LIS Recovery Diary

Diary describing my LIS experience.

Are you having, or have you had a Lateral Internal Sphincterotomy (LIS)? Please share your experiences here, or ask any questions.

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LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 09 Jun 2017, 00:33

Hello! So far I have only read all posts on the various forums of this website. It has been so helpful for me through this experience and I wanted to give others that reassurance and right to know what will most likely happen if they decide to have LIS surgery. Quick background. I noticed a kind of tearing feeling when I went to bathroom one day at the end of March. Thought nothing of it. Everything was fine for the next couple weeks. Two weeks after that I felt the same feeling except this time it did not go away and was causing a sudden disruption in my day to day life. Like many, I thought it was internal hemmorhoids and was treating it as so. It seemed to get better after a few weeks but then I had a bad potty experience and it was back again with a vengeance. I got sick of living this way so I decided to visit a colorectal surgeon. She could not do a proper exam because I was so tight inside but had strong suspicion that I had a fissure and would probably need to get surgery. This terrified me and I wanted to do everything possible to heal on my own without surgery. Well 3 weeks of misery and having to work at home later, I decided that I would suck it up for the surgery. My life was completely taken away from me by this and I wanted it back! Especially after reading how these things just don't heal easy. So my surgery was today! I was soooo scared! Especially of going to the bathroom afterwords. I decided to try a liquid diet before to see if that would help potty experience. It made me sick the first day so I decided to add in half a cup of refried beans a day so I could get my fiber. This did not work. My poop came out rock hard. Don't ask me why but I wouldn't suggest this. So here's the start of my diary!

Day 1: Arrived at the surgical center at 1 pm. Everyone was very nice and answered all my questions. They did everything to calm my nerves during surgery prep. Then they rolled me into the surgery room and injected the general anesthesia which knocked me out right away. Next thing I am waking up and being rolled out to the car. My left side where the incision was felt a little sore but overall I was pretty numb still. They ended up doing a sphincterotomy, fissurectomy, and had internal hemmorhoids removed. Yikes! Was hoping I didnt need all that but they warned me that I might. I returned home pretty pain free and finally had some applesauce and chicken broth. Also water water water! They had taped a big dressing in my buttcheeks and told me to keep it there for 6 hrs along with icing for the next 24 hours. After I ate a little something, I took a Toradol. Still in no pain the rest of the day. Slight discomfort from where a lot of action just happened. I soiled myself a little bit at one point but was able to sit in a sitz bath and get cleaned up. I'm peeing a lot from all the water but have not pooped yet. I am a little gassy which has been kind of painful. Not looking forward to my first poop but trying to stay positive. So far so good! I will write again tomorrow night.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby kevinpdx » 09 Jun 2017, 14:36

I had fissurectomy and spincterotomy 10 days ago and recovery has been slow. Make sure to take some stool softners, wishing you a speedy recovery.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 10 Jun 2017, 00:13

Day 2: Slept through the night just fine. Woke up with no pain. Just the same discomfort and self awareness of a wound down there. Had oatmeal and a smoothie for breakfast. Refried beans for lunch. Broccoli and brown rice for dinner. I'm conscious of how much fiber I'm getting all day. Still tons of water and a few glasses of prune juice. I am taking stool softeners which have never really worked for me in the past so I decided to take half dose of Miralax around noon. I have always had a positive experience with Miralax. I tried to walk around my apartment building a few times to keep the blood moving. Overall the day was fine and pain free. After dinner I felt really gassy. Kind of painful gassing and I figured the time had come. It was very painful. The Miralax gave me diarrhea for some reason. Not sure why since it never has before. I'm thinking it may have interacted with the Toradol that I am taking. Anyways, it's over now. I soaked in a sitz bath for twenty minutes after. I feel a little better now that the first poop is over. I'm hoping the next one will be a more positive experience and not a diarrhea hour long painful experience like today. Stay tuned.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 11 Jun 2017, 10:08

Day 3: Slept great again. Still pretty much no pain all day. Only sometimes a shooting pain at the fissure side OR sometimes the incision side (different sides) but nothing I couldn't handle or was complaining about. Continued taking Toradol. Continued on high fiber and tons of fluid. Was peeing all day again. Actually got up and was more active and moving about today. Probably more than I should have cuz I was feeling a little uncomfortable at the end of the day. I was super gassy again all day I guess cuz of the fiber. It was pretty uncomfortable to hold them in so just let them rip lol Thought I would poop again but didn't all day. I'm feeling so good that I just wanted to get back to normal life like right now but I am making myself take it easy so I can recover 100% and put this behind me. Oh and I had sushi with brown rice tonight. It was amazing. Seemed like something I could eat so I did! I'll report back if it makes me sick or produces hard poops.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 12 Jun 2017, 00:23

Day 4: Woke up feeling great and pain free again. Actually got out of the house and went to breakfast with my bf. Sitting on a donut pillow of course. No shame! Lol I had a whole wheat waffle, fresh fruit, and coffee with almond milk. Prune juice and water as usual all day. Around noon I was starting to feel like finally I had to go to the bathroom. Attempted but nothing would come out. Could feel it there but I was too scared to push. I could also tell there was stool there ready to come out because my fissure started to hurt from the pressure. Not making it easier to try and go! I decided to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then grab a venti coffee right after in hopes of getting things moving. Still nothing. An hourish went by. I ate left over sushi with brown rice and some broccoli. Decided to put some lidocaine on my butthole thinking that maybe if I numb it a bit, it would be easier to go. An hour later I finally went! But not a lot. I feel like there's still more there but it wouldn't come out. The good news is that the pain was not so bad upon exiting and my stool was not hard. Bulky and the consistency of a banana which is what my doctor told me it should be. I think I owe this to the fiber, stool softeners, and tons of liquids. I soaked in a sitz bath after and didn't feel much lingering pain. An hour later I felt like I had to go more. I tried and tried but again, it wouldn't come out. This time the fissure site was hurting pretty bad. Was not able to have another BM by the end of the day.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 13 Jun 2017, 00:59

Day 5: Finished the Toradol in the morning and switched to ibuprofen after that. I called the doctor to ask what to do about not having many BM's. They told me to take some milk of Magnesia and call them after I have a BM. Before I got to the store to buy some, I felt a BM coming but then only the tiniest bit came out. Finally took half a dose of Milk of magnesia at 6ish and had a BM around 10. Finally a large, solid, normal looking stool! The first in months since I started all this crap. It hurt at the fissure site. More so than before surgery. Still hoping this is because of the fissurectomy. Jumped in a sitz bath after. Continued high fiber and liquids all day. Drank 3 tablespoons of mineral oil and another half dose of milk of magnesia before bed.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 15 Jun 2017, 20:44

Day 6: Freeling great. Got the urge to go but it was hurting quite a bit. One thing I found helpful was to go right in a sitz bath. Like those ones you put on your toilet. It's the grossest thing I've ever done but so worth it. The warm water just takes away the pain and makes everything come out easier. The rest of the day was pain free!
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 15 Jun 2017, 20:52

Diary 7: I decided to take a quarter dose of Miralax about and hour after breakfast. I felt like just a little bit could keep me regular and soft during this time. Pain free day. Felt a little itchy but that's probably because I'm healing.
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Hopeful0161 » 22 Jun 2017, 16:40

2 week status: So I stopped writing daily but I wanted to give a status update 2 weeks later. I am almost feeling completely back to normal. I can sit comfortably again and am no longer scared of bowel movements. I was taking a tiny dose of Miralax in hopes to keep things moving and it seemed to help a lot. I wanted to get a second opinion from a gastroenterologist on what I should be eating, laxatives etc. My colorectal surgeon just says "Fiber fiber fiber! Laxatives are bad don't use them". Well the fiber alone wasn't really helping me so that's why I added the Miralax. Anyways so the gastroenterologist said that Miralax is not bad at all but that fiber is the healthiest way. She gave me a very helpful tip though. She said yes continue on a high fiber diet but every morning have 1 to 3 tablespoons of flaxseed meal. Whether it be in yogurt or oatmeal or a smoothie, do that every morning because flaxseed acts as both a good source of fiber as well as a natural stimulant that will keep you regular. So I've been doing that for 4 days now and dropped the Miralax and now I'm regular everyday and my stool is the size and consistency of a banana. This is good!! I will keep doing this and save Miralax for times when I know I will get constipated. Like traveling or a dairy filled day. I had my post op appointment and my colorectal surgeon said everything looks good on the outside. She didn't give me an exam but just looked at the anus. She said the incision is healed but most likely the fissure is still healing. I believe that because I can still slightly feel it when I have a BM. Not really pain but I just feel something there as stool comes out. Overall, this recovery has really been a lot easier than I thought it would be and I'm glad I did the surgery! Ready to get back to my life! :)
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Re: LIS Recovery Diary

Postby Harper05 » 23 Jun 2017, 08:34

Why does it feel like I still have the fissure, I am 5 weeks post op after surgery #2... my syphncter muscle feels tight during Bm.
Is it possible I can have this fissure for life? I mean what the heck!
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