I gave birth on 09 September this year and had 3rd degree tearing which involved a tear in my anal canal. I was stitched up after this and was told it will be a 4-6 week recovery period. At about 5 weeks I noticed some discharge from a pimple like sore on my perenium, I went to the doctor who parted the area and a huge load of puss drained out - totally gross. Up until that point I’d been in a lot of pain, so it was a huge relief to have this drained! He was sure it was an abscess and it would drain itself. Unfortunately not…. it turned out to be a fistula, but took 12 weeks to diagnose.

I finally paid to go private and had an operation to lay open the fistula 4 weeks ago. This was really quite a painless procedure and only mildly sore afterwards. Now though I’m told another fistula has most likely formed and I will have to have another operation. Very depressing, my baby is now 4 1/2 months old, I never dreamed that this could happen. Trying to keep my chin up but sometimes I feel like this will never get better. But then I think of people with cancer or other more serious conditions and think I’m being a bit silly!