Tips

Diet:

Find out if you are allergic to anything. Foods that upset your gut will make it harder for your fistula to heal. If you find that eating wheat/gluten/dairy/sugar etc makes your stomach upset, then change your diet and take those foods out of your diet. The ‘cleaner’ and ‘healthier’ your bowel movements are, the more chance you have of your fistulas healing, or your surgical procedures working.

Tips on how to live with setons:

If you have an office job, put a donut pillow on your chair. Not only does this make you more comfortable, but it will stop some of the pressure caused by sitting on your bottom. If you sit down too long and have pressure on your seton, you could cause another infection or stop your fistula from healing as well.

You will need to wear pads while you have a seton in place because the fistula is constantly draining with pus and sometimes blood. Using a really soft hospital pad will make life much more comfortable. There are Propac pads available for you from your nurse or doctor, these are really soft, with a sort of cotton wool inside. The least pressure you can put on your bottom, the better. Using a hard sanitary pad may not be as comfortable. Soft hospital pads can also be pushed up into between your bottom cheeks a little bit so that they catch all the pus, and you don’t have a wet uncomfortable feeling. They should stay in place if you fold them and push them in between your bottom cheeks.

Make sure you wash your bottom every time you go to the toilet. Hygiene is so important with fistulas. Bacteria can cause another infection. If you have a bidet at home, that’s perfect. If you don’t, then get into the shower and wash your bottom after you have had a bowel movement. If you are out somewhere and can’t wash you bottom, then make sure you have some wet towels in your bag, and gently wipe your bottom with those until you get somewhere that you can wash properly. Baby wipes are fine for this.

The seton is tied together with a knot. If you notice that the seton has moved around and the knot has gone up inside your anus or the fistula exit hole, then you need to go to your doctor or nurse and have the seton pulled back around. If the knot is inside scratching around, you could cause another infection. Checking your seton with a mirror every day to make sure it is still in place is a good idea.

Keeping infection at bay:

Hygiene is so important when you have a fistula. Washing your bottom after bowel movements in essential. You can also get a bottle of ‘pink wash’ from your nurse or doctor, this is a pink liquid disinfectant that you can use in the shower to keep infection away. If you have a bowel movement somewhere where there is no shower for you to use, then use wet towels. I always have them in my bag, and just use the baby wipes to clean if I can’t use a shower.

 

Exercise:

Rigourous exercise can irritate your fistula. If you are going to exercise, choose low impact exercise such as a slow paced walk, and always stop if you are in pain or uncomfortable. If you have complicated fistulas, you may not be able to exercise at all until they are healed.

Preparing for Surgery:

You will probably be asked to do an enema, if you feel you can’t do it because it’s too painful or uncomfortable with the seton in, don’t worry, they will do one whilst you’re under anesthetic anyway. But do it if you feel you can. You will also be asked not to eat or drink for 12 hours before the surgery. If you are feeling very anxious when you arrive at hospital, ask the anesthesiologist to give you a sedative, this will relax you completely before going in, and you probably won’t even remember being put to sleep in the operating theatre.