My experience with Hem’s and THD Doppler Surgery
Hey guys,
Wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else. I’ll try to keep this as short as possible without leaving out the important details. Feel free to ask me any q’s.
31M. Played baseball for 17 years, regularly exercise, and eat pretty healthy. I do drink alcohol, but nothing excessive. I’ve dealt with hemorrhoids for about 10 years, and noting I also have an extremely sensitive stomach.
The first few years were manageable. I saw a doctor who basically told me it was “normal” and not to worry because “everyone gets them.” Over the next several years, things got worse, so I went through the long list of home remedies: hydrocortisone cream, Dr. Butler’s ointment, Tucks, Forces of Nature, daily fiber, multiple suppositories, sugar, Hem-Control pills, ginger root, some Chinese remedies I found online, and probably more that I’m forgetting.
The things that helped me the most were Dr. Butler’s and Forces of Nature. I also think the Hem-Control pills started helping after a few months of consistent use. After a few years, these things were no match for my hemorrhoids, which were gaining evil power and multiplying in numbers. I don’t really think I was doing anything wrong, maybe it’s just genetics? I do work a corporate office job so I sit for a living, but I don’t think sitting in a chair is the issue? I was always very cognizant of how long I sat on the toilet too, never more than a couple minutes.
My triggers (things that would make them flare up) were:
- Standing for long periods
- Hiking
- Work/relationship stress
- Music concerts/festivals
- Alcohol
- Diarrhea from eating something that wrecked my stomach
& sometimes they would just hurt out of nowhere.
Eventually, things got to the point where I had a few prolapsing grade 3 hemorrhoids along with several painful internal hemorrhoids. It was controlling my life/my life revolved around my next bowel movement. I was also seeing blood in my stool pretty consistently. sometimes honestly a scary amount. One day I even bled through my pants at work and had to sneak home to change. After every BM, I had to lay down for at least 10 minutes until I could push my hem’s back in with my finger (being horizontal helped the prolapsing hemorrhoids relax due to blood flow/pelvic floor physics.) If I didn’t do this, they would stay prolapsed.
I asked my PCP for a referral to a gastroenterologist for a colonoscopy.
Unrelated, but during the colonoscopy there was an issue with IV infiltration. I was awake for the entire thing and actually felt a lot of pain, but couldn’t really muster the strength to speak up. It sucked.
Anyway, they found “several” internal and external hemorrhoids — a few in each quadrant, whatever that means. They also found 3 polyps that they removed during the colonoscopy: 10mm, 9mm, and 6mm. The doctor said it was “very good” that I came in because this was an incidental finding that could have turned into something worse (cancer) if not caught early.
After that, I was referred to a colorectal surgeon to discuss options. For my specific case, the doc recommended THD Doppler surgery (minimally invasive). For those unfamiliar, this procedure involves ligating the arteries supplying blood to the hemorrhoids and then repositioning the prolapsed tissue back into place. It’s all done internally through the anus with a pretty large ultrasound-guided tool thing... use your imagination.
After a ton of research, I decided to go through with the THD Doppler surgery.
Surgery date: 4/30/26
Writing this post on: 5/17/26
The surgery itself took about 1.5-2 hours.
Prep:
- Nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before
- Saline enema 2 hours before arriving at the surgery center
Honestly, the prep was a breeze compared to colonoscopy prep. Iykyk.
SURGERY RECOVERY:
Day 1 (evening/day of surgery)
- Very little pain (surgery meds still in my system)
- Only drank water
- Took 1 Percocet
- They used a catheter during surgery(to my surprise lol) so urinating afterward was extremely painful. I actually couldn’t pee the entire first day and the only way to get myself to pee, was submerged in a bath.
- Took multiple doses of stool softeners as instructed
Day 2:
- Moderate pain
- Ate blueberries, oatmeal, banana
- Drank lots of water
- Took 1 Percocet (trying hard to avoid them because of constipation)
- Continued stool softeners
Day 3:
- Pain increasing
- Ate half a turkey wrap, overnight oats, fruit
- Tried to poop. Produced about 1/4 of a baby carrot-sized poop lol. Extremely painful.
- Chicken noodle soup for dinner
- Took 2 Percocets because the pain was really ramping up
Day 4:
- Horrible pain, meds barely helping
- Still no bowel movement (starting to get worried)
- Chicken noodle soup again
- Took 2 Percocets
- Milk of magnesia, more laxatives, and a crazy amount of water
Day 5:
- Overnight oats
- Açaí bowl with banana, peanut butter, and granola
- Called the doctor because I still hadn’t pooped. They recommended a suppository laxative, which I DoorDashed around 3pm.
- Had really bad pain in my testicles and colon/anus. probably from constipation?
Finally had a bowel movement around 3:45pm.
Absolutely horrible pain. Chunky blood. Stool was somewhat firm and it felt like my butthole was ripping apart. I had to push really hard.
Another bowel movement around 6:20pm. Even worse pain. I was literally screaming into a towel while hunched over on the toilet. Got into a bath afterward, which helped a little.
I honestly got a little scared because I live alone and genuinely thought I might pass out from the pain while sitting on the toilet. It was THAT bad. I thought I had a high pain tolerance, but this was on another level.
Day 6:
- Large bowel movement in the morning
- Felt like my bowels were finally moving again
- Still extremely painful
- Took a warm bath immediately after
- Lost about 8-10 pounds since surgery
- completely stopped the Percocets because I thought they may have caused a constipation. Switched to Tylenol.
Day 7:
- Morning bowel movement still very painful, but slightly better than days 5-6
- Pain came and went throughout the day
- Some moments with almost no pain at all
Days 8-9:
- Morning bowel movements still painful, but nowhere near as bad
Day 10:
- regressed, very painful bowel movement
- Definitely needed to keep taking stool softeners
- “Saw stars” during this one lol
Days 11-13:
- Bowel movements still pretty painful
- Continued stool softeners
Days 14–17:
- Bowel movements only slightly painful now
- Finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel
At this point, I can’t fully tell if the surgery worked 100% yet. I’m still healing. From what I’ve read, it can take a few months to really know.
My health insurance app says they charged $9k for the surgery. Insurance coverage still pending.
That said, one of my external hemorrhoids has only prolapsed slightly after one particularly painful bowel movement, so it does seem like the surgery is helping so far? Because I was prolapsing after every single bowel movement before the surgery.
Since the surgery I’ve really been taking it easy, working from home in bed, standing as little as possible, not sitting in a chair or driving a car, no weight lifting, no alcohol, etc.
I’ll keep you guys posted.