I'm 2 months post-op, not feeling any spasms, or shards of glass when I have a Bm. I'm very happy that my life is somewhat normal again. The only real complaint I have is some leakage and irritation if I walk a lot...
I'm hoping that ends soon.
I can still tell things aren't 100% down there yet though. It's hard to explain but it still feels fragile when I go. I was just wondering if anyone knows when does it feel like you never had LIS or a fissure? I know we're all different but does it seem normal? Would 6 months or a year seem like a normal time line to expect no tenderness, no irritation, no random stings or itching?! Don't get me wrong- none of this is painful or altering my life as the fissure did, but you do just kind of get fed up w/ not being a 100%.

Hi Dawn, personally I'm waiting for the day I go to the loo, use only toilet paper and only think about fissures/flaps etc after I've left the bathroom. Only a dream? I hope not. :D

patience dawn!
the good news is that you are not having spasms or the feelings of shards of glass when doing the poo! (i think that could be a song....do the poo...do the poo...i know u want to!)
anyway, to say that you should be 100% at 2 months post-op is still optimistic.
my first CRS, who was amazing and in the practice for decades, always told me to look at it this way:
6-8 weeks to get through the tough stuff
6-8 months to get about 90-95%
8-12 months 95-100%
that is why he opted to not do LIS at the very end because he was a very conservative doc. he wasn't quick to get everyone in the OR.
so i appreciate that.
i think you are doing great.
just try not to quicken the pace of your healing. it will happen on its own time.
i think 6-8 months would be a good period of time to really expect an immense reduction, if else elimination, of tenderness, irritation, etc.
i don't think we would ever say goodbye to random stings or itching. but it would be a seldom occasion.
you'll B 100% lady! in due time.
hang in there and keep focus on all the wonderful progress you have made. it will continue.

Thanks Happy,
I appreciate the support. It's crazy but I still get tense when having a bm. I'm still scared it will happen again! I took half a valium yesterday that I had left over just to see if it would relax me when I had a bm. I basically had to look to see that I had gone, I felt nothing really. I just wish I could relax more when I go. There's been times when I was on the phone or had something on my mind besides that I was going to have a bm and things go so much smoother than when I'm thinking about it. I know if I can get to the point of just relaxing, it would be so much easier. I'm scared I'm going to re-open or cause a fissure with how tense I get.
The mental part of this has been the hardest!

I've started reading in the bathroom again in a quest for normalcy. I have always been a reader in the bathroom- I realize now that what I did was not good. Because I would get interested in something and just sit in there for a while afterwards (oh those were the days!). Then I stopped completely. But I'm beginning to realize that reading helps me focus on something else to help relax myself and then I just make sure I stop when things are done.

Bambi wrote:I'm beginning to realize that reading helps me focus on something else to help relax myself and then I just make sure I stop when things are done.

That's my philosophy. In the past, though, I would continuing reading for ten minutes or so after I was "finished." Now, I may only read a paragraph or two before I'm "done", and I get up immediately after. I do think that reading while having a BM helps keep you from forcing the issue in the same way that talking during dinner helps eat slower for better digestion.

I just read this but I think you guys are right! It's ok to do something that helps us relax and takes our mind off of it, as long as we don't linger after the deed is done. I actually balanced some of my check book(lol) while going and just got up when it was over and as funny as that is, it really works!
Thanks Bambi and William:)

that sounds like a great approach dawn.
i am impressed that you balanced your checkbook while pooing!
have you tried squatting?
i wish there was a better way to deal with the anxiety.
it's all mind over matter...or poo :-)