Seeking Advice - Persistent Pain After APR and Permanent Ostomy

On the 1st of March, I had to have a permanent colostomy with an APR due to rectum cancer.
Since then, I have had so much pain in my anus/tailbone area. I can only seem to stand and sit for about 20 minutes at a time before I have to lay down because of the pain. The other thing is I also seem to have pain in my man jewels...sorry for that but I need the help. Is this normal and when should I be getting past this pain? Everything else seems to be healing up well, it's just that ole butt that hurts...
When I can, I'm able to look back there, it does not seem to be infected, no drainage.
Thank you.

Hello,

My guess would be that you do have some kind of infection causing you pain. It is best to go to the doctor to make sure that is not the reason. You do not want the infection to go untreated, if it is present. I had colon cancer 7 years ago. I did wind up with a bad infection and was put on 2 different antibiotics for about a month. My wound was about the size of a grapefruit and once the infection was cleared up, the doctor prescribed a wound vac to help speed up the healing. I am sending you good positive vibes to help you heal.
Take care of yourself and I know you are wanting things back to normal as fast as possible, but please make sure to give yourself time to heal body and soul. Tina

You had surgery in March? Do you take pain meds? What about chemo? I had the same surgery in Feb 2011 and didn't start to feel right for a year. I still sometimes get a little pain down there and my doc says that's normal because it can take a long time for those nerve endings to quiet down. Word of advice--- NEVER downplay your pain to your doctor. Go ahead and be a big sissy about it. It's the only way to convince them you need some relief.

You had surgery in March? Do you take pain meds? What about chemo? I had the same surgery in Feb 2011 and didn't start to feel right for a year. I still sometimes get a little pain down there and my doc says that's normal because it can take a long time for those nerve endings to quiet down. Word of advice--- NEVER downplay your pain to your doctor. Go ahead and be a big sissy about it. It's the only way to convince them you need some relief.

First off, thank you both for your responses. Currently, I am taking 5mg of oxycodone, 2 1/2 every 3 to 4 hours. The issue with that is I was already taking that before my surgery due to a back injury. I will be starting my post-op chemo at the end of this week. I was told that it prolongs my healing...

Last night, I went to the ER because the pain was just too much, but there was no infection. They told me the pain was normal.

Thank you.

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

They do manhandle you during these surgeries. You can come out feeling like you've done five rounds with Mike Tyson. As someone said, it can take months for your body to recover from some pretty major surgery. All that tissue and muscle knitting and healing is painful. No one should minimize it. The main problem is how are you supposed to know what's normal!!

Hope you start to feel better soon.

Trish/Star