Well, after all the drama I did go ahead with my surgery this morning. I don't remember anything about the procedure itself. I woke up soon after it was over and was quickly out the door and on my way. Stopped on the way home at a restaurant, feeling no pain at that point, and a while later to my surprise I had a pretty heavy bleeding episode, left a puddle of blood in my chair. Went home and got into a hot bath, where I stayed for an hour or so, got out, then suddenly started bleeding quite a bit. I put on a pad and some fresh underwear and had them completely soaked with blood within 10 minutes or so, got up from the couch and left a puddle there too. Called the dr.'s office, nurse said that hot soaks encourage bleeding, advised me to stay out of the tub and to use gauze and an icepack. Bleeding did stop after half an hour or so, now I stopped the ice and I'm getting a little blood, but not flowing like earlier. Pain has started--a stinging feeling, feels like the right side of my sphincter has been cut open, along with a kind of aching that radiates from there. Left side, which is where I think the fissure was, feels good. I remember talking with the dr. before the procedure, asked her about pain and recovery and she assured me it would be very easy and fast. I hope she's right...
Anyway I'll update as it develops. Thanks (I think) to all you who helped me get the nerve up to do it!!

mr fissure,
congratulations!!!!!!
i wonder if anything would have turned out different post-op re: bleeding incidents if you would have just gone home and went straight to bed without trying to sit too much, too long on your bum too quickly after procedure.
i'll make note to myself not to stop by any restaurants or hot soaks after procedure!
well, i hope you have a better evening with putting little pressure as possible on your bum and that you can sleep well and have a much better day tomorrow.
what pain medications did you get to take home with you?
take it easy on your bum tomorrow.
i am very much so praying for you and william's recovery and healing during these days.

Sorry to hear about your bleeding problems, mrf. Hopefully the rest of your recovery goes smoothly.

happyass wrote:mr fissure,
congratulations!!!!!!
i wonder if anything would have turned out different post-op re: bleeding incidents if you would have just gone home and went straight to bed without trying to sit too much, too long on your bum too quickly after procedure.
i'll make note to myself not to stop by any restaurants or hot soaks after procedure!
well, i hope you have a better evening with putting little pressure as possible on your bum and that you can sleep well and have a much better day tomorrow.
what pain medications did you get to take home with you?
take it easy on your bum tomorrow.
i am very much so praying for you and william's recovery and healing during these days.

Happy, I highly recommend staying off your bum while recovering. Just because it's numb doesn't make it alright to set on and definitely no hot soaks the day of the procedure,Lol
As a matter of fact, I read the all the posts on the people who recovered well on this forum and did exactly what they did during there recovery. I probably didn't set directly on my butt for weeks and then just one cheek.
Never bled much and haven't at all since the first week... Hoping things stay this way for me!!:)

Sorry to hear about the bleeding. That can be nerve wracking. Ya I agree, staying off the rear for at least the first day or two is a must. I went straight home and laid on the couch for the weekend. I iced it right away (actually snow in a bag since it was Jan in MN :D ). My CRS advised me of the icing right away when I got home. I had spottting off and on but nothing major.
After going back to work I would just lean to one side not to put a lot of direct pressure while sitting at my desk.
Wishing you a speedy recovery.

I layed on my side for 2 months, sitting was not an option, fortunately I only bled the day after surgery when the gauze packing fell out, after that I just kept getting discharge, you'll know when the time is right to sit down, BTW I hadn't been sitting properly for over 5 years so it's such a relief to be able now.

Hi everyone, I'm a little over 24 hours out now, the bleeding has stopped. Funny, I had no idea that a warm soak would be a bad idea right after surgery. I had asked the dr. about aftercare and she said I could soak as much as I wanted. Didn't mention anything about the possibility of bleeding or the use of ice. Come to think of it, she didn't really give me any really specific instructions for aftercare, just said I'm going to feel great.
Well, I think I have a ways to go before I get to "great". Took some vicodin last night and slept well. Woke up with about the same pain as last night. The left side, where I think the fissure was, feels OK, but the right side, where I think the incision is, feels sore. I still feel very "tight". It hurts and is painful to pass gas--just like it was on bad fissure days. Haven't had a BM yet.
I have a couple of questions for anyone who might know: 1. Is the pain with passing gas and not feeling "loose" normal so soon after surgery? 2. Is there anything I can do to prevent infection and get it to heal as fast as possible? Wash it with antibacterial soap and/or soak a lot? 3. Anything else I should know about recovering?
Thanks for your help and happy healing everyone...

My first BM just happened. It was pretty painful. Is that a very bad sign? My CRS promised that it would be better already...

hi mr fissure,
i am glad u had ur first bowel movement out of the way. questions: did u do your enemas pre-procedure? what was your diet like the day or two before procedure?
since you mentioned going to a restaurant post-procedure, what have you eaten since the procedure?
i know that when i am high strung with anxiety, i tend to get more constipated. i don't know what your level of anxiety is but i know you have been concerned about the bleeding episode and when your first bowel movement would hit.
also not sure if you have been taking your pain meds regularly so that it could have helped with lessening the pain of the first BM in any way?
so many questions!
i hope you are not freaking out right now that this or that is a bad sign. i think when we expect for things to not go right, our mind can magnify things that way but they are not.
do you have some company that can help you distract yourself from such thoughts?
i hope you get some good nite's rest and keep up with the pain meds as it seems that you may need them.
the first week is tough and as you had suspected, the CRS may have oversold the idea that everything would be perfect. as you can see, it hasn't but it doesn't mean that it is a bad sign.
just please take care of yourself and go the extra mile to be gentle, to be a little less anxious, and to thing 100 times more that everything is going as it should be and that it will all heal well and you will end up with a happy and healthy bum in the end.
**
fwiw, i had lots of days where i passed gas and it was painful. OMG. i was like, how can that be from farting!!! damn, can't i enjoy anything coming out of my ass anymore! LOL!
so i would only imagine for the time being that things are going to be ultra sensitive down there, including passing gas.
although people may not report that as one of their post-procedure issues, i would say that it is possible.
give yourself a week and hopefully pain will subside and you will find improvements as time passes.
are you keeping yourself laying down without little mobility for these few days? if you are over doing it, you may just be extending the inflammation/pain down there.
i will pray for you to continue to be on the mend.
have positive thoughts.
we all wish you well.

Hey Mr.fissure,
Just wanted to say don't be too alarmed by the discomfort. You may have had a harder bm than usual because of the vicodin or what have you. Just be sure and eat well and avoid foods that can cause harder bm's, take miralax or some other stool softener that has worked well for you prior to surgery. Really , you may have over did it yesterday and that could have caused a rough start for you. I know my first day I walked around the house a little too much and just about fainted before I mad it back to my bed.When your butts numb, it's kind of deceiving on what's to come.
I don't think doctors really give us much info. on how to take care of ourselves. This board has helped me more than any doctor ever did.
One thing my crs told me was that I could ice it for 20 min. then off for 40 minutes, then back on for 24 hours. I may have did more than that amount of time. I was told to take the baths the following day after surgery and I started the first morning after. My bm's were a little sore after the surgery but I also experienced spasms for about 8 days until I called the crs and was given valium. Once I got the valium, everything went much better from there...
Be sure and rest and take the stool softeners and eat well, drink plenty of water, because the pain meds will make the stool harder. Your butts swollen so don't be alarmed with having discomfort right now. As Happy said- give it some time. I counted weeks , not days. Each week seem to give much improvement.:) Take care, sending prayers up.
Dawn