Hello,
I had botox in February after the AF returned following the birth of my second child.
It took a good few weeks for the botox to kick in but it has really helped.
But the fissure has returned a few times. No where near as painful but uncomfortable with some bleeding.
I am fed up of the constant trying to keep it under control. I am fed up with having to wait for NHS appointments, it all takes so long.
I want to try more botox I think. I still don't feel ready for LIS. I know people say the incontinence risk is really low but it worries me. I think it worries me in particular as at the moment if I need a BM I really need to go straight away and find it hard to hold it.
Anyway hopefully I will see my consultant again soon and get this sorted.
It just takes over your life. Even in the wonderful painfree days it is still on the back of my mind.

Hey mumof2,
I know how frustrating it can be to deal with the high's and low's of a fissure. I know the fear of incontinence is what kept me from having my surgery sooner.
It is just really not common at all. I have not seen that as being a complaint of anyone on this board.
I haven't had any problems holding bm's since LIS.
Finding a CRS who is confident in his/her abilities of this not happeneing is a must. I asked my CRS if anyone had ever became incontinent after this surgery( from her) and she said Never. She basically laughed. If a CRS is qualified then incontinence just isn't going to happen. It'a all about the size of the cut. Someone who has done this for years with success is not going to make you incontinent. No doctor would want that on them, Lol.
Hopefully another round of botox will help you to heal, but don't be afraid to have the surgery. It has gave me my life back and is proven to be the most successful treatment of curing a fissure.

Momof2,
I know so well how you feel. I am also a mom of 2 :)
Even on those good days I am painfully aware that the AF is there. If I eat something different it will come back. It takes over your life completely. I am afraid to eat, afraid to go on a trip, afraid to miss a dose of Miralax, etc.
Dawn, I am in search of such confident CRS as the one you have. Time and time again I read that LIS is the only way to go if you want to have a chance to get rid of the AF for good. The CRS I saw is an older doctor who performed hundreds of surgeries and still he refused.

Hope,
I wouldn't use a doctor who told me that I could become incontinent or my fissure could come back. That was another question I asked my CRS. What were the chances of me needing a second LIS and the fissure coming back. I can't remember the exact % but it was low.
If you are able, get a second opinion or a third and find a good CRS that knows that 90% of LIS patients are cured of fissures and has had those results!!
I thought I had read that your CRS said you were too young(35?). That is garbage in my opinion. Em's Dr. says she is too old?! I'm wondering between these two opinions, what would be the perfect age?!! One would think that the CRS that you've seen hasn't had good results with his hundreds of surgeries or he would want to do it...
Good Luck, take care:)

I'm with the others here - LIS is the Rolls Royce of treatments for a fissure, and it gave me my life back too. I had LIS and a fistula removed 3 years ago, and a high fistula laid open a week ago, and I am still not incontinent. Any surgeon who tells you there could be a chance of it - run a mile from them!
And remember - the statistics are counted using ALL LIS surgeries, good and bad. If you asked a competent surgeon of his own statistics then it would be 100%.

I had the same comment from the CRS I saw in Boston, that he did not want to do LIS on me because of incontinence issues, and he is not a young doctor either. Funnily enough, however, when I look at the report that he sent to my GP, he does mention it as a last resort. When I spoke to his nurse the other day she said that being older I had more chance of incontinence. The way things are now, I would happily accept the chance. Anyway, I am considering going somewhere else for answers.