Hie all
i Have been seeing a specialist afte another one said i needed surgery, but beacuse i was too scared to go for the op i sougt help elsewhere. So after i had another of my serious bleeding episodes i was admitted into hospital and was swollen . had to go on a drip hadnt eaten in days du to the pain and bleedin. So at the hospital a new doc, cruel very nasty tells me i left the good doc hus a specialist surgeon and went to another new doc who is a specialist physician but is not equipped to deal with caseslike mine. So im torn and im told to go back to the old specialist because in my town, he is the only one who can deal with such cases and that there is no way og gettin out of surgery. Im so scared and im goin to see this apparently good specialist 2mrw whom av already seen before and i know wat he is goin to say. is it tym to accept that i have run out of options and that i have to have the operation. wORSE IM a student and this is my last semester. im almost done in few months hn i graduate, if i have the op now, i heard i myt need 3 weeks of recovery which means leavin uni and goin back home and that i cant finish my degree this year. Im so torn, can anyone who has had the anal sphinctoronomy tel me wat its like becoz i cry at nyt wen i sleep imagining the pain il go thru, im already in pain as it is but i cant imagine anythn worse than this. How long does it take to recover and what if sth goes wrong and im in a worse off condition than now before the op, God forbid il just kill myself

OMG,PLEASE calm down!! I was exactly like you - SO terrified of the surgery, I thought it was the worst thing ever to have surgery in that part of the body. And I left it for 7 months. 7 loooong months of spasms and suffering, all because I was so frightened. But YOU'RE IN A LOT OF PAIN NOW!! The surgery can't be any worse!
For the first week after you'll be a bit sore, but you'll know you're on the way to healing. And you will get your life back.
Get a good CRS (colo rectal surgeon) that's most important. If they have done the op many times before then there will be almost zero risk of anything going wrong.
When we say you need 3 weeks to recover - we don't mean you'll be laying there unable to move for 3 weeks! It just means you'll feel a lot stronger and ready to face the world with your new butt, if you have longer recovery time!
We'll be here to help you through the op and recovery, and tell you how best to cope with it.

Hey there,
I had the surgery last year. It is nothing like the pain of a fissure! It's a bruised feeling and like Val said, we say three weeks because you are sore not excruciating, rolling in the floor pain! With a good CRS you will get your life back and be so glad you had this surgery!
I know it's hard and depressing when you are in fissure hell to think things could be worse but that's just not the case. LIS is the best thing I did for my fissure. I was scared and waited 8 months to have the surgery and really it was all for nothing because the pain after surgery was nothing compared to the fissure!

Last week Dustin came on here for the first time as he was having his op the next day. He was terrified too and guess what he is brill now! Oh he is just sweet 16 ...so if he can get thru smiling you will too!! And let us all know how relieved you are then!!

Hi Michelle - welcome to the forum! I see you are from South Africa. I've been there many times. What a beautiful country! I really love Cape Town - I wish I could live there. :D
Listen, hun - you are going to be just fine. The surgery is not bad at all. It does not hurt more than the pain of a fissure. The big difference is that even with some pain after surgery you know that you are healing and not just struggling with the pain everyday with no hope. Ok?
The first few days after the surgery are not a lot of fun. but they are not horrible either. I'll bet you will be in less pain the day after the surgery than you are in right now - that was true for many of us who had the surgery. You may need two weeks before you feel comfortable sitting for long periods of time, but people have gone back to work or school after one week. It depends on how you feel. Two weeks off of lectures isn't great, but it also isn't the end of the world either. You can ask classmates to take notes for you and/or explain to your professors that you will need some time off. In Canada, professors will accommodate medical issues and they don't need to know the details. If you have an office on your campus for students with disabilities, they should also be able to help you make arrangements for while you are recovering.
Please don't panic. You will be fine. Just learn as much as you can from this forum about what to expect with the surgery and then make your plans. We are here to answer your questions as best we can and provide support and advice.
I hope you feel a bit better about it all now. :D

I was so scared that on the day of my surgery my husband had to actually coax me out of the car like a 3 year old, as I was crying and shaking so much and didn't think I had the courage to do the surgery. But I did it, and was oh, so glad!
I had another surgery in june, for a high fistula, and walked in there, totally calm as I knew what to expect.
Armed with the knowledge of these lovely people here - you will get through. Honest!

I am so sorry to see you be so upset, but I think everyone on here understands it and has been there. It must be hard to be looking at trying to recover and be in school- finishing your degree is important. However, you know you have to do this and the best thing to do is to focus your energy on making a plan. Find the best Dr. you can within your system (I'm in the US), talk with your professors and explain as much as you are comfortable with. "I'm having surgery and the Dr says I will need ___ amount of time to recover" (whether that is true or not, because Drs we all know often say you'll be fine the next day or some silly thing. If they ask what kind of surgery, say something like it being a painful and embarrassing condition and you'd prefer not to discuss it but the Dr. says it needs to happen now. But what others have said is true. If I had absolutely had to go to school or work after week 1, I think I could have. If you can manage two weeks with lying on your couch with a laptop and working on assignments and trying to keep up that way, it would be better. I think a lot of folks on here see a difference in those who were able to take it easy and fewer setbacks. But by the end of the second week, things will be much better. It is a different kind of pain- not as bad as the fissure- and like others have said you then know you are on a path to actually getting over this rather than spinning in circles. A long time ago when I was in graduate school, I was sick with giardia and it took forever for the Drs in Dallas to figure out what I had. So I was pretty tied to my bathroom. I had friends record lectures for me (back in the days of cassette players) and I did the assignments I could and sent them in. I can't remember all the details, but I think they gave me some alternate assignments for things I couldn't do- like preschool observations for example. But my point is really to talk to those professors and have a plan beforehand. Tell them there's a chance that you might need a third week and how that would work. Then you'll know what you are dealing with and it will give you something to do while you are lying around. And hopefully they will surprise you, at least some of them, with kindness and compassion.
You can deal with this!! Don't give up!
And I have been thinking lately that my thoughts about LIS are best reflected in the old Nike sales ads-
"Just do it!"
Lots of love and prayers sent your way-
Bambi

Bambi, That is the most detailed, sweetest, most compassionate post ever! I would have-loved to have had you as my LIS coach!!

Aw Dawn- thank you so much. I was lucky enough to have you as one of mine!
Bambi

im so overwhelmed by th lov and support on this forum, ank you so much, So i went ydea and as soon as the doctor examined me he sed we cant wait any longe, monday is too far so he sed i needed to come back for admission into hospital the next day which is TODAY, I HAD NO SAY IN IT, I GUESS THE SITUATION HAS BECOME VERY BADD HE DIDNT EVEN WAIT FOR MY ANSWE OR MY PARENTS CONSENT. i love my doc o bits, hez such a nyc man and very experiencd and he said apparently now im very anaemic and im seriously underweyt and im bleeding even when im not goin to the toilet coz blood was coming out when he was examining me. So in 3 hours il be going for th surgery, its scheduled for tomorrow though but they said i need to sleep over in hospital the night before. Ive been afraid of this for 3 years and before i had a say and my parents and i put it off guess we put it off for too long. My parents are scared for me so they had to call the doctor and talk to him. They cant make it in time for the op and i feel like dying, i wont be with my family, i wanted to wake up after surgery and see my mum and dad but that wont happen, they live out of the country and are so busy to make it in time. il have my uni friends with me but its not the same. im still in shock tho, Golly i wish i could take my lappie to hospital so i can talk to you guys cause after seeing your responses im much stronger i thot i would be writhing in pain after surgery but after what i have been through i think im ready, so 2mrw this time i will be in theatre. Its still kinda hasnt sunk in, if i had set a date myself it would have been diff, i would have prepared myself. The urgency of my doc was kinda like that of an appendix tht needs to be removed immediately.... i guess i pushed it too far this time and i felt it, i kinda knew this was the final straw and i needed the operation immediately so PLIZ KEEP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS , HAVE TO BE IN HOSPITAL BEFORE 4 PM AND THEN 2MRW IS D-DAY.