Hi all,

I am a bit torn about what to do about my LIS surgery at the beginning of March. I have tried two rounds of Botox, as well as more conservative treatments like nifedipine lidocaine. The CRS says things haven't improved. I had a setback after some recovery on the second round. And, it was really noticeable when I went in for my appointment, and the CRS applied some light pressure to see if it caused me pain, and it most definitely did.

However, since my last appointment about a month ago, I haven't had very much pain. There is still some light bleeding, but not very often.

The CRS highly recommend surgery seeing the first two rounds of Botox didn't work. Should I go ahead with my surgery, or should I wait a little to see if I continue without pain? My concerns with the surgery are the risks, but at the same time, there are risks to leaving a fissure - like fistulas and other issues.

Could a fissure get well on its own after not responding to Botox and conservative treatments, or am I just delaying the inevitable?

EDIT: As a side note, it has been over a year. My pain seems to come and go, but overall, it was a lot worse last year.
My last round of botox was in December.

I would trust in your surgeon. You are probably feeling less pain because you still have the full effects of the Botox at the moment. If you have doubts though, you could just put it off for another couple of months and see how you go?

OMB x

Thanks, OMB. I've asked the advice of loved ones, and my mother told me to delay, but my husband said to go ahead. Seeing he's been around me most during this, I think he notices how much it was/is affecting me. Chances are, I'll just go ahead and get it done. I did notice some slight pain today, but again, nothing that's that noticeable. I think part of it is that we live with the pain so long, and at some times the pain is so bad, that when it isn't terrible, we don't really react to it.

It's been over a year. That's long enough. I've gone up and down on recovery/pain that I don't really trust the weeks where I feel okay as an indicator that I am healing. Three good weeks, and like two bad days, and I had a terrible setback after Botox.