I just had surgery 3 days ago. As with any surgery, I guess the trick is you need to choose your surgeon very carefully. I have struggled with 2 fissures for 9 years. Had every sort of treatment, including botox injections (ouch!), none of which worked. Finally had the surgery because I was convinced I'd eventually bleed to death and I just couldn't take the pain anymore. I should have done it long ago. My family doctor referred me to a surgeon who does nothing but fissures and hemorrhoids, and he was wonderful. He said I'd be happy I had the surgery from the second I woke up in recovery, and was he right! I have had no pain since I woke up--never even needed a pain pill. No pain with the first bowel movement, which fortunately was soft. Bottom line: don't suffer through this. It would be worth traveling to see a specialist and do it. When I think of how I suffered needlessly, I could kick myself.

Pat,
Thanks for posting! We all would have done many things differently, and you are not alone. So, just enjoy your success and don't beat on yourself for what you did or didn't do!

patth, who was your surgeon? I REALLY don't want to get surgery but nothing else is working. It's always nice to see a positive comment about LIS, seems like everything I see is negative which doesn't do much in convincing me.

Jman11 - what on Earth you found "negative" so far :roll: We had so many member having the LIS and living happily ever after !!!! I would say about 99 % are problem free after the LIS but they unfortunately do not post any more.
Patth - major congrats and welcome to "pain free" world !!! Do not think about the past - enjoy your new life : )))
Just be very careful for the first year and stay on healthy diet and fiber : ))) !!!!
May you heal soon and forever !!!!

I can't find anything really negative on this forum about LIS, everything sounds great, yeah it's obvious there's gonna be pain etc but i'd definitely go for it myself, if anything, using this forum has reassured me!
Congrats to Patth!

Nice, congrats Patth! Please keep us posted on how things go. Hopefully they continue to be excellent! Those of us, including myself, that are on the fence about LIS are keenly interested :) For me personally, my fissure usually doesn't make my life a living hell anymore. It's still there, but on most days it's just a moderate nuisance. If I had terrifying pain all the time that would make the LIS decision easy, but the fact that it's manageable, albeit with some difficulty, makes it harder to take the LIS plunge. I've also heard mostly good things about LIS though, not just from this forum but from others as well. The main complaint seems to center around cases where the LIS is ineffective as opposed to making the situation worse.

jman, the surgery is not bad at all..I was home in a few hours watching college b-ball on ESPN Classic and eating a nice lunch...best thing I ever did for myself.
Search for my old posts...back in August

jman11--i am VERY seriously considering LIS--one of my docs is getting me a referral to a CRS in the columbia area...
i'll be sure to post when/if i have my first consult (it might be a while because there are none in my insurance's network and he/she will have to jump through some hoops so i can see him/her...)
i might want to wait a week or two anyway because i'm having a different and unrelated surgery tomorrow and might want a little time just to fully recover from that...
so glad to hear such good results from LIS patients...it's looking better all the time! it is outpatient, right? maybe a couple days recovery at home? i'm facing possible hysterectomy which i know is 6 weeks out...not wanting two major surgeries this year...not wanting any major surgeries really....

I am so sorry that you might need a hysterectomy : ((( - and I wish you the best of luck . Oh yes, definitely - LIS is NOTHING comparing to that : ((( !
After my first LIS I went out to celebrate New Year with no problem (it was a week after I had LIS). I danced and ate normal food and had my Metamucil instead of vine LOL - but that was it ; ).
After the second LIS I needed 2 weeks just to come to my senses and 6 weeks to heal, BUT, I had a LIS + 2 skin-tags removed +fissurectomy +3 internal centenial piles removed - so it was not a LIS , actually, but 7 cuts done total - so it does not count ; )) !
The first scenario is more typical : ))) !!!!

Dee, don't worry much about the hysterectomy either..yeah, it was worse than LIS, but I didn't think it was that bad. Obviously the first 2 days are the worst, but at least you're hospitalized at that juncture. They tried to send me home right away practically (like, the next afternoon), but I stayed mainly because of massive constipation and also because I just thought I needed to to be able to rest better.
But, I was walking outside a bit in like 5/6 days and actually went out for a few drinks a week later. Way better than having endometriosis pain all the time! Point is, don't fear it much.
I was 39 (and I think it said you're 38)..I think being younger helps with the fairly quick healing and rebounding probably.