Okay, so my surgery was back in January. I healed well but had problems for MONTHS with the incision site re-opening and getting streaked, painful and bloody stools. It's been a very frustrating journey.
I have tried everything, from Milk of Magnesia, Mirilax, Ducolax, Colace, etc. While these made passing stools somewhat easier, my stools were still hard. I also worked on increasing water intake but still, stools hurt to pass and were not soft.
The only solution that has been working is to increase SOLUBLE fiber intake. I was eating salads at least once a day and still it hurt to go to the bathroom. That's because I wasn't eating the right kind of fiber. Some great foods that have helped me so far:
Kellogg's Bran Flakes - a very tasty and high fiber breakfast food.
Cream of Wheat Instant Healthy Grain hot cereal - contains 6 grams of fiber. Doesn't taste great AT ALL to me, but isn't so terrible when you add butter or a bit of salt. I like to add a lot of water and drink it like a drink. This will definitely help you go to the bathroom more smoothly. Also loaded with protein and vitamin D
Ronzoni SmartTaste Pastas - This line of pasta is a GODSEND! Not AS good as semolina pasta, but actually tastes great, especially compared to whole wheat pasta. Contains 2.5x the fiber of regular pasta. I try to eat this at least every other day. I swear it has made a world of a difference in going to the bathroom. I have made baked ziti, pesto pasta, spaghetti, and other really delicious pasta dishes with these. When they go on sale I stock my whole cabinet up.
Thomas' Hearty English Muffins - 100 calories and 8 grams of fiber per serving. What's not to like?
So far, after incorporating these foods into my diet, life has finally started to go back to normal. I still take my time bathroom and try not to "force" anything to happen. Everything should happen naturally and you should never be in pain when going. Pain means something is tearing again, and when I've felt like this, I usually use a glycerin liquid suppository to help get things moving again without risking opening up my fissure again and bleeding.
Here are some foods I have learned to shy away from, the hard way:
Steak & red meat - cut it out of my diet completely.
Milk and Cheese - Still have milk in my coffee and with my cereal, but I try not to eat things that contain lots of milk (cheesecake, pizza, etc). I still eat yogurt b/c of the active cultures.
White bread and white rice - This is a no-no! replace your breads with high fiber ones and white rice with brown rice.
Fast Food - you shouldn't be eating this to begin with.

Let's hear it for Kellog's Branflakes - they are fantastic. x :D