You mention sitting...even after five days, I would avoid sitting whenever possible. I spent a week or more pretty much shut away in my bedroom, reading and watching TV.
Let's look at this from another angle, NG...how are the symptoms which brought all this on...specifically any spasms?
If you were actually incontinent, you'd already be so. The seepage should stop at any moment. Maybe you need to go ahead and firm things up to speed up this process...
Also, my surgeon told me, 2-3 weeks recovery. So issues will be still be evident especially in this first week, right?
I think I had some mild seepage for several days post surgery...

Hey Kim, thanks, good to know 5 days isn't completely off the recovery timeline :) I actually didn't have very bad spasms even before LIS. I could feel a tight sphincter with my finger (and the surgeon could too) but I didn't have the painful spasms, or at least they weren't very noticeable.
But yeah, today is "firm stool test day #1" so we'll see how that goes. I'm probably just being impatient. Got up early today and got still got some pain but now I've got some itchiness too (like a dry butt feeling).

Sorry Cheryl I overlooked your post earlier. Definitely no offense, I welcome any advice :) I think I'm more likely to substitute video games and sports on TV in place of meditating though lol. If my wife ever came in and saw me meditating, she'd definitely ask if I took some extra Vicodin...
Opiates used to make me constipated, but now that I've got my pal Miralax on my side, they haven't really been able to. Percocet, codeine, and now Vicodin have all been shot down by the mighty Miralax. Funny thing about Miralax is that we fissure sufferers think of it as a "stool softener," but in the book "Medications and Mother's Milk," it's listed as a potent "bowel evacuant." I thought that was kind of funny, and suppose it's true at higher doses. The colonoscopy prep kit I used was partially (64 ounces worth) Miralax based, and after I drank it I could definitely imagine emergency workers running through my colon screaming at everything to evacuate immediately lol.

NG, that was 47 times of #2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IBS sucks. My friend couldn't believe it.
I'm still having major trouble sleeping before 3 am...didn't seem so bad after Egypt. Oh well, time will take care of it I suppose.
I liked the beer actually. Had quite a few of the Chinese vodka shots (in the very tiny glasses)..the bartender at a bar in Shanghai showed us the snake alcohol (a huge jar with a snake and alcohol in it) and I was gonna try it, but he wouldn't let me, saying I'd be sorry..lol.
Keep your mind off things down there as much as possible..at least your Lakers are doing well. You know I'm rooting for Deron and the Jazz........he gives so much to my alma mater.

Dude 47 times of #2 is definitely something else lol. I dunno which one is scarier sounding to someone who had or has a fissure, 47 times or 3 times. Neither one sounds very pleasant.
Yeah the snake liquor thing is kind of like the Asian version of mezcal. I dunno what kind of snake they put in the Chinese ones, they use cobras in the ones in Thailand and most of it is pretty nasty stuff. Tastes like you-know-what :) I'd rather drink mezcal than that stuff, and that's saying something! It's always a fun souvenir to bring back, but I dunno if it's still allowed by Customs. I used to have a bottle at home for show but it was opened at the end of a somewhat excessive night, bad idea...
I'd forgotten that D-Will was an Illini :) The Lakers are always fun to watch this time of year, I'm a huge fan of all LA sports (ok maybe not the Clippers) but unfortunately most of them (i.e., the Kings and Dodgers) tend to choke come playoff time. I've got Lakers in 5 this series!

D-Will has made the Illini nation very proud!!

Cheryl..yep, love D-Will!
NG, thanks for the info on the snake alcohol jar thingy..I was describing it to a bartender tonight and really didn't know what to say it was. That's kind of what I figured, but wasn't positive. Good to know for explaining the future pics! I DO think it had something to do with Customs and/or illegality and that's why it was hidden behind a bunch of stuff- he said to keep it secret - and not given out ('cause he gave us free shots of McCallum's)

Sometimes they put the snake in bottle while it's alive and drown it in the booze :) I dunno if that's how it's done everywhere but in the southeast Asian countries like Thailand/Vietnam apparently that's the popular thing to do. The stuff I tried tasted exactly how it looked, like a mix of dead reptile and cheap alcohol, never again!
Asians in general are kind of fascinated with snakes: snake wine, snake blood (supposedly an aprodisiac), snake meat, you name it we drink/eat it lol. Snake meat isn't too bad, it tastes like a cross between fish and chicken and I've had it a few times overseas. The more venomous snakes fetch higher prices You can actually get snake meat (non-venomous types) in some Chinese restaurants here in California, too, but I've never tried the stuff here...
Anyway so yeah, off topic here haha, but had to take a few poos today and got some annoying anal irritation again. It's a mix of bad soreness and an itchy raw tender feeling. Feels like it's both from the fissure and the LIS incision site. I can tell because they're on opposite sides. How long goes it take the discomfort/pain to totally go away? It's less intense than it was a few days ago but definitely still there, especially the more times I go #2. I guess if you went the ol' #2 47 (47!!!) times over a few weeks, things ought to work out in the long run, but man I'm kind of getting impatient to see this stunning improvement everyone speaks of. BTW how long was it before you had alcohol post LIS? It's been so long since I've had a good drink that I'm just eager to get a bit sloppy as soon as it's possible...

And just to clarify, by "a bit sloppy" what I mean is like ummmm half a bottle of booze ... with a big fat cigar ... after a meal of bacon cheeseburger with garlic fries and onion rings with ranch dressing :) :) :) That's one fantasy I wouldn't mind soiling my pants a bit for!

Honestly, NG, I think you're worrying for nothing. Everything you describe sounds spot on to my experience post-LIS. Again, I was just relieved that I had done something...uh, anything, to get going on the road to normalcy, that I probably minimized the irritations/intermittent pains, soreness, discharge, etc.
I didn't have a drink for a month, and if you remember I was then on that really strong antibiotic for the infection, so at the Mizzou game I drank very little (non-alcoholic beer and a few "real" drinks thrown in..nothing to get "sloppy" on. I even forgot to take the Miralax (was too upset about the football embarassment..lol) that night and was scared the next morning on the loo, but nothing tore or reopened.
It was a full month before I felt 95%..but a month goes so fast..seriously, just try to get into something else hobby-wise and pretend life is normal..do not fixate..every time i did, symptoms got worse.
Hell, I just climbed The Great Wall, no easy feat btw..man I had no idea it was that steep!! - which ironically is what I told my CRS I had planned (I fibbed) when I went in demanding surgery. I figured if I "showed" him my active lifestyle, he would think he'd have to "help and fix" me more than if I told him I didn't do much and/or wouldn't be missing much laying around. I really was thinking and still believe that most docs don't take these fissures too seriously..they have no idea how incapacitating it is to everday life, let alone travel, etc.
You're doing fine..exactly as it's supposed to be..I'd be more concerned if you had no symptoms of surgery. At least you know they did something to help you.