So I think I'm doing quite well so far. This morning I had a little less pain at the incision site after the morning BM, but I was anxious, so maybe I strained a little too much....I didn't feel any tearing, or pain at the fissure site, but I noticed the tell-tale streak of blood on my stool that would indicate to me that the fissure is still there. This concerns me, because I thought my surgeon had cauterized it. Up until this morning, there wasn't any blood with the BMs, just the incision seepage afterwards. However, the fissure site doesn't hurt, and the incision site is barely noticable.
I know that it takes time for the fissure to heal, but I was just a little freaked when I saw that this morning. It just makes me worry that in the end the fissure will still be there and the surgery will have been for nothing. I know the doctor was very conservative with the cut, so I worry too that maybe he didn't cut enough. Sorry to complain, especially since all things considered this whole thing has gone pretty well, but I just needed to vent a little.

Glad to hear you're doing so well. I'm 7 days post LIS and of course worried too, but I just keep telling myself it takes time. Ugh.
What type of procedure did you have? I had open LIS. Still bleeding a tad.
Vent all you want!

Cagirl,
I had open LIS as well. I'm still bleeding a bit from that too, but it's definitely subsided. I'm just worried the fissure isn't healing because of what happened this morning. I guess it's way too early to be worrying about that though. Do you have any fissure pain at this point, or have you been okay with that since the surgery?

I've read on the internet, heard also from my CRS and read here that it takes around 3-4 weeks for this to heal (really ultimately months though I think).
I have no fissure pain. The first couple of days post-op were a little rough, but I've been doing better and better every day since. Today I'm day 8 also (day 7 was a mistake above - I think I'm detoxing from all the meds I've been on for 2+ months now, lol). I haven't stood up for prolonged periods of time yet though and am just sitting up directly on "it" for very short amounts of time starting today.
Where's NG when we need him to comment on the recovery???? come out, come out, wherever you are...
probably out enjoying a beer and some fried food. I'm sooooo hungry it's a cryin shame.

LOL!! I'm sure NG will show up sooner or later.
Glad to hear you have no fissure pain and you're improving too. Today was actually the best day I've had yet other than this a.m. I'm actually considering something other than split pea soup for dinner tonight, and maybe even a glass (or 2) of wine. It is Friday!!

No beer, but you guys may have had me on the fried food :) I had closed LIS. Open takes longer to recover from, although of course recovery times vary so widely anyway that it's hard to say what "longer" actually means!
About the bleeding: are you sure it's not from the incision? I only had mild bleeding after LIS but there definitely was some. I didn't have my fissure cauterized, so in my case, I never really thought about whether the blood was coming from the fissure or the incision. But the incision itself can definitely bleed, probably more so after an open procedure since that leaves a bigger wound than closed.
Try not to freak out just yet. You're right to keep a close eye on things after surgery, but it's still early in the game. Cauterized or not, the fissure won't be fully healed yet (after all simply cauterizing it doesn't mean it's actually been allowed to heal), and the blood could also be from the incision. Healing takes weeks to months, and full healing (meaning you regain "maximum strength" in the area) takes many months.
Hopefully things have settled down now. The main thing you want to watch out for is really pus, since that would indicate an infection. Anything else like a little bit of blood or some discharge shouldn't be cause for alarm. If you're not sure, though, you can always ask the doc to double check. I had myself checked a couple times after LIS just to be sure so I know how it goes when you're eager to see progress

I'm also 8 days out and occassionally getting some blood so no worries, it seems normal. Actually getting itching at the incision and fissure sites, esp after bm which is annoying, but certainly not painful so i'm fine with it compared to the old feelings i got.

I second Ng. The fissure will take weeks to months to heal and under the best circumstances , they will heal at 6-
weeks.
My CRS told me 6 weeks. So at 8 days post op, a fissure is nowhere near healed yet.

Thanks for the reassurance everyone. 8 days is definitely too early to be worrying about not healing.
NG, It's possible the bleeding was from the LIS site, but I'm guessing it was the fissure site because for the first seven days I would have blood leaking after the BM, and yesterday it was blood mixed with the stool. I guess I have no way of knowing. Regardless, I'm not going to fret over it anymore.....the fissure needs time to heal.

Hi NG and thanks for checking in! You have to keep an eye out for us over here, lol.
Fiberup - I think we have a ways to go, but hey we can still comiserate.
I go for my 2 week follow up on Monday. So I'll see what info I can relay back.