Hey Steve, glad you're starting to feel better and your bum is returning to a normal color Most people I spoke with before surgery said it took about a month to feel mostly normal, so your timeline looks about on track to me.
BTW I'm joining you on the Flagyl train, just got some today to try to make my penis return to a normal color as well

Great News Steve! :D

LOL NG.. I've just finished my course of Flagyl, couldn't cope with a black and blue penis as well as my bum
DAYS 14/15
Both days have been pretty similar, easily passing BM's, little or no pain after, although I had a bit of mild discomfort today after having a KFC for my tea yesterday it was worth the awkward poop(s) I've had today, I thought I deserved a treat, but am back to the old regime now, no pain at this time.

Dude congrats on the KFC! I haven't even gotten up the courage to touch KFC yet I guess that explains why you weren't online yesterday, too busy in a food coma, I see...

LMAO...
If the mouth could have an orgasm, that's all I can say on the matter.. :)

lol I was actually originally going to post "you weren't online because your mouth was too busy having an orgasm" hahahaha!!! I had the same thought when I had my first McDonald's french fries in a long time. I can think of many "it was like the first time" analogies but I won't post them here :)

Almost 3 weeks post-op now, passing BM's is so much easier, it doesn't matter if they are quite big either, they come out with ease but it's still all about consistency, too mushy and it causes a bit of discomfort from the surgery site, after full evacuation (this could mean 4 or 5 trips to the loo) I feel no pain, it's just if I don't clear myself fully that it becomes uncomfortable around where the fissure was and also the LIS incision site, it's not unmanageable pain just a slight burning irritation, nothing fissure like.
I still use cotton wool balls soaked in warm water to clean up after BM, I don't think I'll ever wipe again, this whole thing has taught me to take more care of my ass and never take it for granted!

Steve,
Why does it take 4 or 5 times to get a full evacuation of your bowels? Everything you are describing even the burning sounds like the same thing that is going on with me using the ointment. Although yesterday and the day before I had complete BM's. Today I had some burning but not much.
I am glad to hear your'e doing better!! And did I read that you ate KFC??
OMG that sounds so Good!! I miss Big Macs but KFC is one of my favorites.

dawn, all I know is when I've been lots of times then I feel better with no pain, stubborn BM's only makes matters worse, it's obvious to me now that I cannot stray from a strict diet, having KFC proved that to me, the following day was difficult with many small and inadequately formed BM's which irritated the surgery site, and yesterday after having dietary foods I had lots of BM's but they was properly formed with no pain after, but you have to tinker with what you can eat or we would never know, last night I had veggie pizza and thought it would be ok because of the veg content, again, I was wrong, difficult BM's today which I blame on the dough base of the pizza, another lesson learnt, this is gonna take a lot longer than I expected, it basically highlights how crucial a strict high fibre diet really is in the healing process and to form decent BM's, it will be a long time before I try and venture into the food unknown again!

3 weeks and 1 day post-op..
My sphincter is still doing strange things, sometimes it feels really slack down there and others it feels tight, it mostly tightens up when I stand up after being sat down, it's not overly painful but rather annoying, hopefully it will relax into a more permanent position in time, I'm still getting discomfort after BM has finished, not every day just some days, no pain during though, healing is a very slow process, it can be quite discouraging when a set back occurs and I've had quite a few lately that make me think whether surgery was actually right for me, only time will tell now, I don't know where these docs get that recovery only takes 1-2 weeks...