Well today I am 19 days post op. Just wanted to give a brief update. On March 9th, I had some irritation for most of the day after my BM. This was a bit disappointing since I had been doing so well the days before. But the next day the irritation was gone and I haven't had anything else like that since. The only real problem I have had over the past 3 days is when I go BM. I get a sharp pain when the BM passes the area where the hemmie was removed. The pain goes away after I complete my BM. I am guessing that area is still not 100% healed. The pain is probably like a 4 on a scale of 10 so its not unbearable. I upped my stool softener to 3 gel caps a day. I am still taking 4 fiber therapy pills a day which seem to be just right. Otherwise, I am completely pain free when not taking a BM.
I have my 3 week follow up with my CRS tomorrow so I am hoping for good news! I will post again once I get back from my CRS tomorrow.

Hi Tojo78, I'm glad your feeling better. I cant wait to visit my CRS tomorrow and fix a date for the LIS Surgery. The more I suffer from pain the more likely I'm leaning towards LIS, hope it puts an end to all the sleepless nights and pain.

Venki - Glad to hear you are taking matters into your own hands! Did you schedule your LIS? If not read my next post. It might help motivate you! :D

Well today is the day. Nothing has changed since yesterday. Still doing good besides the little bit of pain when I BM at the hemmie site. So off to my CRS I went thinking that if he tells me its healing or is 50% healed I would be happy. Talked to his nurse first and told her things were fine except for the pain during BM. She said that is common due to the stiches still being there. She said the stiches can also cause irritation because the body tries to reject them. Thought that was interesting. They won't desolve for another 3-4 weeks though so its just something I will have to live with until then.
We went back into the examination room and met with my CRS. He had a student with him (he teaches at the local medical school) so I had lots of eyes on my bottom. He started to take a look starting with the hemmie site. He said the way it was stiched up would never cause an infection (a learning point for the student). He then pulled back my anus a bit more, took a look and we were done. He said everything looks good. I asked him about the fissure. He said it was GONE! I was shocked! I knew things felt pretty good down there but I was taken back that the fissure was already healed! He said that he typically sees fissures heal on average within 2 weeks after surgery. He then told me to make sure I get enough fiber for the rest of my life and I shouldn't have any other issues. He then made me promise (twice) that I would come back in 16 years to have a colonoscopy. I ensured him I would. He then shook my hand and said if I ever have any other issues with my bottom to not call my GP and to just to give him a call. I thought that was a nice gesture.
So now what? Well first and foremost, I am very happy that my fissure is gone! I am going to continue to baby my butt through this weekend just to be safe. I will probably only take 1 bath a day now and stop them completely after this weekend. I am going to start cutting back my stool softeners and fiber pills starting on the 18th. Probably reduce the amount I am taking of both over the course of 2 weeks. I just want to make sure I give everything some extra healing time so I don't have any relapse.
Even though I had the setback with the hemmie, I do not regret having LIS one bit. I am one who will also say, I wish I would have had it sooner. While my fissure did not cause the terrible pain during and after BMs that many people have, it did cause a good amount of discomfort after BMs and mental anxiety.
Now a new stage of healing begins. The mental part. I have become so used to having pain after BMs that I need to retrain my mind that everything is ok now. This is something that will come in time.
So here is to day 1 of a fissureless life!

tojo78 those are fantastic news, great to know that you are a success story after LIS, hopefully life will eventually become normal for you.
Don't let your guard down and keep taking care of yourself.

Hey Tojo
I'm so so chuffed for you that things seem to have gone so well. It is also good that you have such a good doctor and hat you have already had your follow up. I don't see mine until 7 weeks after the op date, so today is the end of three weeks since the op - moving into the beginning of week four.
Like you I seem to be healing well. I don't have any pain or discomfort after a BM although I am absolutely paranoid every time I go. I will need to programme my mind differently like you.
My biggest challenge is reducing the stool softeners. I was taking far too many so I have been each week reducing these. Within 2 weeks I will be totally off the lactulose then I will just be taking to sachets of movicol. I will then reduce these one a week. I am so so nervous to reduce these as I have take softeners for a year now.
I had five stitches also at the LIS site - three of which have now come out. However I have two that seem to be super resistant. These are irritating me incredibly, particularly when I walk. One had been rubbing against the skin above the LIS site and now has made it bleed in that area. I see that u say yours will take a further 3-4 weeks for them to go. So I assume I will just have to put up with that until then. Certainly, if they are still in when I see my doctor at week 7 I'm going to ask about getting them cut out - but I would I imagine he will just refer me to my GP.
All in all good news for me too. I don't want to say I ave healed until I'm off my softeners and I've seen the doctor - I don't want to jinx the process.

Hi Steve
Great news about your progress. :) If you're nervous about reducing the Movicol, why not wait until you're further advanced in your healing? Unless, that is, you feel the amount you're taking is a problem because it's producing over-large stools? I was much further along in my recovery when I started phasing out stool softeners. I also cut the packs of Movicol down by half a pack at a time, rather than suddenly cutting out a whole pack - then went to every other day, then every three days, if I remember. I've continued to drink 200 ml of prune juice a day. The CRS thought that would be all right to continue for life!

Hey Lauren
Thank you for the message. I think that is what I will do, I'm going to start reducing the lactulose first and get off that, then slowly over a month reduce the movicol.

Hey Steve - Glad to hear you are coming along well! I hear what you are saying about the stitches. While my LIS site wasn't stitched, my hemmie site was. It has been causing me all kinda of sharp pains when I have BMs. And then afterwards, I tend to be sore/irritated there. I noticed this morning that most if not all of the stitches broke loose and now I have a small piece of it hanging from my bum. Gave it a gentle tug to see if it would come loose but no dice. So I will just let it come out on its own.

Wanted to provide an update on where I am at. As of today, I am 26 days post op from the LIS and 19 days post op from my hemmie being removed. I have not had any issues regarding my now healed fissure. But I am having issues with the hemmie site. It all started with a large, dryish BM I had l had late last week. It causes some moderate pain when it passed the hemmie site. It was a sharp pain, almost felt like it was tearing the area. After the BM, the area stung alittle and was sore. I went a day without having a BM and during that time.. all the pain and irritation went away. My next BM was again a big large and dryish and cause the pain and irritation again. It was a bit worse this time. Yesterday, for some reason, my body felt it necessary to have 3 BMs! Each one did the same thing although the BMs were not quite as large. I also noticed that the hemmie site prolapsed a bit when I was having my BM. It quickly went away after I was done. Did not have any bleeding or itching during any of these BMs which was a good sign.
My BM this morning was fighting me alittle but evenutally came out. The pain wasn't quite as bad but it was still there. I took a look at my bottom and everything still looks like it is in order. But I did notice that the stitches on my hemmie site have broke. I now have a small piece of stich hanging from my bottom. I gave it a gentle tug but it wasn't coming out. So I will just let it desolve on its own. Things feel a bit better today so I am hoping it was just a short setback on the way to full recovery. I am kinda thinking that the stitches were part of the problem and hoping that now they are broke, that it will ease the pain of my BMs.
I started taking warm baths again as of yesterday to help the hemmie area. I never stopped taking my fiber and stook softeners but decided to up my stool softeners from 2-3 pills a day to 4. Ill keep doing this until I am sure the hemmie site is in the clear. Since I am just over 2 week post op on the hemmie, I know its still fairly early.
Will check back in again soon!