Just met with my CRS and he agreed that since the botox did not work at all, it would be a good time to go in for LIS surgery. I travel a whole lot for work and will be all over the country during the month of January and I would love to take care of this problem before then since it is nearly impossible for me to sit on a plane for long periods of time right now.
I have only had my AF for three and a half months so he thinks that the surgery will be very easy and I should feel the results very quickly. I guess it helps that I have one of the top CRS surgeons in New England operating on me.
Anyway, he told me that I should be on bed rest immediately following the surgery and stay in bed the next day. He also said he thinks I may be well enough to travel 30 minutes by car to visit my family on Christmas day.
Just wanted to see what every one elses experiences were and if this is at all possible (I highly doubt it to be honest).
I am really nervous for the surgery but I can't wait to get back to my normal self and not have to constantly think about my ass!

i'm really surprised your dr is rushing into surgery so soon after botox. according to your other post you just had botox on Dec 7?? usually botox takes 7-10 days to kick in, and even longer to allow the fissure to fully heal. so really you should just now be starting to get the effects of the botox.
these things take time (and LOTS of it) to heal and you need to give things a chance to work before ruling it out as a failure.
but ultimately i know how impatient one can be when it comes to butt-pain. just please don't put all your hope into LIS. sometimes it can be a let-down if you think that's your miracle cure.
all that said, i wish you the best of luck.

It was actually me that was pushing for the surgery. He said that since it is not "life threatening" he is leaving everything up to me. He has fully warned me of the risks of the surgery but I am willing to risk it. No offense to anyone here, but reading about everyone suffering for months and years, I just don't want that to be me. The doctor is very sure that the surgery will help the problem.
The plain fact is that since the botox i have actually gotten worse and I am in spasms and pain for pretty much the entire day. If I make a miraculous recovery in the next week then I will obviously cancel the surgery, but at this point I don't see anything changing.

I had the surgery one week ago and am now pain free (knock on wood) - couldn't sit in a car for 5 minutes before surgery and my life revolved around the pain. My AF also began about 3.5 months ago and I was worried about surgery but did the nitro and nifedipine ointment without relief. If you have a good CRS you have an excellent chance of being cured. Good luck.

Thanks! That's what I was looking to hear :)
It sounded like many of the pain and complications from surgery are a result of people living with them for quite a long time and developing scar tissue, hemorrhoids, skin tags, etc. I definitely did not want to get to that point.

no offense taken, i understand your hopefulness. i was pretty smug in the early stages of my saga. i remember reading posts before my first surgery and thinking "what's wrong with these poor people. i don't want that to be me months/years down the line. i'll have the surgery now and put this behind me by next week".
unfortunately, that wasn't my case but c'est la vie. obviously it's not my desire to be in pain for years on end, and that's the only offense taken.
i wish you all the best and hope that this surgery is an early end to your problems.

Nice, Rusty, here's hoping that Santa brings you a painfree ass for Christmas :) It's good that you're getting it done on 12/23 since that'll give you time to rest up before travelling. Let us know how it goes! I've been botox'ed but haven't had LIS so I'm always curious to hear how folks make out afterward.

Heading in tomorrow morning. A little nervous but I can't wait to hopefully be pain free. Sucks to be spending Christmas on the mend but I really think it is going to be worth it.

Good luck, Rusty! If it makes you feel any better, my son had hernia surgery when he was 2 months old, and he and I both spent the night in the hospital on Christmas Eve!

I wish you the best of luck Rusty !!! Great majority of people get fantastic results after the LIS and you should hold onto that fact
I do not think it would be vise to travel for Christmas though since you need to take care of your butt to make sure it heals fast and properly. That means MANDATORY sitz-baths at least 3 times a day, fiber diet and rest.
I think that once fissure passes 3 months mark it is considered "chronic" and than it is needs a looooong time to heal. It is really your call at this point - how much longer are you ready to "tend to your butt" and how much it is disabling to you .
I had fissure for about 5 months before I had a LIS and I wish I did it sooner. If I did not have all of the support of my family and was working - that would be the case for sure ...