****I just want to say at the outset of this post that I say get the surgery if your other treatments have failed.***
I came to this forum often looking for answers, but finally ended up having surgery as nothing else worked. My pain was so bad that I was no longer able to function. I guess my experience with the surgery is worse than some, not as bad as others.
I had the surgery almost exactly 1 month ago. I had a very reputable surgeon that had done the procedure many, many times. The surgery itself was short, but the recovery has not been easy. I had very painful bowel movements for the first 2 weeks, and needed pain meds (one per day) for the first 3 weeks. After a full month of recovery I'm finally beginning to feel more normal. I still have discomfort, and even some pain, but nothing compared to what it was prior to the surgery. I never had any issues with infection or other complications.
I guess I'm writing this to let people know that not everyone recovers from this surgery quickly. I saw so many posts here where people said they were fine the next day. I needed a full month before I was ready to return to work.
Even though the recovery hasn't been fun I'd do the surgery again since my pain is so much less.