Hi all! New to the forum. Just a quick overview - I suffered with a recurring fissure on and off for several years and finally decided to do something about it after dealing with the pain constantly for almost 4 months. Had the LIS surgery just over a week ago but had a question now that led me to this site... Amazingly (and I'm pleased to say this to all, as I know there are many bad experiences posted) but I had NO pain whatsoever after the LIS surgery. Woke up and didn't even know anything had been done! Paranoid about the first BM.. No pain. My nurse called me 3 days after surgery and said I must be one of the lucky ones as still no pain... Then came the one week mark... After deciding that I felt OK and that I was tired of runny stools I quit taking laxatives and just took the stool softener. Woke up fine. Then had a BM - which was kind of large and fully formed. HELL ensued. After no pain for almost a week I could barely walk. I was taking percocet for the first time and just laying in a sitz bath for hours. I called back my surgeons nurse and according to her, to be in severe pain a week after LIS (after having no pain to begin with) is highly unusual which didn't help me feel better, however she deduced that it was clearly down to my larger than normal BM which must have stretched or reopened the incision. I was told to keep up with the laxatives and it should settle down within a couple days. Well here I am a couple of days later, BM this morning was soft as it's meant to be yet still excruciating - like worse than ever. Need a looong bath to control the pain. The whole incision area feels painful and almost like it's draining perhaps. I have to ask - has anybody else experienced similar? Is it correct to assume it was likely the stretch of the incision that causes this awful pain again? Or should I be worrying about possible infection? I don't want to be paranoid but after a week of no pain and now this extreme pain and drainage at the incision, I just hope the nurse was right and this will end soon! Thanks

**UPDATE: My curiosity got the better of me and I checked everything out down there after my bath... To my horror, a large red lump where the incision should be, that seems to be seeping yellowish pus. I called my surgeon's nurse right away. She said sounds like a post-op infection and just said, it happens. Scheduled me a clinic appointment for this afternoon where she said I'd at the very least be given antibiotics but they may also use a needle to drain the sac down there... Great! Please if anyone else had this experience let me know how it went/what to expect? I'm not even going to fool myself into thinking that draining the sac won't hurt, unless they have a way to numb to area first... But I am at least hoping that once drained there should be relief and it can continue to heal as before?

Azza please let us know what happens today. I have a fissure over and old scar (among other problems) and I know when it tears I am in agony for days. Hope today helps.

Congrats on getting the LIS over and done with!!

I bet a few days into antibiotics and you'll be back to feeling great!!! Keep us updated.

-GG

Thanks Gilmoregirl :)
So I got the same doctor who did my pre-op medical. Real nice guy. He kind of winced himself as he checked everything out that didn't help! Confirmed I had a bad post-op infection that had come to a head right where the incision was made. He said it was already draining thank goodness so no hole had to be made, but he did sympathize and explained it will hurt a lot for the time being (and I agree - I am still in agony unless I just lay down on my side). However being a younger guy he told me I should heal up just fine, may just take a week or so longer to recover. He was thinking of sending me over to the hospital to start an IV antibiotic (which I would not have minded) but then decided to give me a prescription instead of ciprofloxacin and metronidazole. Told me I could take this alongside the other medication without an issue and that neither should cause constipation. Also told me to keep taking sitz baths to help ease the pain and keep gauze up there in between. So all I can do for now is get through this without moving around too much. It's just not going to be fun using the bathroom for a while I guess :/ I should've known better than to assume I was going to survive the LIS without any pain at all!

Well it seems like things definitely could have been worse!!

I'd be careful about diarrhea on the antibiotics - although if you are taking any strong painkillers that should offset it!

I have ibs, so I'm super careful about this stuff lol, but I would consider taking a good probiotic during and for a while after your course of antibiotics. It can just help prevent some side effects like diarrhea and stomach upset, and can reduce the risk of getting post-antibiotic infections like c-diff or thrush. I have always used Florastor during and after antibiotics and it works really well!

Just a suggestion from my (way too extensive) experience with this stuff!!

Keep us updated on how you're doing. I'm having LIS in one week, and I'm hoping it will be as smooth as yours was up until the latest developments!!

Thank you so much again for all the advice! I too have IBS and I've also made sure to take a good probiotic now too and will keep doing so.
I'll be honest, I didn't know anything about antibiotics causing diarrhea, but I've been trying to keep my BMs as soft as possible to avoid pain when using the bathroom, especially now with this infection, as larger BMs hurt much more. I've been taking stool softener and laxatives to assist with this especially as I've been taking Percocet lately too, as I know that can cause constipation. I just really hope these antibiotics kick in quickly to reduce the pain I get right now!
I really hope all goes well with your LIS! Honestly, you hear and read about so many horror stories sometimes people panic. But honestly from my experience, I know it's different for everyone but the surgery itself and even immediately afterward was a breeze! No pain at all. I would ask your surgeon about Exparel, they injected me with that during surgery and it numbs everything for the first few days too. Plus although I am in severe pain from an infection right now, since my op I have no felt no constant throbbing pain like I did before the muscle was cut! :)