Friday was 4 weeks post-LIS and fissurectomy, and I feel like I have finally turned a corner. I thought I would share my top 10 things to know if you are having or considering LIS:
1. TALK TO YOUR CRS! Once I heard the word "surgery", everything else he said didn't register. I made another appointment to ask him all the questions I had. $25 co-pay well spent. Get references, and be sure to check is your CRS is board-certified. I told him I wanted to partner in my health and he actually responded great.
2. TAKE YOUR MEDS THE FIRST THREE DAYS. I know all that pain stuff is constipating, but really, if I didn't take it as scheduled, well, I don't even want to think about it.
3. FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS. Drink your water. Take your fiber. Take your sitz baths.
4. DO NOT FREAK OUT AT YOUR FIRST BM. Easier said than done - I paced the bathroom floor, muttering to myself for 1/2 hour before I couldn't hold it anymore. I think someone said if go right when you get the urge, it won't be so bad because your muscles won't tense up. Once you do, you have overcome a major obstacle. I swear it was like the first BM after pregnancy - the emotional drama!
5. A RED BUTT IS A HAPPY BUTT. I hated soaking, but it make my butt feel better. I made the water as hot as I could stand it (thus, the red butt) and surrounded myself with a good book, a mini-TV and my cell phone, which had web access. No reason not to make it as pleasant as possible.
6. ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK. Everytime I felt better, something would happen - hard poop, blood on TP, skin tag the size of a small planet - and I would feel discouraged. I realized it was just part of the process.
7. YOUR BUTT CAN'T HEAL THE WAY OTHER THING CAN. It is in constant use, with you sitting, having BM, passing gas, walking, it just can't cut a break to heal well, so be patient, and patience is not one of my strong qualities.
8. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! My doctor says he performs at least 90 LIS a year, and that is just one doctor. Congratulate yourselves on being strong enough to reach out to this forum and take control of your health. Think of all the many thousands of others who are suffering without support.
9. LIS IS NOT A QUICK FIX. I healed from my gallbladder surgery faster. It is not a cure, but allows your fissure to heal. I think of it as a journey to get to a day where I will be able to not have my butt rule my life. 2 weeks ago, I didn't think I would seen that road, but today I swear I see the exit sign for it.
10. KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR. Imagine all the people you can stop cold by saying you had butt surgery. I told someone they can't call me a "tight #$%" anymore. Watch others as they walk, and I bet you can spot someone with a 'roid or fissure. Think of ways to destroy that horrible plastic pink sitz bath, when you feel better, of course. Realize that now you can send your kids through college because you won't be spending your money on every fissure-fix you could get your hands on.
Everyone heals differently, and I feel truly blessed that I feel as well as I do 4 weeks post-op. I am not 100% by any means, but crawling towards it every day. I was sitting on the bleachers at my son's basketball game, and I forgot that I had surgery or a fissure. That is the first time in quite a long time that I FORGOT I had a fissure!!! I pray that all of you experience the great joy I did and become pain free for longer and longer periods until all this is a far away nightmare and mornings become just another time to take a shower and get dressed;
not preparing for a painful BM and the aftermath that follows.Caroline
