Okay, so here's the story...
about 4-5 months ago, I started having pain w/ BM's. Just thought it was a small fissure (which I've had before,) and that it would just go away with stool softeners and laxatives, as the previous one did.
It didn't.
It would ebb and flow, but never really went away.
Then, on Tuesday, August 9th, my girlfriend and I welcomed our baby girl into the world (totally unrelated, but thought I'd mention it anyways :) ) That Friday, the pain got bad enough that I finally went to the clinic. Upon examination, the doc diagnosed another fissure, prescribed a compounded ointment and Kristalose (laxative) and sent me home.
By Sunday, the pain was so bad, that I was literally in tears, so I went to the Emergency Room, where they put me on Morphine, and did a CT scan, with contrast from below (which was a pretty uncomfortable experience all in all.)
They found nothing... no fissure, no abscess.
Monday, I went to a CRS suggested by the ER doctor, he took one look, diagnosed the abscess, and lanced it... holy crap, did that hurt!!!!
10 days later, I went for the follow up, and he says I have a fistula that needs to be taken care of.
So, Friday, I'm heading in... general anesthesia... full on. He's not sure if he'll be able to lay it open, or if it will require a seton, and won't know till he gets started. He says this is one of the most common procedures he's done. I've been sitzing once or twice a day for the last month, and the abscess lancing wound seems to have healed up pretty well (just occasional blood on the TP any more, and a touch of drainage on the gauze I keep wedged in my crack.)
I've read every Google result I can find.... but I'm still a bit worried. Surgery doesn't bother me (in fact, I've got another one scheduled for next wednesday to put in a Dental Implant after getting my teeth busted out playing ice hockey last Friday), but....
My main concern are the after affects. I've read some posts/writings that seem really difficult, and really long term.... is that the majority? People talk about taking 10-14 days off work... is that just because it's difficult to sit? I plan on working from home (in the prone position :) I just need a laptop and a phone ) after the procedure, and I've ordered a donut pillow for when I have to be on the move (as well as 3 bulk packages of gauze :) )
I had a pilonidal cystectomy about 15 years ago.... and was told to take 2 weeks off of work. I was back to work 3 days later....
Is this a life changer? Do I have to worry about this for the rest of time? Or am I looking at 2-4 months of discomfort, and I can be done with it. I'm in sales, so A) I'm in front of customers from time to time, and B) I spend a lot of time on airplanes.... is this all going to be complicated now?
Thanks for any help/advice/reassurance/whatever y'all can pass along....

Hey there,
Just wanted to say Welcome to the forum. I don't have any experience with fitulas. I had LIS and can't offer any advice.
Hopefully one of the others who have had experience with fistulas will come along soon and be able to answer some of your questions.
You may find some information in the surgery threads helpful. Hopetoheal, Val, Adam and Paulspain have all had experience will this type of surgery. I believe PaulsPain has a seton. You may try researching his threads...

Well, you probably know (if you've been googling!) that fistulas can be high, or low. They wont know until they get in there, and they decide in theatre the best course of action.
I've had a high one and a low one, both just laid open, no seton. I didn't think it was possible to just lay open a high fistula, but anyway..........!
After the op you will be sorer than when you went in, but having said that, it will be a "clean" type of pain, not the irritated infected pain.
It will hurt for a while - the first week is worse, but you wont be in agony, and if you're used to the pain of the fistula, it might not even bother you.
I had my op on june 15th, and still have pain and drainage ect., but I dont think that's normal or usual! I think it should heal up within 6-8 weeks normally.

Just wanted to follow up so that if folks find this thread later, there's an ending to it (assuming this is the end for me :) )
Surgery was 2 Fridays ago. According to the doc in my post-anesthesia fog, the surgery went well. The fistula was low, so no seton/follow up surgery or anything. The worst part was that the anesthesiologist knocked my new front teeth out, but that's another story. I spent a couple days recovering in bed/on the couch, but was in pretty good shape, moving around by Monday. Pretty steady stream of vicodin, Miralax, fiber, and massive quantities of water kept everything in good shape. I was terrified of my first BM, but it came Saturday night, and wasn't pleasant, but was actually a fraction of the pain I was feeling when I had the actual abscess.
A week and a half after surgery, I've been back at work (in the office) for 3 days... sitting all day in an office chair is tricky... lots of shifting around/getting up and down, but all in all I haven't even needed my donut pillow. I've been off the Vicodin since last wednesday... just the occisional aleve. I'm still taking at least one, usually 2 baths a day (on in the morning, one at night.) And I'm still catching a pretty decent amount of drainage with gauze.
BM's are still tricky, as they require immediate bathing/shower afterwards, but all in all, I'm pleased as punch with where I'm at. Follow up w/ the CRS is 2 weeks from today, so we'll know more then, but for now, I think I'm on the right path...........

Way to go!! It sounds like you are making excellent progress! Don't get complacent, though - keep taking good care of yourself for a good long while.
Congratulations! I'm so happy you are doing so well!