i am SO FRUSTRATED. i had a couple good days last week, but then finished the week with A LOT of pain. the weekend was horrible. yesterday i had 2 BMs that hurt so bad. i spent the rest of the day miserable with frustration. i can STILL feel the fissure whenever i go to the bathroom. it scrapes across it and feels like passing glass. there were only a few days after surgery when i felt like it was healing over. now it just feels the same as it always did, maybe worse during BM. IT HURTS.
it's been 6 1/2 weeks since my SECOND surgery. what am i supposed to do now?! i see my dr this week so i'll ask him. at this point i feel so mad at him for doing a 2nd unsuccessful surgery without giving me any other options. I'm going to ask for a recommendation to see someone else. i think i'll also look outside my healthcare provider, Kaiser. it will be expensive, but i have to get some more help. i hate this and it's ruining my life at 25!!! I've done everything right to heal this thing over the past year. i live on stool softeners, water, fruit, veggies, fiber. etc. there's nothing more i could be doing.
aside from LIS, which i've done twice, what other options are there? does anyone have any ideas? has anyone tried using neosporin w/ any success? i'm thinking of trying a liquid diet for a week to see how that helps things. other than that, i'm just plain out of ideas and out of patience

Wow-I can imagine you are very frustrated-I would be too! And I am frustrated for you. I will be very interested in what the doctor says.

Do you know if the fissure it healing or getting smaller? Sometimes things can heal over and we still have pain because the nerves there can get very twitchy from sending pain signals for so long. There are treatments for nerve pain if that is what it is.

You are still within the normal healing time though, so don't despair. Sometimes even a week can make a huge difference in how we feel.

Let us know what he says tomorrow. I wonder if you would be a good candidate for the flap procedure if it isn't healing.

Hi juney,
I feel your pain. I am young like you (32) and had a fissure for what felt like an eternity...weeks of pain went by, and it would not heal. I was doing everything I could to manage it....Colace, fiber, water, baths, nifedipine ointment, etc. I would wake up feeling like you and go off to work in agony, believing that this was for the rest of my life. But something started happening, and all of a sudden it started feeling better....and another day came and it was a little better. And last week I went to my CRS and she did her usual exam and told me the fissure was 100% gone. The pain, bleeding, discomfort are gone too. All in all it took 7 months to get rid of. My point is....you WILL heal. I did not have any surgery, but you have to believe you can only get better from here. Keep up your routine, and do things for yourself to nurture your patience, and I promise you will start to feel better. Mike

i actually looked down there for the first time a few days ago and i could still see the part of it that i could always see. i'm pretty sure it's that little external bit that's never healed and is causing the continued pain. my dr's never given me an indication of how big the fissure was. he just takes a peek externally when i go in for check ups. when he did the 2nd surgery he said it just looked like a "normal fissure". hmm....
i did ask about the flap thing once. he said he doesn't do that, as LIS usually works for everyone. but maybe i should be a little more persistent with the next dr i see. LIS obviously doesn't work for me! :(
i feel like i should have insisted no seeing someone else after the 1st surgery didn't work. my surgeon is an assistant chief of general surgery, but not a CRS. he said if the 2nd one didn't work he'd refer me to the head CRS at Kaiser, but that it wil probably take almost a year to get in. i think i should have some priority by now!! sighhhh.
my appt is in 2 days, so i'll let you know what he says then.

thanks for your encouragement mike :)
i've had this fissure since july 2006, although i never saw a dr for it until january 2007 and then they misdiagnosed me until march. so it's been a LONG time for me. i still try to have hope that it will heal one day. it's so hard though.
i'm glad you're doing better! i rememer responding to a post of yours awhile ago.

Dear Juney, I can feel your frustration, anger and sadness at the same time. I can only say that you are doing great dealing with it all because I would probably be sending Antrax tainted letters to your surgeon by now. OK, maybe not Antrax , but something similar like that - like screaming at him so the whole ward can hear ! He is just incompetent and it is not your fault :(. Don't blame yourself - how possibly could you know what to do or ask for CRS refferal immediately, we are all conditioned t respect and not question our doctors. I had misfortune that 2 of my family members died in the hospital due to medical negligence - that s why I do not trust any doctor 100% and drive them nuts with questions and cross references, and that is why I have 3 CRS now which I "interview" for different opinions, results etc.
If I were you I would go out of network if it is financially possible, if not , I would ask for immediate referal ro CRS with hint of warning to your surgeon about "complaint" to the board. Second, as Lucia said - there are other options for th F , I mean fissures ; ) , like flap and fissurectomy! AND, some people heal spontaneously - I know , you stopped believing that your body can do that after all of this time , I only have fissure for 14 weeks and I lost hope in that - but you see Mike DID IT !!!!! And it happened in couple of days after months and months of agony !!!!! So, don't despair my friend <3, <3, <3 we believe in you and we know that you will make it ! Yes, it sucks to be young and deal with this crap , but your age is also on your side - it will help you heal fast sooner or later !!!! I am 36 (read 44;), it probably looks ancient to you , ha ha, but believe me, pain is the same - one can not live the normal life any more and I used to have so much fun and had such an active life . You know, your body ages but your soul never does ; )))) ! When I used to go shopping with my older daughter people always thought that I was her older sister - now I feel like i am 80 !!!!!
Bottom line, Juney, FIND ANOTHER DOCTOR ASAP !!!!!
Love you and best of luck !!!! :_):

Ohl, Lord, Juney PLEASE be careful with the liquid diet. Please. I actually GOT my fissure last year when I had a virus,i tried a liquid diet and I got severe diarrhea and THAT gave me the fissure.
Severe diarrhea will just open your fissure up. In a BIG way!! Please, if you do a liquid diet, make sure it won't give you diahrrea, you may live to regret it. PLEASE watch out...

don't worry kim. i like food too much to actually do a liquid diet. besides i can't lose much more weight without wasting away. i'm just so desperate for anything that will help
i eat so healthy and take stool softeners, hot baths, lots of water, 2 surgeries, etc and NOTHING has worked for me. you are SO LUCKY that LIS worked for you kim. i don't understand what my problem is.

Well, I think there is some reason why the fissure won't heal, and it must not be related to the sphincter. Your case is different than most others, but why and what it is, is anyone's guess.
Do you take zinc and Vitamin C? I'm sure you do, they are both good healers.
you've already told us how rigorous you are with the "diet."
I sure wish I had some insight, but my only clue is your sphincter isn't the reason why your fissure won't heal. It is something else. I could even be wrong about THAT. But it seems likely. Perhaps the blood flow to the fissure site just isn't sufficient. Maybe something has happened to the blood vessels that feed the membranes right at the fissure.
I'd give anything to figure out your puzzle, because I know the pain, and I can guess at your exasperation and frustration at had having two surgeries and no healing. Do rest assured though that myself and others on this board are on your side and rooting for you all the way....

Juney,
I am so sorry for you pain and frustraiotn. I had my second shot of Botox last week and it is just starting to kick in. I feel your pain in a way. I have had this thing since Dec 06 I too was misdiagnosed unti May '07. Let me tell you something of what I have learned.....
my surgeon is an assistant chief of general surgery, but not a CRS.
You stated this and this hit the nail on the head. I think it would be in your best interest to see a CRS. I hope you don't have to wait a year. General surgeons are great but this is not their speciality. I have learned this with certain family members who have gotten sick and I have had help from relatives who are nurses who keep me up on what to do as far as Doctors and Hospitals.
My CRS told me that my next step could be LIS or another shot of Botox which ever I prefer. He said he is very conservative with LIS and the cutting due to the incontinence issue, but he has had many successful surgeries. I live in New York near Rochester. Where do you live?
Everyone I have talked to around here that have had fissures said they take a very long time to heal. I know that is very frustrating. I even think when Lecia was healing she too was still having some pain even towards the end before it completely healed ask her. I know it is frustrating even when you know you are doing everything right. Please hang in there girl. I wish there was some way I could help you but just let me know if you need anything. We are all right her with yah. :D
Take Care,
Patty
:snn:
P. S. I agree with Kim on the liquid diet thing.....