So after reading up on all the posts, comments and advice on this forum, I decided to register and give some input by sharing my experience. First off, thank you for all those who shared their experiences...it's so reassuring to hear outcomes of people who are going thru the same horrible experience!
About 4 years ago I had an external hemorrhoid excised with laser and at the same time had LIS. Since Feb'14 I have had terrible pain which I taught was from hemorrhoids. Went to see a different doctor, who performed Infrared coagulation on 3 internal hemorrhoids. 2 weeks later the pain increased. Went back and he did a 2nd round of infrared on the internal hemorrhoids. Again another week past and the pain increased so much that the taught of having a bowel movement scared the living daylights out of me. So back to the same dr I went, he was quite rough when examining me and told me that I have an AF!
So I went to a colorectal surgeon and was given nitroglycerin ointment, but couldn't stand the headaches from it, plus I didn't notice any improvement after using it for 2 weeks. Went back to the dr. and he suggested botox. Had the botox, wasn't painful, but 3 weeks later and I actually felt worse after the botox (maybe because at the same time he performed a proctoscopy). At this point, I was so over the whole thing. I went back to the colorectal surgeon and he suggested LIS and at the same time the removal of a couple of skin tags. He said this time will be under general anesthetic. This was my last hope, so I went ahead with it.
DAY1:Went to hospital yesterday, was knocked out with the general anesthetic, next thing I knew, I woke up in the recovery room feeling no pain at all. All I could feel was that everything was numb. Went home the same evening, still no pain and still numb. Had a bit of difficulty urinating, but I managed to pass urine by placing a hot towel on my abdomen. Was given antibiotics and some pain killers. Had dinner, fruits, vegetables, bran...only high fibre.
DAY 2: Had an uninterrupted 9 hour sleep. Immediately had an urgency for a BM. Dreaded this moment coming, but when I had the 1st BM I had ZERO pain! After that I had about 4 more BM's today, all without any pain and almost no bleeding!

My question is, is it normal to have so many BM's (I had 5 on the second day) with such urgency after having LIS surgery. Or is it a sign of incontinence? I don't have any leakage or even skid marks (sorry to be so graphic!). I'm just hoping that this is just temporary. Or maybe just a side effect of the medication, anesthesia, antibiotics or being on a high fibre diet.

Will continue to update with my progress each day!

Hi Had,

Glad to see that you are doing well after LIS surgery. The number of BM's that you are having is not a sign of incontinence. It is likely a side effect of the meds you are taking. You need to be careful and not get a chapped bottom, so dapping and no wiping after a BM. I had the same BM issue after LIS.

Welcome to the site

Hi Roids :)

Thank you for your reply. I've been reading so much on this incontinence issue that I'm making myself go crazy thinking about it. And most people who have gone thru the LIS surgery tend to mention more that it takes them a while to have the 1st BM, some even said they didn't have a BM till the 4th or 5th day. On day 1, I had 5 BM's and they weren't small ones! Have really upped on the high fibre diet, plus movicol, flagyl antibiotics, voltaran and lanzor (the colorectal surgeon prescribed these). Still no pain at all. So far all is going well and I feel like the surgery was a success as the fissure pain has completely vanished (immediately after the surgery!) plus I have no pain at the incision area or from where the skin tags were removed. I'm on the 2nd day post LIS, and the area still feels a bit numb, maybe the surgeon wanted to numb it real well to avoid the initial pain which I would think would be too painful. Hoping it stays painless. Praying that day 3 will be the same as today :))

Hi again Roids! I've read your experience. Hopefully you are feeling better and not having any more issues with regards to the AF. Seems like you must have had a tougher time than me, going thru hemmoroid banding at the same time as LIS.

Hi Had,
It has been a slow recovery process for me post LIS and I still am getting better. I do now have more normal bottom days than discomfort days. I do not have the fissure hell pain any longer.
The main thing that happens with incontinence is the need for a second wipe or uncontrolled gas. I do not have an issue with these, but when I get the urge I need to find a restroom in a few minutes or it gets very uncomfortable.
I see we both have had our issue with hems over the years. Did you do your first LIS 4 years ago to help the stools pass for the hems?

Oh no. I feel for you. Must have been hard going thru a slow recovery. But at least you know that you're getting to the end of it.
I had the LIS 4 years ago, as when the surgeon was excising the hems (with laser), he noticed that I had an AF and did a LIS plus fissurectomy. That's what he told me! But it was in a private clinic, and the clinic was named after the dr! I'm not even sure that he performed a LIS and always had a feeling that he just added it to the bill in order to get more money from my insurance. Never went back to that dr afterwards, except for a follow up shortly after the surgery, during which he didn't even visually examine me.
Also, the colorectal surgeon who performed the surgery yesterday said that she didn't notice any evidence of me already having a LIS!!
Every how often do you get the urge to have a BM now? Hopefully not too many times per day, otherwise it would be quite uncomfortable.

Day 3: The numbing sensation wore off and now I have full sensation of my bum! And it doesn't feel too bad! Had 2 BM's within 10 minutes of eachother, felt a bit of stinging, but not pain as such. Took a voltaran pain killer and the stinging sensation disappeared with 20 minutes. The stinging felt a bit like the sensation before the surgery, but 100 times less painful. Just a question.....is it normal not to have any bleeding at all? Haven't even had a drop of blood, which kind of surprises me, especially since I also had a skin tag removed which was left open without any stitches!

I think that eating only lot of fruits (especially mangos), bran and veg has really helped me to have easy BM's.

Day 4: Had only 2 BM's today, both within 10 minutes of eachother. (a relief, as fear of any sign of incontinence is slipping away!) The urgency to go was also a bit less then the past few days. Had a bit of pain during BM, but pain went away within 20 minutes. Rest of the day no pain at all, just a bit of an itchy feeling.

Hi Had,

Nice to see that you are still on the path to a fast recovery. I would take the no bleeding as a sign of healing and your CRS must have done an excellent job.

I had the rounded skin edges of the fissure cut off and a hood removed and I had to use gauze pads between my cheeks for the first three days to catch the blood.

RF, have you been back to your surgeon for follow up recently? Wondering if you have some idea of healing rate. I am still having many days where I feel the irritation (if not retearing) of the fissure, and this is almost 5 weeks post op. I'm thinking of calling the CRS, but I assume he is going to examine (which will likely set me back), and tell me it is still slowly healing, which will leave me no better off (and likely worse off due to the exam) than I am today.

You're kind of my "canary in the coal mine" as you are about 5 weeks ahead of me with LIS recovery. Thanks for all of your help.