I had my first LIS in 2014. I had to see the PA for my post-op appointment after 3 weeks. She was very rough with me, even though I had explained how great I'd been feeling and asked her to be careful for fear of setbacks. She poked and prodded until she found my fissure just to tell me it was healing well. I had weeks of pain and bleeding following that and had to go back on Nifedipine. That fissure never fully healed.

Today was my post-op for my 2nd LIS. Again, they made me see a PA. I explained to this one what happened last time. I told her I did not want her to touch me in any way. I said I understand you need to look, but I did not want her hands on me. I told her my husband was there as a witness because I was terrified of it happening, again. She seemed to understand. She said she would not touch me, unless she saw something hat concerned her. I stopped her there and reiterated that I did not want her to touch me for any reason. I asked her to stop and get my doctor if she saw something that needed further examination. She agreed. She looked, then proceeded to tug and pull to get a better look at my incision site. I was so angry amd dumbfounded and upset afterwards. Apparently, she thought I meant I didn't want an internal exam. So, here I am, back in my sitz bath praying and hoping she didn't cause a major setback like last time.

What were post-op appointments like for y'all? Does everyone get poked at, despite telling them we are painfree?

I don't know what to do if she reopened my fissure. I can't have another surgery and can't use Nifedipine since it causes rashes now. Plain Vaseline is about the only thing that doesn't make me itch.

I'm so upset about this. I couldn't have been any clearer with her.

I'm so upset for you right now. How could the PA not understand what you meant? Ugh. Since when does 'not touching' mean avoid internal exams? I haven't had anal surgery but I did have perianal skin surgery last year and the surgeon would feel the area gently at follow-ups to check if the scar was softening. I know you must be really worried right now, but if she didn't examine you internally then she must likely wouldn't have done any damage. Sending you good vibes!

Thank you for the hugs. I am still so mad about it. She definitely aggravated things, but not as badly as the first time around. I am hoping this is short-lived.

I'm curious about others' post-op appointments. From reading some of the posts, it sounds like a lot of people get thoroughly checked and find out if their fissure is healing, or how much it's healed. I can't imagine experiencing that. It seems like it would possibly tear a fissure back open. Or am I just overly sensitive? With just the little tugging she did I am having discomfort during BMs, again.

Hi, if your fissure is healing slower than definitely no exams until maybe week 6 or 8. Mine healed at week 3 and I didn't even know the doc inserted anoscope, I though it was his finger, there was no pain at all, but he needed to see the healing progress, otherwise they can't tell. Also he needed to see if there is any infection, so I let him do his thing. But if I was in pain I would have told him and maybe he wouldn't have done anoscope. Each case is different. Wishing you speedy recovery. My doc said the healing will be hindered by too loose stools because of the acidity hitting the wounds, so be careful with the laxatives. I didn't use any, just psyllium husk.

Thanks. I hadn't had any pain in about 2 weeks before the appt. Now I'm having some discomfort during the day and I've had some minor spotting of blood the last 2 days. Oddly, there's no pain or discomfort during BMs yesterday or today. I haven't used laxatives in years. Once I found plain psyllium husk powder and figured out how much works for me, my stools have been pretty much perfect. The sitz baths and heating pad at night have been helping, so I'll just keep up with those for a while.

I think I'm just more angry than anything. I've had 2 PAs lie to me, not respect my wishes, and cause me pain and setbacks. I wouldn't wish a fissure on anyone, but it might do them good to experience one so they'll understand how detrimental and life-altering they are.