I know that everyone heals differently, but I was hoping to hear some details from people who have healed. I would love to hear what they felt like the last few months or weeks. Did the pain get less and less? Did it itch? Bleeding gone? Did the pain just stop one day? etc...
Personally, I feel like I'm on the road to recovery, and looking for common traits to keep my hopes up. I've been keeping a detailed log of everything that's going on with mine and can't wait for the day I get to post my full story.

The pain for me went away gradually. What started out an internal pain moved to a skin tag I had developed as part of the fissure. Once I started putting aloe vera on the skin tag I got better quite quickly.
The bleeding would come and go during healing. I got to the point of not being alarmed anymore by it so much. I never did get really itchy like some of the others did though.
I just noticed I was thinking about my butt less and less-that is how I knew I was getting better.

i am sorta trailing Lecia's experience a bit here.....
although i had a chronic af for almost four years and finally got the nerve to do a LIS/fistulotomy/colonoscopy triple play, i pursued a macrobiotic diet in combination of the af diet, and about a month before my check up to make sure we were all okay for the surgeries, the doc cancelled my LIS and fistulotomy but we kept the colonoscopy.
all in all, my fissure is done with and healed.
i don't know if i ever had a fistula but i would think that perhaps it was a skin tag, which gets very irritated and can cause quite some intense pain down there. especially when i get constipated and have hard stools. it is madness.
after taking some chinese herbs, started a regimen of flax oil, complex fish oil, and aloe vera juice 3x per day, i have been regular and despite eating horribly in denver, i stayed smooth and regular and the skin tag issues are gone.
i think i have had over a week now of feeling 100% normal and i haven't even had the need to feel super concerned when having a bm lately.
can i say that i have come full-circle? i hope so.

Would either of you describe the pain as "different" when you felt like it was healing?

The pain wasn't any different (except in a slightly different location ie fissure vs skin tag site) but it was decreased over time and gave me a break here and there.

I'm sort of in the same condition as you are, I'm seeing improvement but not sure if I'm really on the right track.
I went from intense shooting pain a few hours after a BM (first 2-3 weeks), to pain during and after a BM accompanied by muscle spasms (2 weeks) to now an occational twinge (sorted of like being prodded with a stick) and soreness. The last week or so I've had more soreness - during a BM and for a few hours afterward. I've been able to get down to taking Motrin every 2-3 days rather than every day. I was freaked out this weekend seeing blood in my BM as it was very slight or non existant for a couple of weeks. I'm about 7 weeks into this with about 3 weeks of eating right. It does feel like I take a step backward every 2-3 days but overall seems better but very slow to heal. I know if I have more than one BM a day then it will not be a good day.
I'm going to travel a couple of days this week so we will see how it goes. What are your symptoms like now vs 2 weeks ago?

2 weeks ago everything sucked, the BM hurt, butt hurt all day, blood all the time.
Then, last week was an OK week. I hurt during the start of a BM and the pain after wasn't too bad, similar to what you were saying with the being prodded with a stick. No blood. I really felt like I was on the road to recovery.
Well, then this weekend happended. Saturday I had blood and alot of pain during BM and pain several hours after. On Sunday, it got even worse. BM hurt like crazy at first and then the most intense spams/pain I've ever had for 2 straight hours. I couldn't find any relief, baths, advil, heating pad, nothing worked.
Was dreading the BM this morning. It hurt with the stupid hard tip and it wasn't that much. However, I feel "ok" at this moment, no crazy spasms, but I'm sure I'll have to go again this afternoon.

My recovery is a bit skewed I guess you could say.
After the surgery there was only one way to describe it...sore.
As time has gone by though,assuming I keep up with my diet, things are going well. Sometimes i have a tiny spasm, or sometimes it will hurt right at the beginning of a BM. I noticed yesterday that there are still positions that I cant put my body in (i.e. crouching) and I have also noticed that the heat makes me itch! Other than that though, its really fine. I'd much rather deal with this than go back to the way that I was before.
Have you talked to your CRS about all of the pain you are still experiencing? Remember, keeping everything soft and moving down there is the key during the healing period. If it keeps up much longer, i would say that you should give the CRS a call and report back on whats going on. Your recovery sounds a lot more painful than mine. It could be that you have a...gee i forget what its called...but its basically when the cut they make during surgery heals on the ends and then the middle is like an air pocket which, if it gets infected, could be a problem. The best way to figure this all out is to talk to your CRS, and us of course. :)
Good luck,
Kate

I haven't seen a surgeon yet....been waiting.
It's scheduled for next wednesday, which seems like forever.
It was my GP that diagnosed me and gave me the Nitro.
It's really annoying, yesterday sucked, but today I feel pretty good, almost normal. That is of course until I have BM this aft.
Yeah, the beginning of the BM is difficult. Are there days when it doesn't hurt at first?

Yes, there are days when it does not hurt at all. Those are the days when I have been consistent with my diet and im drinking a lot of water. Thats basically what my eating life is going to be like for the rest of my life. Rest assured however, there are days when I can go to the bathroom and feel like I never had a fissure in the first place.