In June my general surgeon suspected anal fissures. I've never had a scope, I've only had digital exams. He referred me to a wonderful experienced CRS a few hours away. He diagnosed a posterior anal fissure due to the symptoms and recommended LIS and fissurectomy. I was devastated. I did not want to have surgery but I had run out of options.
I was beyond stressed out on surgery day. I was sitting in preop in tears. My surgeon made me feel a little better by telling me that the worst part of the procedure was the enema I had to take right before surgery. And he was right! That was the last time I felt the fissure pain. I walked to the surgery room and they had me lay face up on the table and then I was out. I had the general laryngeal mask anesthesia. I guess that's when they put a tube in your throat but I was out so I had no idea.
Turns out I had 2 fissures. An anterior and a left lateral fissure. The fissurectomy consisted of cauterizing both fissures to remove the chronic fissure and create an acute fissure. Then they performed the LIS to loosen my sphicter which was VERY tight and stitched it up.
My surgery was at 2 and I was on my way home by 4. I had no pain until the next morning but it was minimal and NOTHING compared to the fissure pain. The LIS site hurt if I moved too much for about 5 days. On day 6 I didn't feel it at all. I didn't feel the fissure site until about the 4th day. And I only felt it when I had a bm.
My first bm was about 2 days after surgery. Unfortunately I had too many stool softeners so I had bad diarrhea for the first 4 days. I had bleeding and discharge for about 2 days and that was it. I guess it's normal to have discharge and bleeding for a few weeks though.
I was prescribed Norco for the pain but I tried to use ibuprofin instead. I felt the pain really wasn't bad enough for the Norco. Well my body told me I was wrong. I developed a fever on the second day. I thought it was much too soon to develop an infection. My husband called my CRS and a nurse told him it was because I wasn't taking the pain meds and my body was reacting to the pain. So I started taking the meds and sure enough the next day I was fine.
It took about 3 weeks for the pain to go away with my bm. I would get a slight pinch and burning pain at the fissure site. But I kept up with the stool softeners and healthy eating and sure enouh the pain started going away. Now I only have a slight burning/itching feeling during bm's.
I took miralax religiously since April. I recently stopped taking that and started taking 250 mg of magnesium oxide. It works much better for me. It seemed like my body was getting used to the miralax and it wasn't as effective as it used to be.
I had my 4 week checkup with my CRS and I was told that I am healed! The site looks a little raw but I have had tremendous healing in such a short time. I was told that since I don't smoke I healed much faster. I pretty much can eat anything. I still stick to my 2-3 liters of water and fiber but I can eat pizza or ice cream or whatever I want now. :)
If you are considering surgery please don't be afraid. Just make sure you have an experienced CRS. The pain is nothing compared to the fissure pain. It breaks my heart to see anyone suffering. The only thing I regret is not having this surgery sooner. I finally have my life back! :D
Thank you everyone for posting your stories. You have given me hope in the darkest days of my fissure. You help so many people more than you know! I hope you are all having a better day!
