The continuing saga of my bottom problems

Ok, I'd better update this journal with what's happened in the last 6 weeks. And, I'm sorry, that includes problems with my rear end.

Mum and Dad went off to China for two and a half weeks, and I looked after the house and Con, our pet cockatoo. I visited Andrew and Alissa a few times in their new house, including a house-warming party with their friends. That was a lot of fun. I did my own shopping, getting around by bus and walking. Looking after Con wasn't so bad, but he was clearly unhappy by about half-way through from lack of attention.

Mum and Dad returned with a whole lot souvenirs, stories, and a shitload of crappy digital photos. Life has returned to relative normalcy. Well, except Mum has developed a liking for certain Chinese foods, despite complaining about the food while she was over there.

Now, onto my bum. On Mum and Dad's first day in China (Shanghai), I went and saw my regular doctor. Unlike the previous doctor (described two journals ago), this one did a proper *ahem* examination. By that time I had found a little lump of something inside, near my anus/rectum. He found it too and thought it was a bit of scar tissue, moving around freely. He didn't give me anything, except advising me to head off to hospital if it got bad.

I continued having odd aches and pains but really wanted to avoid rushing off to hospital because of the inconvenience it would cause i.e Andrew and Alissa would have to look after Con, which they've never done before. So I walked every day, hoping that the exercise would help. It might have. On the Saturday night before Mum and Dad came home it flared up badly and I was so close to going off to hospital. But it eventually settled down after a bunch of toilet trips (relieving the pressure?).

I wanted to see a doctor again. My regular doctor wasn't immediately available, so I first saw another, a Chinese woman this time. She examined me too and even stuck a rectoscope in to have a good look. She thought I had scar tissue on a sphincter muscle and proscribed a rectogesic, containing glyceryl trinitrate. So, three times a day I'm sticking nitroglycerine up my bum! It's helped a lot, but I still get the occasional strange pain. It makes me wonder if I actually have two problems down there at the same time, complicating matters.

When I did get to see my regular doctor, he said I should make an appointment with the surgeon that relieved my abscess (back in March) to see what he thinks. So that's where I am now - tomorrow morning I see the surgeon. I'm hoping he'll know what to do to fix this long-running problem. I'm not looking forward to more surgery, but that's probably what is required and likely what a surgeon would want to do, after all.

Update: The surgeon's diagnosis is that I have a fistula. It's not fun. I go in for surgery next Thursday at our newly re-opened private hospital. Lets hope this clears things up and I don't develop any more problems down there, at least for a while.