hey VAL..im good,i mean i wouldnt wanna go on a 10 mile bike ride...but im doing ok,no bleeding,and not much pain if any,you can tell when you do something you shouldnt though...i had a fistulectomy,i devoloped a fistula about 2 weeks after my last visit for my fissure in july,i still say the doc created it with his "violent exam".so ive had the fistula for like 6 months,and it just got bigger and longer,just 1 track that ended just a tad inside my butt,the abcess part of it was about 2 inches or so from my butt,on my butt cheek,it tunneled down there i guess.as far as how yours will be i dont know,dont get me wrong,i hear some are bad,painful pooping ..lots of bleeding..and all,mine wasnt like that,but ive also had other injuries to my back and all,smashed hands,concussions,FISSURES and otherthings,so this was like oh well,another injury from something,BUT you gotta do whatcha gotta do,its not gonna heal itself,so i say get it done asap and get it over with,whether it hurts or not,it needs fixed,to bad they cant inject it with something and be done with it! let me know when you get your appt.and if they tell you a fistulotomy or a fistulectomy..

mine's apparently in the fissure itself-it made a bridge over the top. I've gotta have it cut open and an LIS but I don't know if its made tracks or not-I suppose they can't tell until they "go in there"!
Was your abcess really painful? How did you know it was a fistula? And whats the difference between fissulectomy/otomy?
Thanks!

Danny - you look great with your new "hairdo" ; ))), Maybe you could conceder making it "permanent " ; ). Glad to hear you are doing great !!!!!
Val, I really hope your surgeries would be peace of cake too !!!! You will get rid of fissure and fistula at once - yeaaay !!!! No matter how painful recovery will be - it will be probably 1 to 2 weeks max and than you will be home free !!!! After so much suffering I think you will be able to deal with post op great !!!! I will keep you in my prayers, although mine don't work for me obviously, maybe "the wireless " connection cable with heaven better works on "input 7" - input for others ; ))) !!!!!
XOXO

VAL...my surgeon told me that he rarely sees the multi trak fistula,usually when he does its been left go way to long,the abcess was just a little lump bout the size of a peanut m&m,then it tunneled down into my butt,it rarely hurt,just more "uncomfortable" than anything,but i would squeeze it sometimes and would get this reddish stuff out of it,yea,its real pleasant....i pretty much knew it was a fistula from what ive read and the symtoms of it,especially when i could feel the tunnel with my finger and follow it to my butt.i think the fistulectomy is when they slice it wide open to allow it to heal from the inside out,you may need to ask someone else on here,but i think the fistulotomy is when the use that seton thing ,run it in the tunnel and clean it out and use that $1500 butt plug thing,my surgeon told me that you have feel the plug a long time till its absorbed and replaced by skin,tht seems better than a giant slice in your crack though..id say with the LIS and fistula surgery,healing time will be longer than mine,but i think your making the right decision doing 2 at a time,did you try the 2% nitro cream for the fissure yet?

Thanks, Fissulyna-I hope God hears your prayers and helps all of us!
Dano, I haven't got much choice about the LIS and him taking care of the fistula because the fistula is within the fissure! Typical! The doctor told me not to use the diltiazem while it was infected, but the surgeon said I should use it-they're a load of idiots here I tell you- I don't know if I should use it or not. I was allergic to nitro, so I wouldn't want to try that again!
I'm really annoyed that I've spent 6 months healing it, now he's going to cut it open again. As the surgery is a month away, is it likely to make tracks or get worse?

If you keep taking the antibiotics, it's not likely to get much worse, maybe even a little better.
a fistulectomy and a fistulotomy are very similar, one involves just flaying open the fissure, the other involves removing the track (if it's bee there for a long time the tissue is diseased and needs to be cut away). I forget which is which though.

ohhh,thats the difference,i wasnt sure..