Bright red blood in toilet water 3 days after anal fissure cauterization – Is this normal? Need advice/experiences!
Hi everyone,
I had a minor surgical procedure a few days ago and I am currently very anxious about whether my recovery is going normally. Here is the exact timeline of what happened:
Friday (3 days ago), 10:00 AM: Woke up, used the bathroom, and noticed a minimal amount of bright red blood on the toilet paper after wiping. My GP diagnosed me with "bleeding hemorrhoids" without a physical exam. Wanting a proper check, I went straight to a proctologist/surgeon. He examined me and diagnosed a chronic anal fissure on the left side. He said it needed to be cauterized/ablated. I was put under short anesthesia for a 10-minute outpatient surgery. Woke up with minor pain on the bottom left, completely manageable. No bleeding when I got home.
Saturday, 11:00 AM: Follow-up appointment. The surgeon wasn't available, so a medical assistant checked the area. She said the cauterized spot was visible and everything looked fine. She just told me: "If it bleeds, come back."
Monday (Today), 2:30 PM: I had my first somewhat larger/firmer bowel movement since the surgery. When I looked into the bowl, I freaked out: the toilet water was completely dyed red. The first wipe was bloody, but the second wipe was already completely clean. So the bleeding stopped immediately.
I called the surgeon’s office right away. They just told me to "keep observing/monitoring it for now."
My questions for the community:
Is it normal to see this much bright red blood (enough to dye the water) 3 days after cauterization during a firmer bowel movement? Could the scab have been torn off already?
Has anyone gone through cauterization for a chronic fissure? What was your recovery like in the first week?
What are your best tips for keeping stool consistently soft so this doesn't happen again tomorrow? (I’m thinking about getting Macrogol/Movicol tomorrow morning).
Thanks in advance. I’m honestly terrified of my next bowel movement right now.