Hey guys,

I just wanted to write up a recap my year since getting LIS last August. I also had a sentinel pile removed and some other small procedure to address a "papillae" on the inside. Not sure of the spelling but the doctor mentioned that at my one month followup.

I am a late 30's male. I opted for LIS after 10 months of trying non-surgical methods that didn't work. For surgery, I was one of the very lucky ones who basically just felt sore for a couple weeks after surgery. I never took a pain pill and was back on my feet quite quickly.

I wore some adult diapers under my underwear for 2-3 weeks. I did have some moisture/leakage during that time but the doctor said it was from the incision "weeping." Just wanted to note that in case you have it.

I thought I was on my way to a smooth recovery but at one month I had a some what strained bowel movement and saw blood in the bowl. I went back to a different doctor since my surgeon was on vacation and he said he saw a tiny crack so he prescribed nifedipine. That cream never works for me but I tried it for a month. It was super annoying because I was moving cross country in a truck so I was back in the diapers, applying cream 3x a day at truck stops and feeling insanely squishy down there while driving 10 hours a day.

Long story short, I've had random drops of blood in the bowl after a bowel movement off and on for a year. However it has reduced to maybe once a month over the last 3-4 months. It seriously stressed me out as I thought the surgery failed.

However, I've gotten to know my anus quite well over the last few years. I began using sex toys for penetration a few years ago (this might have been how I got the fissure in the first place) and I've been using a vibrating dilator set anally for the past 4 months after reading a recommendation to do that by the surgeon Dr. Evan Goldstein. He says it helps keep the anus from over-tightening or something like that. It might be coincidence but the bleeding after a BM went down to once every month or 6 weeks once I started using the vibrators. I've also felt around with a lubed up glove quite a bit and my anus feels pretty healthy now. I remember the super sharp pain I felt with a finger when I had the fissure and now I just feel a little tender on the side where it used to be. I've accepted that my anus might always be altered like that.

Another random thing I'll note is that I had some bizarre anal sweating issue for one month at 9 months post-op. This might've been unrelated to surgery. I was using a lube with the vibrators that contained a numbing agent in the lube. This might've caused some weird reaction but after a few days over using a lot of that lube I noticed that my butt crack was moist throughout the day. Again I was super stressed about it. Thought I'd made myself incontinent because I'd wipe the moisture and sometimes it would have brown in it. However I think I was just sweating a ton and it was activating what tiny stool I must've been unable to wipe or something like that. I was almost ready to go to the doctor over it but amazingly it just went away after a month. I never went back to lube with that weird chemical in it, hoping that was the cause.

I just had an exam by a new colon surgeon who was super nice. I explained the bleeding issue but also that it's been less and less and that I never have pain with it. He stuck a scope up there and said he could see where the fissure used to be and where the incision was but that it was all normal. No active fissure. He said he saw a tiny hemorrhoid and that the random bleeding could be from a small crack in the scar tissue or possibly the hemorrhoid but that it wasn't looking like it needed any treatment. All n all he said it looked like the surgeon did a good job and to try not to stress if it bleeds once in a while. Obviously I'd prefer it were totally perfect down there but I left the office happy to know that I didn't have a fissure or any cause for concern.

I hope all that information is helpful to some. It hasn't been a perfect year since surgery but as of today my bum is doing pretty well.

Yay! Sounds like you are on your way to a speedy full recovery!

Any update on how anal is for you now? Kinda of considering the surgery. Gay guy here also just wondering.