Hi all! I went to my surgeon today for a consult about surgery. She prodded around and felt the tender spot to the left of the midline. She said she felt a ridge of skin there and said it was probably time to do something. I've been fighting this on and off since 3/09. She said she would do a fissurectomy and sphincterectomy. I had a tentative date of 12/21 so I can do this over my winter break from teaching and hopefully recover by 1/3 when I go back. I guess it's surreal to think I'm finally going to do this. And, of course, I'm scared to death. She told me I could try the cream again (dialtizam), and there wasn't anything to say that it couldn't still heal, but that she wouldn't know for sure until I was under and she could look sufficiently at it. Does this sound par for the course for everyone? Shish, I wish I could just fast forward a couple of months and this would be a memory, but I know that 's just wishful thinking!!! Thanks for any advice you can give me. I love reading all the threads and hearing about the (good) experiences!!! It does give me hope.

Hey Reidgirl,
Just wanted to say good luck on your surgery. You really have been dealing with this for so long and I can imagine you are ready to get this done and over with. I had my fissure for 8 months and it wore me out.
This is the best chance you have to finally end this and get that fissure healed. I did not have a fissurectomy but had my fissure cauterized when I had LIS and a skin tag removed. I'm not sure if the level of pain is similar or not but mine was much easier than I had thought it would be and it was nothing that wasn't manageable. I'm now 7 weeks and things were pretty much up-hill from day one.
There is much hope for you!! This is the best thing to do for healing. I wish I had done mine sooner also. I think that's why many of the chronic sufferers have to have skin tags removed , and fissurectomys or fissures cauterized is because we prolong getting LIS which probably leads to more work, not to mention chances we take on infection.
I guess we live and learn....
Anyway I had a very good experience with all that I had done and things were much easier than I expected.
I think it sounds normal that your surgeon would get a better look once you are under and decide what all needs to be done. I knew I was getting LIS and the skin tag removed but wasn't aware before the surgery that my fissure would need cauterizing. I'm pretty sure she felt is was necessary to help it heal after observing it better.
I've noticed there have been a lot of positive post on here lately and I think that is what the majority experience and it's pretty awesome that many have decided to post on here lately.
I went into this with expectations of the worst and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Good luck and keep us posted on how you are doing! :)

Dawn, I can't believe you're 7 weeks post-op already!!! It seems like just yesterday that you were freaking out about the procedure Seriously, I swear I thought you just had it done like a week or two ago hahaha.
Reidgirl, I second everything Dawn said. If your CRS felt a little ridge, it may be scar tissue or a sentinel pile depending on where she felt it. In either case it means the fissure is chronic and most likely won't heal without more aggressive measures. Since she wants to do a fissurectomy, I'm guessing it's scar tissue that needs to be removed so that the fissure can heal properly "from scratch." It does sound par for the course, and I think you're making the right decision.
BTW, I dilly dallied with my fissure for a year before I had LIS, so I know where you're coming from. From your registration date, it looks like both you and I are pretty stubborn and operated on similar timelines :D I wanted to exhaust every single conservative measure before I did anything more, and in the end, after everything failed, I decided that I just had to take the plunge. I'm actually doing the same thing right now for another surgery (also in a sensitive area) that I've been putting off, and I know EXACTLY what you mean about just wanting to fast forward a few months after the operation. I wish there were a way one could be put into a coma following every surgery until recovery were complete!
Anyway good move on getting this done during the holidays when you have more time to recover. 2 weeks may be enough for recovery, but hopefully you have some flex there just in case it ends up being a bit longer before you're fully comfortable. A lot of people are back to business as usual within that time frame but many aren't. I didn't have a fissurectomy myself but I would expect that to cause a bit more post-op pain and maybe extend the healing timeline out a little bit. The nice thing is it should allow the fissure to heal optimally, so once everything is over, you'll be all good to go.
Let us know if you have any questions in the days leading up to your procedure! I know I had a ton and everyone here was really really cool about entertaining them.

LOL NG,
I can't believe it's been that long either... I had my LIS on the 19th of October. I almost posted I was 8 weeks and had to go look at my calendar and count the weeks again and correct that,Lol
Oh yeah I was freakin out about having the surgery and can totally relate to the fears others have
My CRS remembered me as the cry-er basically :oops:

NG and Dawn,
Thanks for the info on the surgery. I am concerned about recovery time. I'm hoping that I can be good to go after a week or so. I don't want to miss getting to go home for Christmas, but it may have to wait until after to travel. Regarding sitz baths...did you all buy the sep. thingy for sitz baths, or did you just sit in the tub? Wasn't sure if this was possible or not after surgery. Yikes!! Scared!!!!

Reidgirl,
I just sit in the tub through out my whole fissure saga and my recovery from surgery. You may want to put a towel or something in the bottom of the tub. But yeah it's possible.
I really don't think traveling a week after surgery would be a good idea, although not impossible. Some go back to work a few days after surgery but "some" also prolong their healing. I read all the other post on here and seen that the majority who went back to work in 2 weeks and took really good care of themselves seemed to heal without some of the drama that pushing it too much or eating badly can bring. Even if you are able to travel- be sure and take care of yourself: Eat right, take the warm baths and stool softeners and rest as much as possible. :)

you all are so brave....i never wanted to go under the knife so i stuck it out with my chronic fissure for four years before i reluctantly threw in the towel and said ok to LIS!!!!
when the CRS mentioned a tiny fistula that threw me into another planet and i found macrobiotics and he gave me a month to see if i would improve.
thank goodness that after aggressively pursuing a macrobiotic diet, the fistula was gone and the LIS surgery was cancelled.
but i did end up with a skin tag. and i hope that is all it is.
actually going in for an ass check up to make sure the skin tag is still a skin tag on monday.

I'm 9 days post LIS and have had a good experience, so far. I suppose we all heal at different due to variables such as general health to begin with, i.e. diabetics will heal slower. I've been lying around all week pretty much and have eaten only fruits, veggies, hummus, some olive oil, whole grains, beans, lentils, and a little soy. Actually not much different than my normal diet, but I occasionally have some pizza and the forbidden white flour products and some chicken, turkey or fish.
I wasn't scared a bit going into surgery. It's just a light sedation and very easy to wake up out of. The best anesthesia I've had so far! The irony of this pain of mine now is in my arm where the anesthesiologist couldn't get the i.v. in! I have a 4"x2" bruise up my arm.
I haven't had any unwelcomed unexpected stool leaking, only some light gas, but I've cut down on the lentils and beans. ;P
It's a very quick procedure. Practically drive thru, ha.
Yes, they do make plastic sitz bath bowls you can buy in a drug store. I've had to do those since I can't sit nekkid in the tub with my 3 and 5 year olds burning down the house while I try to relax.
I'm sure you're going to do great! But this is a great place for comiserating, I'm all for whining and letting it all out. I totally understand your fears though (I was a nurse for many years).

Surgery scheduled for this Tuesday (12/21). I'm getting very scared the closer it gets. What if I'm one of the ones with complications or some bad recovery? I'm terrified I'm making something worse when maybe I could just live with this the way it is. I don't have the bad spasms people describe. What I mostly have is a feeling that some stool is trapped up there and I haven't wiped well enough. Sometimes BMs make it feel like it hurts and some days I can't wait to get into a tub at night. I'm just so scared of making the wrong decision. I sure hope she will look closely at what's going on and not just cut away unless it's absolutely necessary. Is it totally uncommon for them to go into the thing and not have to do what they thought they would have to do, or has wishful thinking deluded my thought process? HA~!

reidgirl,
You are going to be fine :) I really don't think your doctor will do any procedure that isn't necessary. I would almost guarantee you that you have sapsms and just aren't aware as much as some others are. I've read many stories where people were having spasms and didn't realize it until the doctor checked. But you are very Lucky to not be crippled by them. I hated them and they were awful for me! Either way, your sphincter must be too tight or your fissure would be healed by now.
We all have experienced the doubts and fears that you are having about the surgery. It's scary, I know! I can only tell you I was relieved and expected it to be so much worse than it was. I think the fear is worse than the procedure!
:)