Hello everyone,
I found this fabulous website last week as I was trying to decide whether or not to have LIS. It's very comforting to hear other's experiences. I have no problem talking to everyone I know about my butt problems, but if someone hasn't had a fissure, they can't really relate.
My fissure nightmare began 10 months ago after I had a skin tag removed. My CRS told me there was a 10% chance that the tag removal could lead to a fissure. I'm an optimist and thought I would most certainly be one of the 90%. Ugh...how wrong I was. One month later I was diagnosed with THE FISSURE.
My treatment thus far has included improved diet, fiber supplements, stool softeners, nitroglycerin cream & one Botox injection. The Botox injection was very promising in the beginning. For about 2 weeks, I felt amazing. No pain and easy BMs. Once the Botox wore off about 4 weeks later, I was back to square one...with pain & bleeding. That's when my CRS suggested LIS. I thought about it for a long time and did all the research I could possibly do. I finally decided last Friday that I really don't have any more options. I can either live with this forever...or get the surgery. So I called the office and asked for the first available appointment.
To complicate matters, I have the complete triad of fissure symptoms...the fissure itself, 2 very large hypertrophied papillae that prolapse with BMs, and a brand new skin tag that is even bigger than the original! The papilla have to be manually reinserted after each BM...which is a horrifying nightmare. I have never been able to bring myself to look at them...but they feel huge. I never leave the house without a supply bag containing finger cots & nitro cream. Sigh. It really has been ruling and wrecking my life for the past 10 months.
So...tomorrow is the big day. My LIS surgery is scheduled for 10:30am. My CRS prescribed Vicodin, Valium, and an antibiotic. She told me to take all three 1 hour before the procedure, which will be done in her office. She'll place me in a jackknife position and then inject a local anesthetic. She'll do the LIS, cut out the papillae, and remove the skin tag. She said the whole thing will take about 30 minutes, and then I can go home.
I'm REALLY nervous. I'm not as nervous about the procedure as I am about the recovery process. I've already had the skin tag removal and then the Botox injection, so I'm used to getting poked at down there. I'm just expecting the recovery may be a little more involved considering all the things she will be doing and removing.
Anyway...I'll try to post an update about my surgery after I get home tomorrow and before the injection wears off. I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be the beginning of a new life...free of pain, bleeding, finger cots, and injections! :D