Mine is 9.50 am, good luck with the results! Have you written down lots of questions to ask? Tomorrow he will take a look at the fissure and determine what healing it has done and what he is going to do next, I definitely haven't healed so I'm expecting him to talk about doing the pressure test and then the LIS, not sure how I'm feeling about it all to be honest x

So had my appointment not great news, fissure hasn't healed and apparently no signs of healing, he keeps calling it an ulcer for some reason, he said that he wants to send me for some testing of the muscle but because it will be at a different hospital he's not sure how long the wait is if there is enough muscle to cut he said he will do that and hope it heals that way but if that doesn't heal it then will be the advanced skin flap... he said he's not sure why it won't heal over but thinks it's because it's scarred because of being there so long now. Not sure what to think now really as I can either do what the consultant says and wait for tests etc or just go back to my other consultant and have the advanced skin flap done like he had arranged for me?

It won't heal because of scar tissue. You need an advancement flap. If done correctly it's your best hope. Make sure your CSR has performed this surgery and had successful results. I had 2 flaps done at the same time. Cutting the muscle at this point will not heal a chronic fissure with lots of scarring. Best of luck Suzy

The problem with the skin flap is that he said I have a good chance of splitting the stitches because of my ibs which then I could end up with a bigger open wound?

I have IBS. My CRS did open flaps. The donor sites were left open. I posted a picture here a while back. Part of the surgery was dilation too to make it easier to pass stool and dilation after surgery. i take miralax once a day and still dilate 2-3 times a week .

Mmmm see my consultant said it will be stiches so did my other consultant that's why I chose not to go down that route

I had lots of stitches but they were all internal. They were supposed to dissolve but some were so annoying I had them removed before that. This isn't an easy surgery. You have to follow your doctors orders to the letter. My initial recovery took months and the longer term was 2 years. You have to keep the area clean, your stools soft and not rush things. The biggest risks are infection and rejection of the flap. There is no fast and easy way to do this. My only advice to people who get a fissure is see your doctor right away. A fissure is acute for up to 8 weeks after that it becomes chronic. Everything changes when it becomes chronic. A fissure is much more difficult to heal then and keeping it healed becomes more difficult. (a fissure is an ulcer).

Thanks Hun, I have a lot to think about regarding what to go for

Gosh Hun,
No advice to give you apart from like Suzy says listen to your docs and make sure they have done the op before. I too was told they wouldn't leave them open that I would need stitches...maybe it's an NHS thing....hence why with my issues I really didn't want to have it. But your IBS isn't too terrible so maybe not as bad as you think.
Just want to say how awful that must be for you but you never know there may be enough muscle to do the LIS, is there a reason you might not have enough muscle as I have never heard of that before, have heard the muscle might be too loose but not that they won't have enough.
If you can't have LIS then truly my heart goes out to you...I think I may have reached despair if I thought I couldn't have had the LIS even though I knew it would be a long and difficult recovery. Please keep us updated and I will send positive thoughts that you can have the LIS

I'm not sure what he meant by the muscle but maybe he just wanted to check it all out Before he went ahead with the LIS which I guess is pretty sensible! Do you think if the tests come back all ok I should go ahead with the LIS or do what Suzy suggests and not bother and go straight for the advanced skin flap with my other consultant? I really don't know what to do!!