Blister "ouch"

I have been dealing with a perianal abscess for six months now. It is really good in the sense that it is barely there anymore, but I still have to keep up my three sitz baths a day.

If I skip just one of those, my scar site forms a big blister and is very sore. I put cream on it which makes it feel better, but of course I have to sit on the donut again at work.

Usually within a day or two it drains in the sitz bath , but I am on my fifth day! I went away (first time since being diagnosed) for the weekend last week, and both Fri and Sat skipped one of my sitz baths and by Sunday I had the blister.

I guess I am just venting...I shouldn't because I know it could be so much worse(and it was in the beginning, had two emergency surgeries) but it is frustrating.

My GI said he if the next two Remicade infusions had not healed it, he would order a seton drain to be put in. I have one treatment left before I see him in June, but I don't know what his criteria will be. Leave it be as, it is mostly better, or due to the fact I still have to do three sitz baths a day it is considered not healed.

I guess I have a little anxiety over what will happen. I really don't want surgery again, but obviously will deal with whatever comes my way.

Question about getting seton drain: I assume it is an outpatient day surgery, but how long is recovery? I couldn't sit for days after my first surgery, and over a week on my second, meaning I couldn't work. (Office job)

Thanks for reading my ramblings...

Hello Jo. If you look at my reply in this thread, you can see my seton experience: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=18046. It's an older thread, but I like to keep it close, as everything was fresh in my mind then.

An office setting is probably good compared to many, I would guess. I made myself a little bathroom kit for when I was at work which included "dressings" (sanitary napkins), balneol, and a package of those round cloths for makeup removal. For a while, I ate my lunch in the car so I could go home and soak in the tub for 10-15 minutes. It was awesome.

I can't say that a seton isn't without its challenges, but looking back, it's the kind of thing that was met with uncertainty at first, but the kind of thing that just became routine and "normal" after a while. :hug:

I will go read it! Thanks!

sawdust said:

Hello Jo. If you look at my reply in this thread, you can see my seton experience: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=18046. It's an older thread, but I like to keep it close, as everything was fresh in my mind then.

An office setting is probably good compared to many, I would guess. I made myself a little bathroom kit for when I was at work which included "dressings" (sanitary napkins), balneol, and a package of those round cloths for makeup removal. For a while, I ate my lunch in the car so I could go home and soak in the tub for 10-15 minutes. It was awesome.

I can't say that a seton isn't without its challenges, but looking back, it's the kind of thing that was met with uncertainty at first, but the kind of thing that just became routine and "normal" after a while. :hug:

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That was a lot of great information, thanks so much!

Question: Will I still be doing three sitz baths (or more) a day? Sounds like I'll be doing them forever!

JoFowler said:

That was a lot of great information, thanks so much!

Question: Will I still be doing three sitz baths (or more) a day? Sounds like I'll be doing them forever!

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I took three a day for a while, but I took fewer as time wore on. It depended on how much drainage I had, but I really looked forward to them, actually. I would come home from a long day at work and soak in the tub for a while. I found a radio show I really ended up liking. It was so nice to be at home and get that relief that comes with a nice, warm soak in the tub. :hug:

As Sawdust says, sitz baths are the best. I have been traveling without access to a bathtub for 10 days (only showers) and it is hard not to have one. On the plus side a heating pad will go a long way toward helping with pain relief as well. I have an extra long one and it looks like I am using it at work for my back...

I will be travelling in June so I will be packing my ugly yellow sitz bath....and my bright red plaid donut cushion.....lol....but I already know how it can be difficult to get the middle one in when you aren't on a schedule like one is at home! But I will do the best I can and hope for the best

It concerns me that you're on Remicade while you have an abscess. I'm hoping xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx can pop in as well because she knows more about that than I do, but I know it's not used to heal abscesses and many people think it can actually prolong healing. I would be requesting Cipro and Flagyl to help with healing, but if you're wanting quick relief from pressure I always just sat on hard surfaces to try and put as much pressure on it as I could. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, but as soon as it popped I always felt so much better.

Hey Jo,
Bringing a sitz bath with is a great idea! I always assume the hotel will have a bathtub but is seems more common these days to find only showers. I do not have a "real" sitz bath - I always used the tub. How big is the sitz bath?Will it fit in your suitcase?

KWalker said:

It concerns me that you're on Remicade while you have an abscess. I'm hoping xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx can pop in as well because she knows more about that than I do, but I know it's not used to heal abscesses and many people think it can actually prolong healing. I would be requesting Cipro and Flagyl to help with healing, but if you're wanting quick relief from pressure I always just sat on hard surfaces to try and put as much pressure on it as I could. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to do, but as soon as it popped I always felt so much better.

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I have read it heals them in some and not in others. I did take the antibiotics you mentioned for the first 10 weeks. I am concerned that I will be taken off Remicade because of the abscess-but it helps so much with energy and pain elsewhere. It's night and day really! I call it my miracle drug lol

It started draining on Sat, so it is feeling better. I find sitting on hard surfaces to make it much, much worse rather than it popping, it just gets bigger until it pops in the bath. (one time it was so bad it burst while I was in the ER-at least it gave me some relief before the surgery lol)

I guess at this point I just have to wait and see what happens in June, and deal with it in the meantime.

Thanks

Sailorluna said:

Hey Jo,
Bringing a sitz bath with is a great idea! I always assume the hotel will have a bathtub but is seems more common these days to find only showers. I do not have a "real" sitz bath - I always used the tub. How big is the sitz bath?Will it fit in your suitcase?

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It will fit, but it will take up a bunch of room for sure! It might be more worth it to send out 15 bucks and have my friend buy one out there, as I will be flying.

My friend advised me to get that after my first surgery as it is much easier than running a bath 8 times a day(more than back then, after every BM which was frequent before Remicade) and she was so right!

It's funny, right now I have swelling on my toe(ingrown nail maybe?) so I am using my foot bath at the same time as my bum bath hahaha In this case a full on bath would probably be easier LOL :ylol:

I was told I couldn't start the remicade until I had no sign of an abscess, as it could make it worse. Which is why I had to wait until after surgery, which was frustrating.
I think I have read on here somewhere that you can't start remicade if you have an abscess but its different if an abscess forms while you are already on it. But I haven't heard this officially. I see my GI next week and am thinking of asking him about this.
Maybe its because it can cause problems to stop it.
I think the main problem is having an infection, they don't like giving it to you if you are not well.
So is an abscess an infection? The other thing is the remicade can hide signs of infection such as fever etc. So you could be more unwell than you realise.

xX_LittleMissValentine_Xx said:

I was told I couldn't start the remicade until I had no sign of an abscess, as it could make it worse. Which is why I had to wait until after surgery, which was frustrating.
I think I have read on here somewhere that you can't start remicade if you have an abscess but its different if an abscess forms while you are already on it. But I haven't heard this officially. I see my GI next week and am thinking of asking him about this.
Maybe its because it can cause problems to stop it.
I think the main problem is having an infection, they don't like giving it to you if you are not well.
So is an abscess an infection? The other thing is the remicade can hide signs of infection such as fever etc. So you could be more unwell than you realise.

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They did wait until it was a lot better and I was off of the antibiotics. Or I was off them a few weeks after my first dose. I was diagnosed and had my first surgery in Sept., second surgery early Oct. and started Remicade in Dec, and was already on Imuran as well. The abscess and draining are always better following the infusion, but it always comes back

Isn't it awful Jo! When I was new to my abscess I went to the ER and it popped while I was waiting so the doctor sent me home! Of course I was feeling a lot better but there was obviously something still wrong. It would have been much better if it hadn't lol

Wow, I can't believe they sent you home! Was it very deep?

They didn't say much when my burst...but they said the infection was starting to spread outside the abscess at that point and they were worried about it getting into the muscle and tissue. So they went in and cleaned out even deeper than the first time. That was the sickest I've even been though. The day before I had been at my first appointment with my GI and was in the hospital where his clinic is for three hours getting tests, by the time I was driving home I was in so much pain I was crying. I cried most of the night until my fever broke, I am a big wuss when I have a fever that bad! It just feels so horrid!

Had 2 - both are healed and No longer draining or painful. 1 however can and has acted up a tiny bit with an extreme increase in CD.
1 has a seton the other had healed with no seton. Both were treated with an op and both were treated with sitz baths with epsom or sea salt, aloe baths, NO creams of any sort, No donut pillow, No heating pad. Antibiotics before and after. My 'magic' booster that seriously helped was Barley Green Organic Powder mixed with a very small amount of juice - taken 3x a day. How do I know it helped? Because before I used it I was not healing. With it I did heal. You might want to look into it. Who knows it just might help you too.

Hope you feel better soon. XX