Hi, I've been feeling so down and uncomfortable. Today I got in to see my CRS. I had LIS six months ago and I thought I retore. I didn't, the pain I'm feeling is soreness from the surgery site and I have mild stenosis or a stricture of the anus from an old hemorrhoid operation. It will always be important to take fiber and miralax to keep my stools soft and easy to pass because the area can't stretch that much anymore. He said that if things get too uncomfortable for me he would recommend a partial sliding flap anoplasty. I've never heard of one before. He told me they take a piece of skin from my behind and flap it over just into the anus to put new skin over some of the scar tissue and this helps to make the opening a little larger so a larger bm can pass through. I asked about pain and he said it's not as bad as hemorrhoid surgery but I'm terrified. He's a really nice doc. He told me I'm doing everything right it's just what happens when you have a large baby and such extensive surgery for hemorrhoids and I've had other surgeries in the area. Scar tissue can't be avoided. Has anyone had this done? Help I'm scared. Suzy :(

Hi Suzy ,
I am so sorry to hear that , but it seems that you have very nice and competent CRS. I do not know if that procedure is same as anal flap advancement - but one of our members had it recently KerrBear , and you can read her thread. She had very easy and fast recovery !!! Description of your procedure sounds very similar to hers.
I hope your pain will go away very VERY soon

Hi Suzy
It sure does sound similar to the anal flap advancement !
I do hope things get better for you and more surgery will not be necessary …
Have peace of mind knowing you have such a competent CRS, that is a blessing !

Suzy,
Your CRS sounds very competent. Hope you get everthing figured out as to your plan of action.

Hi, the procedure takes a piece of skin from the bum and folds it over into the opening of the anus but only on one side and just a little. He said he'd only do a partial procedure, this would open up the butt a little more and make it easier to pass stools that are more normal in size. He doesn't like to do too much surgery because with surgery comes scar tissue. I like the doctor very much and this time my hubby came with me and was in the room during the exam and all the questions and answers. He even asked some. I do feel better that at least I have an answer to what is going on. My CRS wants me to keep up what I'm doing and give my surgical site more time to heal (I guess even afer 6 months things are still healing) and if I feel the pain gets to be too much all I have to do is let him know and he can do the procedure. He's not the kind of doctor who jumps into surgery and I'm really happy for that. I know some surgeons want to put you under the knife right away. Thanks you so, so much for your support. Suzy.
PS He also told me the worst thing a person who has a history of anal fissures can sit on are those donut shape pillow, they are very bad because they spread your butt cheeks open and put more strain on the area, he recommended a stadium seat.

Suzy,it must be the anal flap surgery.How bad is the pain now?I feel its best to give some time if the pain isnt too bad to cope as you have already had so many surgeries down there.they do say it takes almost a year after LIS to feel normal.
Interesting about the donought pillow.

Hi, the surgery is similar to the anal flap advancement but there is not a fissure to cut out and cover. It just takes a piece of skin and overlaps it into the anal opening to make it a little larger and not so tight. And yes I am going to try really hard not to need the surgery. The area where I had the stitches from the LIS is what is very tender. The CRS touched in different places and when he touched that area I almost jumped off the table. He told me it would stay tender for quite a while and he was honest with me and said my bum would probable always have some kind of discomfort but with the proper care, diet and softeners I can minimize it. I was having trouble before the surgery, I just never recognized what it was. I used to think that sometimes you have a bad day when you go to the bathroom. I just wish I would have recognized and put together all the symptoms a lot sooner. Maybe I could have saved myself all this anxiety. The LIS surgery I had did loosen things up more than before and the fissure healed really fast after that. I'm glad I did that. It's just hard to realize that I'll have to take miralax and fiber supplements the rest of my life. At least they don't taste bad. Boy Oh Boy this conditions is really a pain in the BUTT isn't it. Suzy

Gosh yes, even after 6 months there is still healing !
I wish someone could find those stats on healing
Really interesting to hear about the donut pillow !

Realistic Stats -
It takes a month after complete healing for the skin to be 40% as strong as originally and 1 year for the skin to be 80% as strong as originally.

Time is so important. It isn't what any of us wants to hear when our butts hurt like that. I wish they could put us in a medically induced coma or something. I wonder if doctors don't want to scare patients so they never allude to how long it can take. So it gets frustrating when all these mile markers come and go and we still arent better or where we want to be.