Hi I just joined. This forum has been very helpful to read during a very painful time.Main query is how long will it take to recover sufficiently to return to work? I work as a gardener and find it difficult to slow down.

I have had a fissure for about 6 months though part of that time it was undiagnosed. Had LIS surgery on Monday am of this week so now 5 days in. Pain not bad at first but increased by day 3 or 4 (maybe morphine given immediately after surgery worn off - taking Naproxen and Paracetomol still twice a day plus Moviciol) Had bleeding until today. Sat in car yesterday and was driven a couple hours max but in quite severe pain come evening. Very swollen and pain is a 7 out of 10 currently the next day. Worryingly have had occasional spasms again. Not as bad as they often were pre op. Questions:
1.Should I use Diltiazem cream/Instillgel still?
2. How much sitting down can I do without causing damage? Work on a website as well as garden so keen to keep it up to date and no laptop either unfortunately. Keen to get back to work but it feels like it is worsening currently!
3. How long before I can drive to work and return to my physical job sensibly?

Any helpful pointers welcome. Thank you so much.

Hi,
I think LIS recovery is a really individual thing some people are practically cured a few days after the op others take a couple of weeks and unfortunately in rare cases it can take a couple of months.
Lots of sitz baths will help healing and keeping on top of the pain will stop the pain/spasm cycle from kicking in and slowing down healing.
On the plus side I was in absolute agony after my LIS with full on spasms and by week 5 was 40% healed and by the 4 month mark was 90% healed with little to no pain.
Good luck

Thanks that’s very helpful. I so want to tell my employer I will be back soon. How normal is it to have spasms post operation? Just had to resort to Instagel with lidocaine in it to calm things until next naproxen dose.

I'm not sure I know a couple that have had the odd spasm....mine were full on and intense but I had a crohns flare 5 days after my op so I'm pretty certain that caused the spasms. Hopefully yours will calm down soon

Thanks for replying. I’m sorry you have Crohn’s. My brother has suffered from it too so I know it is hard going. Fortunately the spasms I had recently aren’t anywhere many, as regular or as bad as those pre op so am hoping that bodes well. Just hoping the op did the trick? Still early days I guess so perhaps shouldn’t worry too much.

No crohns is not fun but dealing with the fissure pain was way harder for me. Yes 1 week isn't long there will still be swelling and pain from the incision site too.
I'm sure you will see a great improvement in the next few days

Thanks. My sphincterotomy was done with the worry that I might bleed as I have a not fully diagnosed genetic influenced Co factor missing for production of fibrinogen - the stuff that helps keep clots in place. I almost bled to death several years ago after a wisdom tooth was taken out. Fortunately the surgeon made the informed decision that the blood platelets that had been organised in case wouldn’t be needed after
Will try and post progress if it’s helpful. It feels good to write about it. It’s hard to keep going on about it with my partner as it can be very wearing for them too especially when they are covering most of the typical household tasks while I’m lazing about.

Hey Gardener, we have both similar issues with AF and the clotting factor. Im scheduled to do the LIS in two weeks and I have to do a plasma transfusion that day of to prevent massive bleeding. Did you do anything similar before your surgery?