Hello all! I was schedueld for an LIS at the beginnning of the month but cancelled because the i felt so much better the week before surgery, and when the dr. checked me he said I had the smallest fissure he had seen. Unfortunately, after Easter (i ate really well but was away from home so was off my strict diet) i had a relapse and the fissure re-opened (bleeding and pain).
I went to the dr. today and we decided it is probably worth it for me to get surgery. The problem just keeps coming back with diltiazem treatment and the Resident, surgeon and myself all agreed i should get the surgery to (hopefully) take care of the problem for good. It could get cancelled again but is unlikely. It is scheduled for the end of the month so I don't need to wait long, which is the good thing. There was a cancellation I was able to take.
I will keep you posted- i'm feeling physically ok right now but am just tired of the back and forth, playing the "self heal" game over the last year plus that doesn't seem to be working. I am so exhausted by it and my AF really rules my life. Also, because I want to get pregnant, the dr. thinks this is good to take care of now.
Thanks for your encouragement and support through this, hopefully in a month I will be feeling better and can put all of this behind me!! This site is the best and all your help is very appreicated!!
Suzy

Hi Suzyq,
I think your decision sounds very reasonable. After a year of this pain and back and forth from healing to recurrence I think it makes perfect sense for you to have this done. You've done what you can to heal it without surgical intervention and I think after a certain point it will need a helping hand to get you over that hump to healing. Better to get things situated so you can enjoy your pregnancy without worrying if and when that fissure is going to rear its ugly head again.
Keep us posted-we have quite a few surgical veterans here now!
Lecia

I am so exhausted by it and my AF really rules my life.
I truly know how you feel, Suzy. It's a tiresome drag, isn't it? But the day you have the work done will be the last day you have spasms and pretty much the final day the fissure itself will cause you any real pain. You're gonna be somewhat sore from the actual LIS for several days, and pretty tired for a couple/three weeks. But then it will all start to become just a bad memory! That's really something to look forward to!
[u]

Thank you very much Lecia and Kim! I am looking forward to getting surgery just so I can get my life back. I will of course keep fiber a big part of my diet after surgery, and for the rest of my life, but I won't have to worry about trying to self heal again.
Kim, do you find you need to do sitz baths anymore after healing from surgery? Or are you just fine after a bm? When you have difficult bms, do you feel scared that the fissure may come back?
Thanks again for all of your support, it is so wonderful to have people who, unfortunately, have gone through the same things to be able to commiserate.

Hi Suzy!
I haven't taken a sitz bath in ages. I'm back to what I like, showers! I feel everything is just like it was before the fissure hit. Now, the first week or so after LIS I had some constipation which I should have waited out, the laxatives burned me pretty bad. But since that burn, I haven't had any pain from my BM, or my spasms. I got the itch very badly for about a week. My stools were often very narrow and sometimes still are.
Remember, I never had any real pain *during * the BM, just afterwards with spasms.
BUT so many people have said they dreaded their first BM after surgery, only to find it wasn't very bad at all!
I really don't have any difficult BMs, but occasionally when i find myself straining, I get a little nervous!
And if I go the third time in a day (I go twice a day now) and the stool is small (after a bit of straining) I will notice the tiniest "cap" of blood on the very tip of the stool (sorry to be so graphic!)
Does that worry me? Heck no, I know that I have a weak spot there that will really need about a full year to heal. I have eight months to go!
You're gonna see, it's gonna be a fairly easy ride, in all probability!
Kim

Thanks so much Kim, your post really helped me envision why I am getting the surgery done---to get my regular life back!!! I appreicate hearing your experience because you have been through what I will be going through.
thanks again!!
Suzy