Hi All-- I'm currently 4 weeks post-op and am in way more pain then I was before the LIS.

I had a chronic AF for about a year and tried everything before I got the surgery 4 weeks ago. The first week after the surgery was easy! BM's were soft and only slightly painful. Mid-way through week two however, I completely took a turn for the worst.. with excruciating pain after every BM and a little red bump appeared right next to the incision site. I immediately had to jump into the bath to start the soothing process or I would start screaming of pain. What's weird is that it was no longer fissure pain.. it was something different. I went to my surgeon a few days later and she noticed there was still puss coming from the incision area (which is quite normal). She swabbed and tested it for infection but it came back negative to my surprise. She also said the red bump was not an abscess as I had feared.

Fast-forward to week three.. still in excruciating pain and decide its time to go to the emergency room. The surgical resident tried to examine me, but I was in far too much pain to let her poke around. She figured I must have an abscess given the amount of pain I was in, so she then tried a little procedure where she froze the area near the incision and nicked it with a scalpel to see if anything would drain. As with my luck nothing did.. and I ended up having to have an exam under anesthesia the next day with a new surgeon. Once under the surgeon did a proper exam and determined there was no abscess, but my incision site from the LIS was not healing. He did his best to clean up the incision, getting rid of the remaining puss and tissue around it. He also put me on two antibiotics in case of infection.. which unfortunately has turned my BM's to watery and frequent.

SO here I am in week 4.. not in quite as much pain as I was in week 3 & 4, but still confined to my bathroom and bed. I'm worried that this thing will never heal and that LIS was a huge mistake. I'm also worried that because of the antibiotics, i'm going to the toilet too often and its potentially irritating the area.

Has anyone had this much difficulty healing from LIS? It feels like the fissure itself has healed, but the incision has taken over my life

sorry-- should have said not in quite as much pain as I was in week 2 & 3

I'm sorry you're going through this. I haven't had LIS, so I can't offer any advice, unfortunately. Did either surgeon indicate why it wasn't healing? Hopefully it is now since you're feeling a bit less pain.

He was a bit puzzled as to why it wasn't healing, he mentioned that it might be a good idea to get checked for crones disease when i'm in a better place (healing wise) with my bottom. He also said there was some extra tissue that had formed around the incision that he managed to get rid of, he told my husband when I was in surgery recovery that it could have prevented the incision from closing.

Well, hopefully you'll be able to heal properly now, and the worst is over.

Hi CNM,
Week #4 being better than #2 & #3 is a good sign that you are on the mend. I had pus discharge and mucus discharge and both cleared up with time. Are you eating any yogurt when taking the antibiotics as it should help with the watery stools? When taking antibiotics, it kills the good bacteria to digest the food and yogurt will help to restore the balance. Once you get the incision site to heal with no fissure pain, you will be as good as new. The good news is that the red bump is not an abscess as that can be a big mess.

Hi Roidsfizzman,
I too have just noticed in the last few bathroom visits that I am having mucus discharge... I was alarmed, but I guess its somewhat normal? Is it a sign that I am on the mend? it seems to be large amounts.. hopefully that's still ok.

I have not been having yogurt, but now that I know i'll definitely give it a shot! Some good news is that i'm finished the antibiotics tomorrow night, so I can say goodbye to frequent BM's.

Hi CNM,
The mucus is the bodies normal lube for exiting stools. Too much mucus can be a sign of infection. If the antibiotics are working, you should see a decrease in the mucus. As always if you have any concerns, talk to your doctor.

Hope you will be feeling a lot better soon.

Do take probiotics after you have finished the antibiotic, as not only do the antibiotics kill the baddies in your system, but the also take with them the good microbes that live in our intestines and invite C.Diff to take over. A lot on here about probiotics if you use such function just below the photo of the bird.

Hmm. i'm actually noticing a lot of mucas... and I finished the antibiodics today. Eeek! thoughts?