I have an abdominal fistula that drains. Dr. Shen has been treating it by placing “bear claw” clamps in the hopes of closing it (which have failed to work) when he does a pouchoscopy. This past Wednesday I flew (from SC) to the CC to have him do another pouchoscopy & he tried the clamps again. Over the weekend the fistula has become very swollen, very red, & extremely tender. It began to drain profusely but has slowed down to a minimal amount. However, the area has stayed the same & now my groin in the right leg has become extremely tender. I’ve been taking pain meds & using a heating pad (which surprisingly helps). Dr. Shen renewed my Tindamax (take for pouchitis) but I won’t start it again until Tuesday due to the pharmacy having to order it. My question is should I wait to call Dr. Shen until after I start the med in the hopes that it calms everything down or is there a chance the clamp has moved & is causing the problems? I don’t have a gastro dr here ( just moved from Alaska to SC) & with my history (complicated gastro history) I’m afraid no one is going to want to deal with it & im going to end up having to go back to CC. I’m trying to not panic over it & hope the meds will work but I’ve had the clamps cause issues before & ended up in the hospital with the dr having to treat with Dr. Shen’s assistance. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. TIA
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