Hi, I had the LIS surgery this morning. I've had pain and bleeding now since 1998. I've had a pph and two banding procedures for hemmorhoids which did not correct the problem. My new surgeon did another colonoscopy this morning and suspected either a fissure or surgical mishap with the pph. He found a fissure and fixed it with the LIS while I was under (couldn't even have the colonoscopy done without being under due to the pain). I've been on pain meds (percocets) for the past month or so along with stool softeners just to get me through work each day until they could get me in for surgery. At any rate, I woke up from surgery feeling better than I did when I arrived. But now that the numbness is wearing off I'm feeling pretty sore. Probably wouldn't rate the pain much higher than what I've been in daily for the past year or so. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as painful as I'm anticipating. I'm really hoping this takes care of the problem as I'm tired of being in pain constantly day in and day out. Looks like a lot of other people on here have had similar experiences. I was starting to feel like I might be the only one. I really think my job may have a lot to do with the "flare-ups" from this (I'm on my feet all day walking on concrete floors). I am an avid hiker and the trails never cause problems, even on an 8 or 9 mile hike. However, 8 hours at work on the concrete floors and I can hardly walk when I get home. Anybody else got a similar situation? Work is giving me hell over the schedule as my doc wrote a note that I can't work more than 3 days in a row. I have a feeling I'm going to have to stay on that schedule even when I go back to work. I'm anticipating at least a month of being out to recover from this surgery.

Welcome to the forum Analagony. Sounds like your name is very appropriate. Congrats on getting your LIS. I can't believe you have been in pain for so long. Your recovery should be a breeze considering what you been through. It's good that you already know the drill with the pain meds and stool softeners.
Stay ahead of the pain with the meds. It will be sore for a few days. Most of us noticed great improvement with the soreness by week 2-3... I felt much better after my LIS too. Getting rid of the spasms and shards of glass in the bathroom made being sore not too bad.

Day 2 has been fairly uneventful. A little apprehensive since I haven't had a bowel movement in spite of drinking lots of water, eating lots of fiber (as well as lots of fruit and vegetables), and taking colace regularly. The pain pills are taking the edge off but not much more than that. All in all I'd say my pain level is only slightly higher than it was on a really bad day prior to surgery. No bleeding today either, which seems kind of odd (maybe that only occurs during bowel movements?).

Hi Analagony! Your name about says it all! Congratulations on your LIS. It sure looks like you've been through an awful lot already. The first BM is always the worst, but usually that's because of anxiety rather than pain. Most folks say that it wasn't nearly as bad as they expected it to be. Remember not to push and to take deep yoga breaths. Sometimes it takes a while to get the bowels moving again after surgery. If the colace isn't helping, maybe you can try Miralax. Most folks here swear by that stuff, but it can take a few days to kick in. Meanwhile, you might try Milk of Magnesia (MOM). Quite a number of boardies have used that to get things started, and then switched to Miralax to keep the stools soft during the healing process (Summergal is the most recent boardie to do that).
Blood is a strange thing. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't. You might find that you bleed a lot less now that your sphincter is looser. :D
Don't forget to keep everything very clean! Warm baths after every BM also help keep things clean and stimulate blood flow, which helps with the healing.
I hope you're having a good day today!

Hi there,
it's great that you've got the surgery over and done with, congratulations on that!
The first few days are always the worst, and the first BM is extremely anxiety-producing. Hopefully you'll get it over and done with soon. Try to take a pain pill half an hour before it, although it's not usually all that painful - just really scary!
Get better soon.

Thanks Val and Hopetoheal. I actually had a bowel movement this morning. No problems at all. Not even any bleeding. Took a sitz bath immediately after and actually feel really good today aside from a little pressure back there and some itching. I still feel a little full too, but I'm guessing that's normal based on my past few surgeries. The anxiety was definitely worse than the actual BM. I wish I'd found this website a few years ago. I don't know anyone else that's had this problem and not having anyone around that can relate has been extremely frustrating.

Yay! Congratulations on your successful BM!

That's wonderful! The anxiety is definitely a big part of the BM ordeal, but it sounds like you got over the scariest part very well. :D

Hey analagony, I had my surgery the same day as you! the 11th... My first BM was extremely scary, but like you, not bad at all! I'm doing well and hope you are as well. Best of luck to you.

Thanks hopetoheal...I needed a good laugh this morning...lol. And fissurepaingy, congrats on your surgery. Glad to hear you're doing well also. Today being day 3 I'm a little sore this morning. I'm thinking that may be due to the fact that I didn't take my 5am pain pill as I felt fine at the time. Otherwise things are going pretty well so far.

Great news AA! I'm so glad you're doing so well. Recovery is an up and down process, so don't worry if the next few days are a bit sore too. It sounds like you got a really great start on the healing. :D