December Abscess Scare

As a person with inflammatory bowel disease the possibility of getting fissure’s, abscesses and fistula’s are always in the back of my mind. Last month I had an abscess scare. Thankfully I didn’t end up having one but the process to find that out was not a fun one.

It all started out as rectal pain. I’ve had rectal pain before. Normally while going to the bathroom. Or even after going to the bathroom(normally when I’ve gone 5+ times in a day). But this time the pain was different. I was getting this pain from sitting and walking. Which I’ve never had before. I was hoping it would go away but after about a week and a half of it I ended up calling my GI.

Because my GI is 2.5 hrs away he didn’t have me come in to see him. He thought I had a possible abscess or fissure and wanted me to have my GP check it out. I was able to get in to see my GP the next day thankfully. She did a digital exam and because of how much pain I was in she didn’t want to use the anoscope. She asked me what my GIs plan was and I told her that if I did have an abscess that I’d have to see a surgeon and she decided to get me a referral to see one.

I was able to get in to see a surgeon the next morning. But the same day I saw my GP I also had to have an abdominal pelvis CT scan with IV contrast done. It was the first time I had ever had a CT scan. Thankfully I knew the tech at the hospital where I got my CT done so I felt pretty comfortable during the process.

The biggest problem I had during my CT scan was getting the IV started for the contrast. Apparently my right AC(vein located on the inside of your elbow) also now hates everyone(my left AC also hates everyone, and has for a while). The tech dug in my arm for a little bit before deciding to switch to my left arm. The CT contrast also didn’t bug me too much because I knew what to expect.

The next morning me and my fiance went to go see the surgeon. I never what to have to go through that again. Having fingers shoved up my ass several times to check for abscesses and fissures was not fun. And neither was the anoscope. I was in tears the whole time the exam was happening. The surgeon did not find anything and my CT results came back negative for an abscess.

I sent the surgeon’s findings and my CT results to my GI and waited to hear back from them. My GI decided that I probably had some inflammation in my rectum that was giving me problems. He was going to put me on mesalamine suppositories but I had to explain to my GI nurse why I couldn’t have those and my doctor decided at that point to put me on some hydro-cortisone suppositories instead.

I had to take them twice a day for 7 days and they definitely made a difference. I must of had inflammation down there that was bugging me for a while because I’m definitely feeling much better. I’m also not having one or two bad days a week anymore.

Hopefully my health continues to do well and my rectum continues to behave now that the inflammation is back under control!