I haven't been active on this site for a while - decided I needed to take a "mental" break from constantly reading about fistulas and fissures :) I am now almost 3 months post-surgery. I had two openings (two fistula tracts) and had 2 fistulotomies done with a seton placement in the tract that went through my muscle.
I just got back from my followup visit with my surgeon. She said everything looks like it's healing okay and said I no longer need any nurse visits or packing. Both wounds are very shallow. I still have drainage from the seton (both blood and pus, but mostly blood).
She recommended trying the LIFT procedure to close off the fistula tract. She did mention it only has a 50% success rate and if it doesn't work I will need a seton placed again. I still get some blood from the superficial fistula - and she thinks that's because it's still "communicating" with the more serious one. I am being scheduled for an MRI, with another followup appointment in about 6 weeks. She wanted to give me time to think about the LIFT surgery - when I go back in I can then book the surgery. I'm already dreading the MRI -- I have major issues with confined spaces!
I was doing really well with recovery and getting my life back on track. Most days I forget that I'm living with this problem - but now all of a sudden I'm in a total blah mood - and keep thinking "fml"!
Any advice about the LIFT procedure and recovery would be really appreciated!
I can't find much on it online and would like to know what to expect prior to committing to it.
This site is like my personal shrink :)