37F and just had LIS!

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37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 14 Nov 2021, 10:27

Firstly thank you from the bottom of my heart for this forum. To the founders, admins, moderators and posters - you are special people. It has probably saved me from myself on a number of occasions! And whilst people have not necessarily responded directly to me, the posts I have read from over the years have given so much support. I love that without even realising, people who have suffered in the past and posted their experiences continue to help the next generation of AF sufferers so much.

I want to give back to this - hence this account of my experience - in the hope it might be useful to someone else in time to come. Reading about everyone’s journeys has prepared me so much for my own and I thank every single one of you for this. The more selfish reason is that I find this to be a cathartic outlet and it helps me to organise my thoughts and process what is going on just now.

So here I am starting my LIS journey and whilst I wish I didn’t have to deal with this, I can’t be more pleased to be hopefully be on a healing path now. I am ready for whatever this recovery throws at me with the thought that surgical pain must be better than the uncontrolled pain of an injury that’s not healing and only getting worse.

I have been on this forum for most of this year under the name Conifer however yesterday I did something to my settings that now has locked me out of it (yikes did that feel like a bad omen!). So I’m back now as Conifer2 which is perhaps symbolic - updated name for a new, updated life I hope to be enjoying very soon!

(Safsaf you sent me a pm yesterday according to a notification email I got that can’t reply to so sorry about this - feel free to resend to this username)

A bit about me - I am a 37 female based in the UK with no children and developed this fissure in the aftermath of 2 miscarriages this year. I think a combination of emotional trauma and constipation caused it however I do think I’ve suffered in the past but it’s always cleared up after a week or so. I’ve been in a miscarriage-fissure cycle this year and it’s taken me to some very dark and painful places. After spending New Year’s Day in hospital due to the first MC, the tone of my year was really set so I am looking forward to 2022 so I can throw 2021 in the bin!!

Bms are not always that sore, more stratchy, though sometimes it’s like glass and often with a lot of blood. But stinging amd burning starts immediately afterwards and within about 1-2 hours the spasms kick in. These are really debilitating and a couple of times have paralysed me with pain where I can’t move or even speak through them. Sometimes they last until mid/late afternoon but often until the evening and sometimes a duller version right through the night. Baths can relieve them a little bit but I take pain killers like they are sweets.

Tried GTN first in January and it worked but had a couple of minor retears then in May things became bad again and it’s been up and mainly very down ever since. Have been housebound for months and mostly working from bed for the last 1.5 months - even doing my online teaching (work at a college) from bed. Horrendous. If I needed to do anything work wise and leave home I basically had to not eat the day before to prevent any bm the next day so I could function. The eating thing is an issue actually and I have lost 1.5 stone in about 2 months and look really quite sick as a result.

Tried all the usual things after GTN including diltiazem, sudocrem, Vaseline, all the water I could drink, laxido, dulcoease, sitz baths but nothing worked. Initial plan was to do Botox and excise the sentinel pile but I don’t have time on my side to see if it will work due to family plans so my consultant agreed to go straight to LIS and just heal the damn thing. I will then opt for c-section in the future if my pregnancy plans work out (which I’m sure they will).

So this is my background - thanks for reading. I plan to update my surgery day information later in a follow up post when I get home and will update in the days going forward. Currently I’m in that sweet place of no pain due to local anaesthetic and the first bm is not on my immediate horizon so I’m feeling quite relaxed.

Let the healing commence….
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 15 Nov 2021, 09:28

Day of surgery (Sunday 14th Nov)

I woke early so could go through usual bm, clean up and bath routine. I didn’t need to do any bowel prep aside from not have anything to eat or drink from midnight the night before. My husband took me to the hospital for 9am as requested and I was really bothered he couldn’t be with me (stupid covid rules) so I went wearing one of his jumpers and that really helped make him feel close to me. I would recommend this to anyone in a similar situation that fits into clothes of their partners/parents etc.!

Pain started to build when I arrived at the hospital and it was quite difficult before surgery trying to focus to answer all the nurses pre-op questions. After the initial settling in period, I tried to read my book as a distraction but must have read the same three sentences about 20 times before giving up to sit and look out of the window. It’s very true when people say the thought of surgery is worse than the surgery. I found it very hard to just relax beforehand so my advice is just to go with it and don’t fight it - feel what you need to, cry if you have to and be in the moment, it doesn’t last forever.

The nurses went through all the checks and I met with my consultant very briefly. I was on a long list of patients so it felt a bit rushed but we had been through all the details in an appointment a few weeks ago. He did say I shouldn’t look so anxious and I would be ok so that was nice.

About 2 hours after my arrival I was walked down to theatre - I was quite teary at this point. I got into a bed and started to feel very cold so a nurse put a blanket over my shoulders and tucked me in. I loved this nurse. The anaesthetist came to chat and was also lovely and also said I didn’t need to look so worried! I was in a face mask for all of this so my eyes and brows must be very expressive!!

I was then wheeled to surgery at about 11am and put under for what felt like the best nap of my life. To calm me down I was given a relaxant and was told I would feel like I have had a few glasses of wine (ah, the memories of pre-fissure days!). When I came round at 12ish I was in no pain which really was incredible but felt very emotional and teary. The kind nurse from before was there and asked if I would like some water. I said yes (mouth was SO dry from fasting etc.) but I also asked if it was possible to have a hug - and she obliged!! This was a highlight and I really, really needed the human contact for some reason - I will always remember her for that. Have I said how much I loved her??

Was taken back to my room to recover and at this point I was hugely sleepy. I slept on and off for about an hour or so then spoke again to the consultant who confirmed he had performed the LIS and excised the sentinel pile, with everything going to plan. My fissure was ‘really nasty’ apparently, very big and very deep - he said this with quite a pained expression on his face. I wasn’t surprised given my pain levels and at this point felt very glad I went for LIS to ensure healing. He said there was only one fissure and was very confident the surgery would fix things. He said things will be ‘nippy’ for a week or two. We’ve all read the stories about what CRS’s say about healing and the actual reality so lets see what happens!

I was then offered tea and toast which I said yes to. When they asked if I wanted brown or white bread I don’t think I could have shouted out ‘BROWN BREAD!!’ any faster, probably a bit aggressively too! Fellow AF sufferers will appreciate this I’m sure!

When leaving the hospital I was sent home with pre-emptive antibiotics (don’t normally agree with antibiotic use freely like this but I am taking NO chances with infection), lactulose (which I won’t use as I use Laxido which works well for me) and codeine if things get rough (not planning on taking but I wont be a hero if I need it). Ive gone private for this so also said no to the OTC painkillers with the 1200% price markup as we have plenty at home.

The nurse wasn’t actually very clear on wound maintenance and said I shouldn’t bath, just shower but I’m going to follow what people do here and bath regularly to relax and keep clean and then use my own gauze to deal with wound seepage. I didn’t have any internal packing - just some gauze and bandages taped over the top but the bandages were removed before I left the hospital.

My husband picked me up at about 5pm and the 40 minute drive home was completely comfortable with no pain at all. When I got home I went to pee so and the gauze came away into the toilet bowl so I got into my pyjamas, replaced the gauze and went straight to bed. I had a bowl of soup, a tonne of water and my stool softener.

At this stage i had no pain apart from a slight niggle on my hand from the cannula (which caused the most discomfort today I think). Every so often I had a slight sensation at the edge of my bum - not sore but definitely the start of some feelings which I was expecting as the local starts to wear off. I also felt some gas build up but that seemed to dissipate on its own without any dramas - I definitely don’t feel out of control in that sense.

My alarm is now set for 4-hourly pain medication intakes so I will be off to sleep soon I think after watching some trash on Netflix and will see what tomorrow brings…
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 15 Nov 2021, 15:19

Post LIS day 1 (Monday 15th November)

I slept quite well last night and felt reasonably rested despite waking for painkillers. This morning I felt surprisingly fine pain wise - I’d say the local anaesthetic has definitely worn off at this point - surely it must of??

I needed to pee so did that and jumped in the bath to give myself a bit of a freshen up. There was quite a lot of blood on the gauze and when I was cleaning myself this morning but not surprised at that really.

Have had slight prickly, pinching feeling that occurred on and off that sometimes built into a dull ache. I have had weird electric shock feelings a few times that are really quite sore but last all of a second - figure this might be nerves doing some repairing and it feels very different to rawness of fissure pain. The morning ‘pain’ was about 1-1.5/10 and stayed that way for most of day with a bit of an increase at end of day to maybe 2-2.5/10.

Spent the day in bed for the most part, only getting up to top up water, go for baths (had 3 today) or go for a stroll about the house as think thats important to get things moving. After baths I’m gently drying off with toilet paper then finishing with hairdryer on cool setting before applying fresh gauze. Nothing new to what has been reported a hundred times here but seems to be working well.

No bm today though I feel this will happen tomorrow. I’ve been so comfortable today but know that will likely change with bm so I’m very anxious about this.

Food today has been light and sensible and took 1 laxido sachet late afternoon (is there a best time of day to take these things? I used to do morning but then moved to evenings and now afternoon) -

No breakfast
Lunch: 2 x very small slices of brown bread with smoked salmon and avocado
Dinner: small portion of ravioli
Fluids: 2.5 litres water plus herbal teas and a couple hot chocolate drink (Cadbury’s powder with water and no milk - not as gross as it sounds!)

All in all a good day. I’m sure things will change with the first bm but I’ll soon see…
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Camry » 16 Nov 2021, 01:50

Glad you are doing ok conifer.
Hope to hear your post LIS journey more.
Get well the soonest.
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 16 Nov 2021, 04:03

Thank you Camry. Feeling good so far. Just had first bm that was pain free during and after!! With three open wounds (lis incision, tag site and fissure which was huge apparently) I don’t understand this but I’m not complaining! Will update later today once I have more of day 2 under my belt.

Conifer x
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Ginger55 » 16 Nov 2021, 05:09

Hi Conifer2,

Wishing you all the best on your healing journey! My fingers are crossed for you.

I will be reading and following along, thanks for keeping us all updated.
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Worstyear » 16 Nov 2021, 11:19

I wish a quick recovery with no more pain! Thank you for sharing all of this. I have a very similar situation so this is really helpful. Keep going!!
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 16 Nov 2021, 11:27

Hi Ginger55 - thanks for the good wishes. All going well so far.

And hi Worstyear - I think we were messaging on another thread before with some others. I hope you are doing ok. Will update again later but day 2 post lis has been uneventful and very comfortable!
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Conifer2 » 16 Nov 2021, 16:40

Post LIS day 2 (Tuesday 16th November)

Woke this morning after another reasonable sleep and in no pain though had taken painkillers every 4 hrs again throughout night.

Had a feeling that the first bm was imminent. Started running the bath and went to toilet practically in tears and bracing myself for the worst. And…..NO PAIN!!! Nothing bar a very slight sting that went away when I cleaned off with a wet wipe. I couldn’t believe it. I ran (well, walked carefully) downstairs to my husband in tears of relief to share the good bm news - what everyone wants to hear about whilst eating breakfast :)

This blows my mind. My CRS said that I have a really deep, ‘nasty’ fissure, a large skin tag excised and an incision. That’s three open wounds. Maybe the pain killers are working (though they never did pre-LIS) - Im still in shock about lack of pain! Bm was not particularly formed though - not watery or diarrhoea - just really very soft so I likely need to work on that.

Anyway jumped in shower in total disbelief to properly clean off then into bath for 20 mins and then had a final clean with a wipe. Being extra careful about infection! Dried off with hair dryer and replaced the gauze then back to bed to contemplate life post-bm with no spasms, feeling very happy.

Felt I needed a second bm late morning and same as before. No loss of control and very easy, no pain and minimal stinging. Washed off again and into bath. Pre-LIS a single bm, never mind a 2nd, would have sent me through the roof - sobbing, unable to move, spasms and burning even with pain killers and multiple baths. None of that. Is this even real??

Spent the rest of the day relaxing in bed, reading and watching rubbish on iPad. I could have easily worked today from bed but there has been enough of that these past months so taking it easy for a couple more days. Had another bath this evening so that’s 3 today which I plan on doing for the rest of this first week at least. I also managed to sit comfortably on the sofa kind of on my side and watch some TV this evening with my husband.

Changed gauze every time i went to pee to keep track of bleeding and any seepage. Bleeding seems to be slowing down a bit and I think there might be a very small bit of seepage but I’m not concerned. It might actually be from the wound but bms were really loose today and Ive read this is common for a few days after LIS so not getting upset about it. Ive never been worried about this - will take it over the fissure pain any day of the week!

Pain was minimal all day. Compared to what I felt most of the day pre LIS I don’t think I can actually call it pain. More of a discomfort that was probably 1-1.5/10 again. Same pinching, prickly feeling but no burning and no throbbing - maybe a very slight dull ache but only when I move in bed. Otherwise nothing. Was also able to lie comfortably on my back for a while but when I realised I was doing this I shifted to my side just in case.

Food today was similar to yesterday but aware my stomachs been a bit gurgley today. Decided to lighten up on Laxido to half a sachet as I took Pre-LIS (esp as I’m not using heavy duty pain pills) as think full one is a bit much for me given looseness of bms -

No breakfast
Lunch: 1 scrambled egg, smoked salmon and 1/4 avocado with small slice brown bread
Dinner: small portion ravioli then tiny bit of ice cream for pudding
Snacks: 1 Jaffa cake and 3 dried apricots
And plenty water and herbal teas throughout day.

Might think about taking a short 10-15 min stroll with my mum tomorrow to get fresh air. Not really been out the house bar hospital in weeks due to pain so this will be a nice treat! Will update tomorrow for day 3….
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Re: 37F and just had LIS!

Postby Suffering2long » 16 Nov 2021, 20:43

That’s wonderful news Conifer! You must be elated. Also great diary, very informative.
Enjoy your walk! Remember that this is probably the worst you’ll feel. Only gets better after this!
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