chachacha wrote:You said that you were going to call your surgeon on Monday? Did he say how soon he'd be able to fit you in, if you decided to go through with it?

I ended up waiting to call a few days as I started feeling a bit better and frankly just needed a few days mentally to take a break from all this without a surgery or appointment date looming.

When I did call(I think on Thursday), they suggested giving it another week. I’ve not been in any pain from the prolapsing stuff, and really haven’t noticed it much. It seems to have gone down in size slightly, which has been enough for me to not feel it when walking, laying, sitting, etc. I don’t know that it will decrease enough to go away, but it’s at least not ruining my days with discomfort right now.

I am growing cautiously optimistic that my fissure might be healing. When my stools are softer and not large in terms of bulk, it’s not very painful at all. And the spasms and feeling of pressure from that Sphincter muscle locking down are currently gone. Using nifedipine and stool softeners and hoping that thing can heal. I’ll be ecstatic if it does.

Still have an internal roid on the right side that prolapses with every bowel movement, and that is connected to the tissue that the fissure is on. It is not prolapsing as much though since the banding, and it goes back in easier.

My current goals that hopefully are somewhat realistic:
1. Heal the fissure.
2. Once that heals, hopefully another banding could get rid of that internal to the point where it doesn’t prolapse at all....because if so, I think that would solve my fissure issue from coming back.
3. Hopefully the already prolapsed tissue stays pain free and not noticeable for the most part. If I have to get it cut out - I’d feel a lot better about doing it without having a fissure and a prolapsing internal that would probably also need to be cut out.

Taking it day to day at this point and trying to enjoy feeling like a human being again with so much less pain....but knowing my issues are far from resolved. At least I can actually sit down now, and can walk with a normal stride without looking like a waddling penguin. Planning on calling the office later in the week - probably Thursday.

That all sounds very promising. I'm very happy to hear that there has been improvement on some fronts and am hopeful that things will continue to get better for you.

Update:

Waiting was a good move. The swelling/complete prolapse has gone away. I am back to where I was before the procedure: two small external hemorrhoids that mainly just feel like a tiny bit of loose skin. Actually...I’m better than pre-procedure because I no longer have an internal that prolapses with every bowel movement (and occasionally with heavy exercise) and combines with those externals. The banding did take care of that. Now I just have the externals that slightly “inflate” with a bowel movement and then soon shrink. So the left side is doing better.

The fissure (In the back, but slightly to the right side and related to an internal on the right side)is about the same. Most bowel movement are mildly painful and then I’ll have some mild discomfort after. Nowhere near as intense or long lasting pre-procedure. I know it’s not 100% healed, which sucks. But it’s also not destroying my life like before.

I have a few bad days that were more painful and everyone was brought on by a WIDE stool. They always talk about hard or dry stools. These were not particularly hard or dry. In fact, hard or dry stools that aren’t wide don’t even seem to bother me. It’s those WIDE ones. I don’t know why I occasionally get them or how to avoid them either. Seems to be no rhyme or reason. But it’s what I was getting at the time this fissure started, and they’re the ones that bother me now. I suspect because of the internal hemorrhoid that prolapses with bowel movements on that right side - and the fissure being on the tissue connected to it. Those wide stools can’t get through at all until that hemorrhoid is completely out of the way - and even then they have some trouble getting out because even when the hemorrhoid is outside the body it’s still kindve in the way. This creates too much pressure on that tissue and - there’s your fissure and there’s your post bowel movement pain caused by that huge stool making that fissure tissue overstretch. Really want to get this figured out and get rid of that stupid fissure so that they can finally band that hemorrhoid and get it out of the way. Seems like a dream. At least I’m functional right now though, and there’s no need for a hemorrhoidectomy, as that swollen and prolapsed anal wall went away.

I am thrilled to hear that you are finally in better shape than you were before. I had successful LIS and hemorrhoidectomy procedures, and my life improved immensely. After both surgeries though, I ended up with new, external tags, and while one bothered me a lot for quite a while, it now only bothers me only a little. I am happy to live like that forever though, because compared to the hell I used to live in, this is a minor breeze.

Figuring things out though, can sometimes be impossible. I have a eustachian tube problem, that seemingly can't be solved, even though it should be able to be! VERY frustrating, and no matter how much research I've done, and how many specialists I've consulted, no-one has been able to fix it. Sometimes, that's what medical issues are - permanently enigmatic. I will certainly wish you luck on getting to the bottom of your stool consistency issues though, and who knows, you could be very successful on that front, and figure it out soon. Anyway, let's hope so!

Update:

So I’m roughly 3 months post-procedure. I’m not 100%, but I’m better than before the procedure. However, I’ve been about the same for at least a month now, maybe more. Not sure I’m going to improve beyond this?

I will have mild discomfort, usually starting a couple hours after a bowel movement. I’m not sure if it’s the fissure, the “healed” fissure (like scar tissue or something), or the internal hemorrhoid? There is still a large internal hemorrhoid that prolapses with every movement and has to be pushed back in. Often the “discomfort” feels like the hemorrhoid being irritated, but that could just be what my mind thinks it is?

I never have blood or sharp pain anymore. No stinging or burning. It’s just more like a general irritation, soreness, feeling like something is there that shouldn’t be.

I have not been back to the doctor since my procedure in July. Should’ve went for a follow up, but I just hate all this so much and I’ve never been “desperate” enough to go back. The discomfort is mild and annoying and never really stops me from doing anything. Sitting in the car is what bothers it the most. We need to get anal fissure sufferers designing the car seats for every car company, because those things are just horrific. Literally ALL the pressure goes right on the back of your butt.

I think my next step needs to be scheduling a follow and hoping that devilish large internal hemorrhoid on the right side can be successfully banded.

I was never exactly sure where my pain was originating either, and in hindsight, I'm not sure that my anal fissure was my biggest problem. After the LIS surgery, things were really good for a year, but after that, when my sphincter tightened up again, my internal hemmies started prolapsing again. For some reason, they stopped dropping out after my LIS surgery, which was a huge surprise to both me and my CRS. Once they started prolapsing again, I resumed the very painful bowel movements, and it was only after my hemorrhoidectomy, that things improved on a more permanent basis. I am fine now, with just a little pain from a sensitive skin tag, after a movement, except when I eat very sharp foods such as popcorn and nuts. I just have to avoid those things to avoid pain, and am okay living with that, considering how bad things were for me at the height of my anal problems.

My internal, prplaspsing hemorrhoids were both edematous and thrombosed, so even though most internal hemmies don't hurt, mine hurt like the dickens.

At least you're no longer in pain, and I hope that your doctor can band that last one for you soon.

Update: Went back to the doctor today. I still have a fissure. Been getting some blood recently when pushing my hemorrhoid back in. It hasn’t been nearly as painful as before though. So maybe the fissure partially healed but not all the way?

Regardless, I’m going back for more Botox and banding in 3 weeks. So beyond sick and tired of all of this.

Thanks for the update, but sorry to hear that you aren't out of the woods yet. I can be discouraging, but with patience and persistence, you should be able to get this sorted out.

Good luck with the next steps.

Update:
Got more banding and Botox done last Tuesday. The pressure from the banding was pretty insane for a good 24 hours, plus the fissure area hurt. Not fun. Since then things have improved to roughly where they were before the procedure as far as the fissure goes: mild pain/discomfort for anywhere from like 6-12 hours after a bowel movement. Then I mostly don’t notice it, though I’ll get the occasional flash of pain. Like a bolt.

Hemorrhoids are definitely smaller than before, but still there. I’m getting to where it’s hard for me to fathom them every being gone. I don’t know if this is it, or if the bands are still on and it’s possible they’ll fall off? Are they smaller simply because the bands are there and will go back to inflating like before if the bands fall off and don’t work? I don’t know. Hoping at least they are small enough to let the fissure heal this time. We’ll see.

I wish that I (or your surgeon) had answers for you. This is such a complicated area and not even the experts seem to have a lot of answers.

Hopefully, things will improve soon and you can put it all behind you.