Me too, Steve!!! I hope you are feeling OK!

Is Movicol the same thing as Miralax?

Thanks cheryl, I'm feeling pretty ok tbh, only 10 days left before my surgery, looking forward but feeling a bit apprehensive too, probably just the nerves kicking in

@ crimeofpassion, they are both the same thing, just called different names in other parts of the world, Movicol (UK) Miralax (US and others)

As a veteran of 11 surgeries, I can fully appreciate your apprehensiveness!! I had to write them all down since I've had so many!!
A friend told me to think about waking up (from surgery) as a new person, and that has helped me be more comfortable with being put to sleep!! At least it sounds as if you are feeling OK right now! Did you notice my new avatar with the toilet sign and the big wall??

LOL, I wouldn't make it across that wall once the urge hits

crimeofpassion
Try adding papaya.
I am new to the fissure situation but definitely not new to constipation. I also struggled for a long time and made my fissure worse but in the last 2-3 days, I have had nice and soft BMs. Here's what I do - right after dinner, I take 1 spoon of citrucel, 1 spoon of metamucil and 1 dose of miralax. About ~45 mins after dinner, i eat one cup of fresh cut papaya. Papaya works as a natural laxative and produces soft BMs for me, and also timely ones. Its just a soft fruit so can't hurt.
One medium sized papaya (3-4 lbs) should be about 3-4 servings.
Try for 2 days and let me know how it works.

I just started taking magnesium supplements (500 mg), as well as vitamin e supplements, and my stool has been much softer these past few days. One or two times it was borderline diarrhea - too soft. But in general it was just a lot softer. So imagine my surprise when I saw a small spot of blood on the stool two days in a row. What gives? This soft stool almost seems to bother me more than hard stool. It too causes soreness as well as itching, even though I'm using wipes rather than toilet paper.
I haven't taken Miralax in about two days. Maybe the supplements are bothering me? I wonder if I should take them every other day instead, or if the dose is too high.

I also notice some of the softer stools caused blood and the firmer ones did't but there's a fine line. It's like a freakin science! It's so frustrating!!

It's ridiculous, especially as my fissure is apparently healed. But whenever I ask my CRS, "then what's causing the blood?," she won't even hazard a guess! Could it be the scar tissue left after my LIS that still causes me a lot of pain? A small fissure you can't see? I mean, help me out a little here! I don't understand this at all. I mean, for God's sake, if soft stool is making me bleed, am I supposed to have hard stools, then? I'm only seeing usually one very small spot of blood, and each night before it happened (both times it happened in the morning) I did eat something red - one night it was a bunch of strawberries, the other night is was two pieces of licorice. But I don't know how closely that can mimic blood.
Nothing I do is working, and I'm heading overseas in less than a week. I guess it doesn't really matter, because I would never, ever have the LIS surgery again. It was the most horrifying experience of my life. Massive pain, had to have a catheter put in because I couldn't urinate, didn't help my muscle tone according to the CRS...just awful. I already take a number of supplements and medications like Miralax, and am still using Nitro ointment. I also try to take frequent baths, and sometimes use heating pads. What more can one do? I suppose Botox is always an option, but I doubt it's covered by my family's insurance anyway, and I've heard mixed things. God only knows how my body would respond to it, too. Everything I read about LIS was so positive - less pain just days after the surgery, a relatively quick recovery time, etc, and for me it was the nightmare of my life.
I kind of think I don't have any other options. I might try physical therapy when I get back to America. I was going to do it this summer, but my dad lost his job due to layoffs, and we didn't have insurance until August, by which time it was too late. But really, is there anything more I can do at this point?
One of the problems is that I get diarrhea when anxious/nervous, which is an emotion I'm dealing with a lot lately, but I don't know of a good way to stop that. I'm already on a pill that's supposed to ease colon spasms. I started it because of a chronic stabbing pain I was getting in my right side that my doctor thought was caused by my colon.