Hi Davo:
Thanks for the advice! To be honest, I probably would have kept putting off my surgery indefinitely if it wasn't for your posts. While I know my recovery may not be as smooth as yours (especially since I had two procedures), your posts gave me hope that recovery from LIS may not be nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Thanks for helping me get my life back.

Hi Thisfissure,
I am glad my posts helped you to make your decision but hey you done it all by yourself so it should be you taking the credit. It was a brave decision to make considering your initial hesitation so you should be proud of yoruself.
With the right care and bit of self pampering I am certain you will be back on your feet in no time.
Keep me posted on your progress and one day i may just take you up on that pizza offer :-)
Davo

way to go! I hope we can all find our path to healing. I too cry at everything Badd. Our little pet turtle died today and I cried my eyes out. (it was a painful bm day today too). Honestly if someone offered me LIS today I'd take it. I am so sick of this pain.

Hi restoremybody!
I know exactly how you feel. Before my fissure/fistula, I can't remember the last time I cried. After my fissure/fistula I cried at the drop of a hat. I remember looking at a picture of me playing with my kids that was taken right before all of my butt problems started and I cried like a little baby. I think I was just sooooooooooooo desperate to be "normal" again.
Are you considering LIS?

At first, my first CRS said LIS and i freaked. I got 2nd opinion and he said healing over and wouldn't recomend LIS-that was 3 months ago. He said give it 6 weeks. 6 weeks later he said give it a month. A week again of pain- today especially- but not like a knife- more like a bad bruise and scrape- like you fell off your bike. I am on Miralax and was trying to ween off just a tiny bit. I don't know what to do now. If it will just heal if i continue miralaz indefinetly or if i need surgical help. it scares the pants off me- but so does the thought of living like this. I have heart palpitations when i wake up thinking of a Bm. I am going to my crs again in 2 weeks to check and a 3rd for opionion in 6 weeks.
But as for you- i am so happy that you are on your way!

How did he discover the fistula? Were you still having pain? As my CRS said my fissure had healed over- but healed doesn't mean pain to me.

Restore My Body, I don't think months of pain is healing. You may have days worse than others but it sounds like everyday has some sort of pain and discomfort in it. Is this normal? I saw a CRS that told me to wait 3 more months while I cried in her office. I realized it was crazy of me to keep putting this off. I haven't had a day that didn't revolve around my butt pain. Sure some days hurt worse than others but pain everyday is unacceptable. If this were any other part of our body we would be getting the necessary treatment. Why do doctors think its ok to let us suffer while we supposedly heal. Keep searching for the right doctor. One that cares about you and your pain and that is willing to do what it takes to get you normal again. I postponed my treatment because of fear but also I didn't feel comfortable with any doctor I had seen. Once I found the right CRS I was on board. We tried Valium and nifidepine but I didn't improve much. He's called me several times to check on me and said it was time for an exam under anesthesia where a thorough exam can be done. Treatment will be done based on what he finds. If you are not better something is going on. Keep searching until you find the answers you need!!!!!!!

Hi restoremybody:
Believe me - I know how frustrating and confusing it can be. I also went to three different CRS's, hoping one of them would have the magic solution that would lead to healing. Fortunately for me, I developed a fistula, which my CRS said would never go away on its own. Because of the fistula, it forced my hand as surgery was no longer optional for me. However, after having surgery for both the fistula repair and LIS, I can say with 100% certainty that I wish I had done it sooner. I spent way too long in way too much pain, always hoping that tomorrow would bring healing.
In regards to how my CRS discovered my fistula: I had been diagnosed by two different CRS's with a fissure. I took Nifedipine for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks, I was still having pain so my CRS took a look with a scope and said it looked like the fissure had healed but he could see an "indention" where the fissure was, which he now suspected was a fistula. However, he couldn't make a definitive diagnosis in his office, so he did an examination under anesthesia (EUA) and confirmed that I had a superficial fistula (the fissure had healed incorrectly as a fistula). I was still having pain, and due to some minor drainage from the fistula (which I never noticed) I developed a yeast infection in and around my anus. My CRS gave me a prescription which cleared up the yeast infection within a few days. However, a month later the yeast infection returned. That's when I decided enough was enough and on a REALLY bad day I called and scheduled the surgery. The very next day after scheduling the surgery (which was three weeks away) the pain went completely away! Over the next three weeks I thought about canceling the surgery on several different occasions, but each time I picked up the phone to cancel I remembered how terrible I felt on the day I scheduled the surgery and didn't cancel it.
My advice: find a CRS that you trust and follow their advice if they tell you that you need surgery. If I had listened to my CRS, I would have had the surgery several months ago and would have spared myself months and months of unnecessary pain.

Badd825:
I couldn't agree more with your comments. I think if every CRS had to go through the pain of a fissure or a fistula, the treatment we received would be much different.
Although my CRS has never had a fissure or a fistula, he does suffer from chronic back pain, so he knows what it is like to live with unrelenting and unbearable pain on a daily basis. I think this has made him a much more compassionate doctor that wanted to do everything he could to help me get rid of my pain as soon as possible.

by the way your crs sounds awsome. where do you live?