Hello all,
I have decided to go for the surgery. I tried the nitro for a day or so, but it gave me headaches and made my heart beat really fast and I was light headed too. Whenever I stood up, my head literally throbbed. I have been on the high fiber diet, and the lots of water....metamucil....diet. I still have this problem. Its been over 4 years. I know there are other options that I could try, but since my fissure is chronic, my surgeon told me that the nifedipine and nitro probably wouldnt heal it, and that botox was a bad idea. I am tired of suffering and have found a surgeon that I trust and am very comfortable with. So why not go for it while I still have insurance right?
My surgery is scheduled for february 15th. I'll have to take two days off from student teaching, and then I will have ten days to heal. Hopefully that will be enough.
I wanted to ask you all...though....while we are on the subject, whats the recovery like?
Ive heard a number of different things. I guess I just want to know what to expect when I wake up. Lots of pain? Bleeding with my first BM? What should I watch out for?
I am sure a lot of the material that I'll be recieving for this surgery in the mail will explain this, but its always different from people who have actually gone through the process.
Also, is there any unpleasant preparation that I will have to go through for this surgery???
Comforting words, experiences and bits of advice are all appreciated.
Its way past my bed time, I have another 7 hours of class tomorrow. :sleep:

kate

good luck kate.......
i am happy you have come to a decision. i think that is part of the hardest part of how to proceed with our fissures.
just remember to not try to set yourself up with expectations of healing in 10 days although it can be quicker and it can be a little bit longer. the only goal for you is to heal and let your body heal on its time table. if you can focus on that, AND believe that you will heal along with continuing your diet and upkeep, you will.
make sure to have someone go with you on the day of the procedure. here, even with a colonoscopy, you must have someone to take you home...and a taxi cab driver won't do!
i would guess that eating lots of soups and not heavy items about 2-3 days prior to surgery would help you with the BM situation post-surgery.
this is all about i can contribute to your post.
i will be praying for you for lots of success.......
gareth

Go Kate, this is great news! Im very happy for you.. and Gareth is right, the hardest part sometimes is actually making the decisions.
When I had my LIS, I could not eat or drink from midnight the night before, and my op was at about 10.30 am.
They asked me to take ligquid enema before the op, just the end nozzle you pop up there and then got the immediate sensation to poo (the Dr's like it to be cleaned out down there before they start)
They first tried to get me to stick a suppository up there but it was too painful and couldnt do it
When I woke up from the op I felt nauseas, that lasted pretty much that whole day.. they will give you something for that though.
You will also be on pain killers, be sure to ask them that the pain killers dont have codene in them, that will constipate you. They probably wont, but i would be asking anyway just to be safe.
After the op my but was tender but i wasnt in pain.
Before I left they got me to have a salt bath (warm) and they gave me some laxatives and 20ml of stool softener.
They prescribed the lax's 3 times per day.
When I got home on the second day, about noon I got my first urge to poop... its was pain free, but very runny.
Then literally every 5 minutes i was off to the toilet and having runny poops, and they began to burn, this went on for a few more days. Now dont worry i soon was told by another sufferer to stop taking the lax's and just take my fibre and my softener, and the next day it was great. I was having pain free BM's that were soft and fluffy!
Diet is very important, lots of mushy foods, high fibre (but not too much) lots of vegies.. and im serious here, i know you aint keen on your vegies but you have to be - otherwise healing could be delayed and it may not go as well as you like. Lots of fruit, etc, check out our diet page - there are some great tips in there. I ate a lot of fish and chicken in the first weeks.
I was off work for 1.5 weeks - i wished i had 2 weeks, but it was suffiecient for me to go back.. i just think i was not mentally ready
Bare in mind people recoveries differ alot - but if you make sure you keep your diet good and 'consistent' and make sure you take a stool softener & perhaps something like metamucil
I took at the start:
20ml 3x per day of the stool softener
1 level tablespoon metamucil 2 x perday in 250ml water
But now i have reduced that by over half.
I only had a bit of blood on the baby wipes after the op, no bleeding as such, oh yeah, use uncented baby wipes and dry your butt thoroughly.
I had a warm salt bath after every BM and sometimes more...
Goodluck Kate, keep us posted and if you have any more questions, let me know

Cheryl

If you get the chance and haven't already, ready the surgery threads
"The Giz's New *ss" and "Hugh: A perfect *ss"

You'll see that the surgery can be fairly a breeze (like for Giz),
or a rough go, like it was for me.

In both our cases, though the surgery seems to have done it's job.

Also, just make sure you are healthy and fit leading up to the surgery. You are young, you will do fine!

Hugh :joker: