here to advise you but I think we need to know a little more.  Waiting to help if I can,

Mike

Thanks, Mike. Failed to mention, I have an ileostomy and am 5 weeks post-op. I put a call in today to my doctor at Hopkins, and a nurse called me back. She told me to stop taking the stool softeners and would speak to my doc tomorrow. I think I may have screwed up a bit too because I did strain quite a bit the other day because I had so much pressure I was convinced something had to come out. The nurse said all I probably did was worsen the inflammation already there. They did remove about a third of my rectum. Any ideas? Suggestions? If I could get this pain and pressure under control, I'd be doing pretty good on my recovery. This has definitely been the biggest obstacle so far.

I had about 4" of my rectum removed back in November of 2011. Bad news - the pain will take a long time to go away, now maybe not for everybody but for me it was hard. I had my rectal lymph nodes removed also, so a lot of work there. The pain has gotten better, I will say, but I still cannot sit for long periods of time without it aching like crazy. I lived on a heating pad and pain meds for the first 5 months. I tried not to take too many painkillers because I did not want to get addicted, which I didn't, thank God! I wore an ileostomy for 1 year and had my reversal in October of last year. Of course, right after my reversal, I had close to 20 bowel movements a day, ouch! But that has gotten better also. Unfortunately, anything with our guts takes time and lots of it....stay happy and healthy!
Nora

To Latina63 - Thank you so much for your input. Sounds like I might be dealing with this rectal pain for a bit longer (sigh). So glad to hear you got a reversal. That's my hope too. Doctors think I've got a chance for reversal. Keeping fingers crossed.

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

And another thing, the pressure thing (like you need to go and push) I kept that the whole time I had my bag, I would go and have me a good ole phantom BM only nothing would come out except mucus on occasion. The nurse told me to try and not strain, that was hard, but I did do Kegel exercises (squeeze and hold for 10 seconds) which seemed to help me after I had my reversal because I didn't have any accidents. I found out that if I worried about it time crawled and when I finally adapted and accepted time went by so fast...if you have any questions or concerns feel free to ask, I would love to help someone else in a similar situation...

To Latina63 - That is where I would like to get, no longer worrying constantly like I am doing now. I also made the mistake of sitting on the toilet and straining (probably way too hard), and the doctor was quite upset at me and told me to just sit for a minute or two. If nothing comes out, get up off the toilet. I'm hoping I didn't screw things up with all the straining I did prior to his call. I am passing mucus almost every other day. Sometimes when it passes, I finally get relief from the rectal pressure, but other times I still have the pressure even after passing the mucus. Before you got your reversal, did you have to have any additional tests? My doc says I must have a defecating proctogram to make sure my rectum will evacuate properly. I'm nervous because I keep thinking, how will my rectal muscles know what to do after not being used for so many months? Thanks for writing back.

I had terrible rectal pain after my surgery. Come to find out, I had a huge infected abscess growing internally. I first needed to have it drained, cure the infection, and have it surgically removed. I would definitely consult with your surgeon.

Thanks for the feedback, Mark. I have now left messages for the past four days with my surgeon and absolutely no call back. You'd expect better from Hopkins, which was just ranked #1 in the nation, but not so. I'm totally frustrated. All I can do is call again on Monday and bug him. I did speak to one nurse who said she would talk with my surgeon and get back to me - no call back from her either. Geez!