tiredgirl44

Hi Shinez,
I was just checking back in today to wish you well. I had my 8 wk post-op visit with my CRS today and so far everything looks good. When I saw him 3 weeks ago he was "cautiously optimistic" and now he says he's "optimistic". Yay! He still cautioned me that it's too early to tell for sure that it will work, but right now everything is fine -- no more sign of an internal opening, no signs of infection, nothing other than a bit of yellowish drainage coming from the external opening, which is still healing. So, hopefully this Gore plug will be a success for me and you too!

I wish you all the best tomorrow. I'm sure your doctor will give you specific instructions, and that you've read everything on this board and the "fistula friends" board (there are 2 people posting there that just had the Gore plug last week, so you should check on that site too). The key things are high fiber diet, lots of water, stool softeners, etc --- you don't want to strain at ALL with bm's. My doctor also recommended 3-4 sitz baths a day and said no strenous activity or lifting anything more than 5 lbs for 2 weeks. I gave it more time than that though because the last time I tried it fell out at 3 weeks, just as I started to do more walking/lifting kids/etc. I've been dealing with this for 2 years now and just want it to be over, so I went a little overboard....I didn't really do anything for the first 6 weeks. It was difficult, but if it works, it will be worth it!

The other important thing is to pay attention and call your doctor if anything changes after the first couple of weeks. I felt great at 2 weeks and then started to have more soreness and more drainage at about 3 weeks and called right away. He had me start taking cipro and flagyl to clear up the infection that seemed to be starting and kept me on them for several weeks to be sure that wouldn't hurt the chances of success. He mentioned that 2 of his other patients with the Gore plug had similar experiences at about the 3-4 week post-op mark and that both of them healed completely after being on the antibioitics for a few weeks. As you know, this plug is still pretty new and they're still collecting data on what works best, so if you notice any signs of infection/soreness/swelling/change in drainage, it's probably best to call right away and ask if you should start the antibiotics.

Good luck! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Tired