Hi folks! I’m one day shy of three weeks post-LIS and I got my follow-up today. My hubby drove me into Toronto, so there were no more adventures with passing out and throwing up.
When I booked the follow-up app, I insisted on seeing a different doctor at the Rudd Clinic, so today I saw Dr. Sternthal. He is way better than McKenna! He was gentle and compassionate. While he was inspecting and poking, he hit some raw areas and I let out a wee yelp; nothing major, but he immediately said he was sorry and reassured me! What a difference!
The news is I’m healing very well. The fissure is epithelialzing and the skin tag is almost completely healed. The doc said I’m making very good progress for three weeks along – no infection, no problems. Yeah!!
He told me I didn’t have to go back unless I had a problem and now I should focus on healing (which should take 6-8 weeks). He said fissures can take over your life and be debilitating, and I should try to forget about it as much as I can. He didn’t say it like “oh get over it” - it was more like, “try to put this horrible experience behind you”. It was actually nice talking to a doctor who seemed to understand the impact a fissure has on your life.
He did ask why I wasn’t going back to McKenna and I told him that the surgery was quite awful. He asked if I was in pain during the procedure and I said that I was. He said that the freezing needles can hurt, but after that there should be no pain afterward and I told him that there was pain for sure. He seemed very sympathetic and took extra care not to hurt me during the exam.
So – as you can imagine I am very happy right now. For the last few days my butt’s been a little delicate, but not painful. I’m even sitting down longer each day and increasing my activity level. Today was a bit rough, though, because the butt was tender from too many BMs. I was so happy with the first one – it was a work of art! I almost took a picture of it. It was like a soft-serve ice-cream. I had to admire it for a long time before I could flush. But then I had a few more anxiety-induced BMs and felt a bit raw afterward :(
Despite the raw butt, I’m feeling really good. I know I still have healing to do, so I’m forcing myself to stay calm about some mild pain/rawness just now. I think the next step for me will be to deal with anxiety. Getting a clean bill of health has already really helped with that!
Thank you so much to all of you who helped me when I was going through the worst of all of this (or what I truly hope has been the worst of all this). I hope everyone is doing well and having a good butt day

I'm so happy for you! It really does make a difference when the doc actually seems to care a little! Too bad he wouldn't have been the one to do your LIS, but he's right, put it behind you and continue to heal. I still have my days too with too many BMs I have raw stinging but still no burn, if it starts feeling weird at all I stop and rest, have a big drink of water. Saturday I'm having old work pals over for afternoon drinks! I couldn't even think of that before! Don't worry, I'll take care to drink lots of water too and still eat...
I hope you keep feeling better everyday and congratulations on getting that follow up over with! Thanks to you as well for all your support!

Awesome, Awesome News, Hope!!!
Sounds like you are doing a great job of taking care of yourself:)
Too many bm's can leave ya feeling a little sore early in recovery, I remember that. It got better and better for me as time passed. I celebrate those perfect poops to, Lol.... I think I have become an expert at making the perfect poop since getting a fissure :oops:
After reading your surgery experience I am happy to see that the results have been good despite the fact you had a real arse h*** for a surgeon. Wow that was just unbelievable what you had to go through!!

Thanks Elphie and Dawn - it's good to know I'm not the only one with raw-butt every now and then, and it's especially good to know that it goes away!
Elphie - I am so happy you are having drinks with your friends! That's wonderful - you deserve to have fun and enjoy a social life. :)
Dawn - I sometimes think it should be socially acceptable to brag about your poo! Given how much effort goes into creating really good ones, it would be nice to get some social recognition
I am relieved because I wasn't sure how I would cope with a complication after the LIS experience. But I am moving past that experience now and I'm focusing on healing and getting my life back. I'm still going to take it a bit easy and be careful - I won't feel completely out of the woods for a few more months. But I'm giving myself permission to look forward to a good summer.

Glad to hear your check up went better than your last attempted trip. Also glad they actually have some decent doctors at the Ruddd. Maybe if I got one of those I would be in a position of relief instead of continuing to battle this pain daily.
Take care and be sure you don't rush into thinking your 100% before you are!

Hey RC - you're right, I've got to be careful. I've already pushed myself a bit too hard today, so I'm back on the couch taking it easy.
I certainly think it's possible that things would have gone better for both of us if we had not had Dr. McKenna as our surgeon - certainly better for you especially because at least now I'm not in pain and I'm healing . I am so sorry that McKenna was such a jerk to you and you didn't even get any help! I think the surgery would still be pretty painful, since they only use a local, but it would probably go much better with a doc who cares about patients in pain.
How are you doing, RC? Is the pain letting up at all?

Wow.. you can see a different doctor by just demanding it???
I don't know but in my case, (I am in US) I can only see one doctor (one who was referred by my primary care physician).
I don't like my current CRS very much but he is the only CRS in my medical group! Even if there are many, I would still need to get a new referal from my PCP and it will take several weeks.
I hate US health system....

Our system is not so great, actually. We have ridiculously long wait times (6 months to a year!), to get to see a CRS where I live. We are starting to get these "semi-private" clinics in Canada now - we don't pay, so I'm not sure how it works. The reason I was able to demand another surgeon is because this "semi-private" clinic specializes in colorectal issues and has about eight CRS's. Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can say much about the quality of care we can get at such a clinic - but maybe others are better. I admire the quality of care in the US system, but the insurance sure sounds scary!

Glad you are getting better...I think I am entering a different phase of healing. It's not worse or better just different. It's as though I have to adjust every week. Now it just feels like I have a bad cut on my sphinct. I am not sure the baths are helping this phase but I still take 2 a day.
My CRS said that my body is "remodeling down there" and it will be a couple more months before it's healed.
How come he didn't tell me that before the surgery? I remember him saying the fissure would take about 4 weeks and the tag would be a little longer.
I loved the "remodeling" comment though and it is actually very appropriate. I try not to look everyday, but it does appear to look different whenever I do take a peek.
We still have to be careful not to overdue it, as you've noticed. I start to get excited when I feel good one day and I do too much and the next day...OW!
I went to a movie yesterday for the first time since the fissure and was able to sit for 2 hours (and it took an hour to drive to the theater) with very minimal squirming. That was nice...

Hey Frustrated! "Remodelling" is a good word. I can see the difference too, since my fissure was/is very close to the edge. It looks like a wide ditch now, and I can see that there is new skin forming on it. The skin tag is healing too, but it bled this morning (I'm pretty sure it was the skin tag.) The good news is, it doesn't really hurt, so I'm trying not to get worked up over some blood, but that is a bit difficult. I did more yesterday than I've done in a really long time, so I think that might have contributed to the bleeding.
I'm so happy you were able to go to a movie! That's wonderful! I'm still a long way from that. This whole ordeal took a real psychological toll on me and I've developed mild agoraphobia. Passing out and puking at the bus station and being rushed to the hospital in an ambulane didn't help! My husband and I have worked out a plan to get me out in the world bit by bit. Soon I hope to be able to go out and be more social.
You mentioned that you feel like you have a bad cut on your sphinct - does that mean you still have pain from the fissure and/or skin tag? I hope not! I still get the odd pain-like sensation, but I still feel like I'm healing. This is a pretty slow process!
I hope you're having a good day today!
:D