Hey Jas,
It may be that you haven't ate enough and/or the vicodin slowed you down a little. Is there anything you eat that usually stimulates a bm. For example- some people can take just a sip of coffee and need to go...
My packing was just pressed against the outside. Did you get any post-op instructions about bm's and what to take if it didn't happen in a certain amount of time? If you normally have bm's every day, then I would definitely call the CRS and see if they feel this has been too long since the bm. You don't want to get constipated.
Don't stress too much though, it may just be your digestive system has slowed down a little...

Had my first BM. Was pretty rough...I was constipated some and it hurt pretty bad to get it out. Wasn't much coming out not sure if that is normal. My second small BM 30 min after was softer but still rough to get out. Just a small amount of bleeding. I hope that was the worst of my BM too come. Must have been the anastesia and vicodin that caused the constipation. I took the miralax and lots of fluids...who knows. The pain is pretty much on the left side were the LIS was done. Not much pain on the top and bottom where the fissurectomies were done.

That is great news Jas! I hope the first BM isn't too bad. I wish you the best! What have you been eating so far? Does the packing always come out on it's own? Keep us updated, and I am so glad you aren't in too much pain! :D

Hey Jas,
Hopefully your bm's will start coming regular now and things will just progress from there. A few of us had small irregular bm's in the beginning and had to crank up the food intake.
I didn't have any fissure pain with my bm's either. Just sore on the left as you said. I had a tag removed from the left side too. Just keep up with your soaks and continue with your diet, etc. Sounds like all is pretty normal. Sorry about the harder bm- yikes. Maybe up the miralax a little if you take any more of the pain meds. Hopefully you won't need them though.
Take care.

Finally was able to have a decent BM. To my surprise I started to cramp and got the runs. It burned like hell but I will take that over not going at all. Hopefully now that I am cleaned out I can resume my normal BM routine with the help of metamucil and miralax....although I may use less miralax so I will not get the runs again. The baths have been helping a lot. Helps with the pain and burning after the BM.

Hey Jas - I'm so sorry you had a rough BM there! (ouch!). I know the loose, watery BMs sting like a *&$#. I really sympathize. I had to reduce my dosage of Miralax. Do you think Metamucil and Miralax might be a bit too much? I know that Metamucil can help add bulk to stool, but maybe the two together, especially if you are taking the full dose of both, might be more than you need.
I hope you're having a better day today!

4 days post surgery and the pain is very minimal. The only time it stings is during my BM. I am also having some blood and clear fluid leak throughout the day. I am sure that is pretty normal.... I hope. Other than that things seem pretty good I can tell that I am not as tight back there since the LIS.

Yay, Jas! It sounds like you are doing very well. I'm so glad the pain is only minimal. The blood and clear fluid are normal. I had that too, especially the first week. The clear fluid continued into the second week week too. I also felt that my butt was looser. I think that's a good sign! :D

Quick ?...after looking with a mirror I can see where my surgeon did the fissurectomies. They still look like a fissure but cleaner w/o scar tissue. Another thing I noticed is they don't hurt. The only discomfort I have is on the left side. I did have more blood this morning after my BM but less pain. I started taking a little more metamucil to add more bulk to my stool this my be the reason why. I am afraid that if I only use miralax that my stool will be to soft and narrow and my muscle back there will only be used to that not a good thing when I eventually want to get off all supplements in do time. Do they normally suture the fissurectomes or let them heal since the LIS will help with that?

Hey Jas - my understanding is that doctors don't suture fissures because stitches can trap fecal matter in the wound (although they might use a few sutures to close up an LIS incision, but those would be the faster disolving kind because the surgical incision usually heals faster than a fissure). Also, the fissure must heal from the inside out, and stitching would cause the fissure to heal superficially from the outside. I'm not a doctor, thouh, of course, so please take my speculations with a grain of salt!
I also found the miralax made my stools narrower (I think some boardies called them 'snakes' lol), and the metamucil will certainly help bulk things up. When my BMs got bulkier, there was some blood too. I think that's pretty normal while we are healing.
I'm so glad you're not in pain - that's great! It sounds like you are healing well. :)