It's been 4 1/2 weeks since I saw blood, but I have had raw burning during BM's this week. I haven't ate anything different, I've been taking my baths, stool softeners ,plenty of water and the diltiazem for 5 1/2 weeks. I just can't seem to get this to heal. It's almost been 7 months and I'm just tired of this! I want my life back.
My butt is so tight that I can't even have a complete BM. I have to go several times just to get a few inches out. It won't relax. There have been times when I have had them but it's rare and the blood this morning just finalized what I need to do.
I have an appointment on the 23rd witht the crs. I would greatly appreciate any advice about questions that I should ask before the LIS. I would also like to know what you all ate or took to keep things soft and moving after your surgery. I am a little worried because I don't take fiber supplements and only take colace right now and that won't be enough. I doubt that I will feel like eating 20 grams of fiber or more right after surgery. I'm guessing I will want to eat light like soup?? Is it ok to just do that and take miralax or more colace than I normally take without fiber supplements? The fiber supplements always cause me to have huge poop and not really soft even with the water and softeners so I am a little worried about that.
If any of you who have had surgery can give me any advice on the do's and don'ts after surgery, I would greatly aprreciate it.

Dawn,
I think there is already a thread about what to know about having LIS. You might try searching for it.

Dawn,
I would say to the CRS that you just can't go on the way you are and that you want your life back, he or she will most likely tell you about the incontinence risk associated with the surgery and that it is a very small risk, if they are anything like the CRS over here that's all they tell you, you could ask how many LIS procedures they have carried out before, the more = the better, I'm not sure if they'll disclose such info though.
As for the post-op diet.. All I ate for the first few days was porridge oats for breakfast and soup for dinner and tea, this clearly wasn't enough and only made me produce lots of tiny poops all day which caused severe pain, so after that I decided to add rice and wholemeal pasta into the mix to bulk up the stool a bit, don't stop the Miralax either, see that as a permanent fixture and keep the water intake to the max, the first week or so after surgery the anus is very hard to clean after BM because of the swelling and pain so be extra careful and no wiping, I only use cotton wool balls soaked in warm water and will be using them for as long as I feel I need to, it is very important to clean the anus thoroughly to remove any little bits of fecal matter because if you don't they will irritate and burn the wound, you could use Q-Tips like Fissy suggests in her posts, you would need to use a mirror to view the anus and clean all the debris away.
Your first BM after surgery will hurt, it's the same for us all, I passed a big pad that had been shoved in my rectum to stop the bleeding, then after that I only produced little poops and I had the feeling of being incomplete which is so annoying, I was mainly too scared to push to get that extra piece out but after a week or so I decided it was time to use a bit of force and things came out a bit more, it's really down to the individual IMO, we are all different and feel pain differently.
If you decide to go ahead with the surgery we will be here to give support afterwards, just remember... You are not alone.

Right, Dawn! If you decide to go through with LIS, many others here know first hand what it's like (probably unlike most of the docs).

Hi Dawn-
I bombarded my CRS with questions when I finally took the plunge. I was both wanting to know the groups success rate plus I was curious about how the procedure itself is performed. I love to ask questions in general though.
The group up here is very large - I think around 18 surgeons. My biggest concern was incontinence. He told me the group is very conservative in cutting using a very small scalpel. They would rather go back and cut more if needed. At the time this approach seemed logical. Now after going through it I am not so sure. It is kind of a double edged sword - cut to much will result in issues and cut to little round 2 may be needed.
In a nutshell, I would ask any questions that will make you feel good about your decision. I think having a good and confident CRS is a must. Mine is very skilled and is the nicest doctor I have ever met which really helped me move forward with surgery. I did a lot of research on the doctor's in my area on the web before I selected one. In my opinion, you should have full trust in that individual.
And as mentioned this site is wonderful for giving you an idea of what to expect. I think a full spectrum of cases exist on here . It just goes to show that everybody is different.
For diet, I just maintained my normal high fiber diet with a small dose of Citrucel at night. My recovery was rough since I was taking Flagyl afterwards which gave me loose burning BM's. I also couldn't pee right for about 2 days - hard to start and took forever. Now I know what to look forward to if I ever get prostate issues.
I had my surgery on Friday and went back to work on Tuesday. I subscribe to the belief that it helps healing to be active but still gentle to the area being healed. I was even on the treadmill the week following walking to help get the blood flow going. I was in pain but determined not to sit around since I think that just makes it worse.

I appreciate all the support and answers from you all. I'm so glad I found this forum and have somewhat of an idea of what to expect. I can see though that we are all different and I'm hoping I will be a fast healer, but I know that's no always the case.
I researched all the CRS in the office that I have been going to also. I wasn't real fond of the one that I saw the first time and I kind of decided through all of this that the DR who is usually available the quickest is the one no one else wants to see. It's just been my experience with the GI and the CRS. But anyway, I will have tons of questions for her at my appointment. She got her degree at Yale and has been practicing for 11 years is all that I really know right now. I don't know of anyone personally, who has used though.
I don't think getting the LIS will be a problem though. They have mentioned to me over the phone a few weeks ago when I called for the diltiazem.
Paul it's good to see that you were able to get back to work so quickly. I stay at home but I agree that sitting around can make you dwell on the pain and if you are able to get out then that's great. Hopefully that will be the case for me....
Are you all still very strict with you diets and if you've added new foods, when did you feel it was safe? How long should you stay on the stool softeners after surgery?
I've read that it takes almost a year for the strength the be regained in that area. Should I stay on the AF diet and softeners for a year?
I appreciate all your support and I will probably make you all crazy with questions when the date is set. Please don't let me back out of this.
Thank you all.

Dawn, as I stated above, I would definitely remain on the Miralax for a very long time, I'm more than happy to take it for the duration of my life as I know it's the best thing since sliced bread. As for adding new foods to the existing diet, it shouldn't be a problem, just try to avoid the obvious "sharp" foods, seeds, peanuts, popcorn etc, and keep the dairy to a minimum and all should be ok but do it gradually don't just jump in, you'll know when the time is right, for me it was after the first week post-op and now I'm eating pretty regular, mainly because I want to gain some weight.

Dawn,
I doubt that you can have more questions than NG did prior to LIS as his brain always thinks of everything!!
Steve,
I could send you some pounds across the pond. :roll: Have you tried drinking Ensure or another supplement drink? That helped me gain weight when I was thin. Plus it has lots of good nutrients in it for the body.

cheryl... If only!!
I am going to look for Ensure in the local supermarket tomorrow, I really need the nutrients as well as the weight gain..

Steve,
I know what you mean. Hard for me to believe that I was trying to gain weight 2 years ago, but I was. Many here have had that prob of being too thin/losing weight since we watch our diets so carefully and cut out so many "bad/high calorie" foods also. Ensure really does taste pretty good!! You could even try making milkshakes with it and add fruit to make a more interesting (and more nutritious) drink. Did you see what I posted about visualizations in a different thread???