Val,
I guess I had several setbacks. I just never got any better. I only had two or three "good" days the whole time I had my fissure. That was for seven months, then I had the LIS and now I am OK again.
While we have had a couple people here whose surgery did not completely cure their AF, most of us were cured, and I have yet to read *any* accounts that anyone became incontinent. Yes, there is a risk of incontinence, but it is very very small, there are also many other risks concerning any surgery.
It will ultimately become a quality of life issue for most AF sufferers -- "How long can I endure this misery and not have my life, before I am willing to take take those small, albeit horrible, risks."