My LIS experience

Are you having, or have you had a Lateral Internal Sphincterotomy (LIS)? Please share your experiences here, or ask any questions.

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My LIS experience

Postby lurker53 » 08 Nov 2011, 14:54

Hello everyone, I'm finally able to post about my LIS experience because we got power back Sunday after 8 days.
Typing on iPhone from the tub so it's slow going and there could be typos so please forgive those.
Leading up to LIS I was an anxious mess. I hadn't had surgery since I was 9 (am 41 now) and I have anxiety disorder from PTSD so I was really freaked out. It felt like the day couldn't get here fast enough but I was dreading it all the same. And trust me, it took forever for the day to come.
Had my surgery on Friday Oct 28 and did a mini prep the day before which was not fun. Unlike some others on here, I wasn't in horrible daily pain leading up to the surgery. I rarely had spasms and it didn't hurt to have a BM but wiping was painful, I got a stinging/slicing pain often and it has been around 17 months of on and off problems. I tried more water/fiber, was taking constant baths, used Diltiazem and every other cream known to man and nothing worked for longer than a few weeks. Finally nothing worked at all and my skin was raw and thin and I still had a big fissure and a few little "skin breaks" as my second CRS called them (first one called them fissures as well).
Super anxious day of surgery. Happy it was at 8;30am and not later. Wife went with me, I arrived, registered, waiting and then was led to pre-op area. Put on ridiculous gown, socks, robe, etc and waited to have IV. they went through their billion questions, put IV in hand (ouch, not good with needles) and then anastegiologist (sp) came to talk to me. There were two, an older man working with a resident and both were very nice. The resident was especially nice, very informative and assuring. They were to give me profonol and fentanol (sp) for "twilight sedation" and explained everything. I signed their form, my CRS came in, I signed her form and we were ready to go.
Oddly I walked to surgery suite chatting with docs like we were taking a walk in the park. I entered the room, they had me lay down on an adjustable table on my stomach and began adjusting it to get my ass in the air. It all felt very surreal and I was scared for sure, but not freaking out. They put oxygen over my mouth and the last thing I heard was "I'm going to give you something to relax you" and that was it.
I woke up being wheeled to recovery on a bed on my back (no clue how they flipped me as I'm 260 pounds but I didn't care) and was groggy. The nurses in recovery were super nice, I felt nothing at all as far as pain and they called my wife in. She said surgery was so fast that she was just getting coffee when they called her so roughly 20 minutes or so. I think it was around 9:10 when she came in and I stated the walk to surgery around 8:40.
Stayed in recovery for around an hour. CRS told my wife it went very well and CRS told me it went well, to keep my stools soft but not too soft and she'd see me in a few weeks.
I went home and was very groggy still and tried to sleep but mainly just dozed in bed for a few hours. I had some soup, dozed again for a few hours and had some mashed potatoes for dinner. I still didn't feel much pain but took a percoset twice that night, once each four hours, to try to stay ahead of the pain. I began to have anxiety about the dreaded first BM the next day. Took my miralax and benefiber as usual that night.
Woke up next day (Saturday) around 9am and felt the need for first BM (if miralax works for you like clockwork like it does for me, take your pain meds and don't worry about constipation).
My wife had to help me off with my surgical dressings as I didn't touch a thing on Friday. Wasn't up to messing around with it Friday but obviously had to before first BM. There was a long, thick piece of surgical tape across both cheeks that she cut down the middle and I took off with slight discomfort (tape on butt like a huge sticky bandaid). Below that was a plank of sorts that was clean and white but I knew there was probably some gauze in my butt. My wife delicately removed the gauze and I made the mistake of getting a glimpse of it. I am a wimp when it comes to blood which is why I said it was a mistake to look. The gauze was covered in brownish/red which in hindsight was partially some blood, clearly some iodine and also some other discharge. But heck, I had surgery so of course there would be blood. But looking at it made me woozy.
I got up to take first BM scared to death and sat down and let go. It was not solid at all, pretty much an explosion but no pain at all. However, being the woozy wimp I am and thinking about the blood and assuming I had just exploded blood all over the toilet, I felt sick and light headed and had to lay down on towels on bathroom floor a bit. My wife took a look and said no blood at all which made me feel better. I got up and gently, gently used shower head to rinse but didn't feel up to taking a bath. Went back to bedroom and my wife gently, gently cleaned me up back there with qtips and water and I went back to bed.
I still didn't feel ready for a sitz bath and assumed I had plenty of time for those so I just relaxed and dozed and took my percoset every four hours. I obviously stayed on my side the whole time. It started to snow Saturday around noon but I thought nothing of it. Then around 6pm the power went out. I didn't panic because I assumed it would be back on in a few hours but I sure was wrong.
We lost power for 8 days and the timing couldn't have been worse. Second BM Sunday morning was more explosion than the first but again no blood and no pain. But incision pain started to get bad Sunday, Sunday night and through around late Monday so I stayed on my percosets religiously. Now I don't have a great tolerance of pain so I don't want to freak anyone out and it was very manageable with the pain killers, but I could not have done without them. No way.
For a week I did the best I could to clean after BMs using quick blasts of cold water and lots of q tips with the flashlights but the week was pretty much hell without power. Not painful, not uncomfortable, just a bad situation not being able to eat any home cooked meals, take warm baths, clean with warm water, the whole deal.
The swelling in the area lasted for about a week. Right around Thursday (six days out) I started to feel a bit more loose down there and Friday (seven days out) was my best day probably. But I got blood wiping on Saturday (day eight) and had blood from the incision site Sunday (day nine). Yesterday (day 10) I sat for long periods of the time for the first time (at desk in home office on computer, at therapists office, at CVS waiting for an rx) and had some incision pain last night but today (day 11) is better and no pain. The pain usually comes at night after a day of sitting so when they say stay off your bottom for two weeks or so, I think that's about right.
A few comments....
LIS is not fun, there were a couple of times during the weekend following the surgery that I thought I made a terrible, terrible mistake and was distraught because of the discomfort and pain.
The surgery is not a joke, it's surgery and it will come with pain, bleeding, swelling and discomfort so rest, rest and more rest is needed.
The anxiety is worse than anything else. Recovery from the surgery even without power was still better than the fear leading up to the surgery.
It takes a long time to heal and it's normal to have incision pain, blood, discharge and overall discomfort during week 2 and I would imagine afterwards.
If I can take the pain, anyone can. I am a wimp with a low tolerance of pain.
Recovering with warm baths and power has to be 1,000 times better than what I went through. If I can handle things without power, think of how much better it will be for those with all the comforts of power and warm water.
That's my story, I'm still feeling some discomfort but not much, haven't taken a percoset since around Monday of last week and only take Alleve when I need it. My incision site is not healed, the suture is still there but my wife says the area looks a lot better.
I have come to realize it will take months and months for me to start to feel completely normal but in the meantime I am taking it week by week. By next Tuesday I expect to feel better than today and so on.
If you can take two full weeks off from work, do it. The first week is a MUST and the second week is gravy and nice. I am back to work already but I wish I was just laying on my side and taking it easy.
Any questions feel free to PM me. I am happy I did this even though I have no idea if I'm healing or will heal or whatever. Like I said, I was not in constant pain and spasm and my BMs didn't hurt so it's not like my pain went from a 10 pre-op to a 5 or lower post-op. Essentially I am in more discomfort now than I was before on a regular basis, but I expected that and I KNOW this was my only chance to heal completely and move beyond this. You will know when it is your time as well.
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby Deleted User 579 » 08 Nov 2011, 16:51

Wow Lurker! You're a hero! I'm so impressed by how well you are doing, especially given that your recovery had to happen with no power! No hot baths or home cooked meals! OMG! Image
Thanks for sharing your story - it's definitely inspirational. Way to go! :D
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby dwarfs8 » 08 Nov 2011, 22:04

hi Lurker, thanks for documenting your entire experience! This is very important and comforting for those who's going / planning to have the LIS. I'm sooo glad that you've made it and is healing so well!
And your wife is such a gem! If my hubby is the one who got the fissure/LIS, i can't imagine myself checking out/nursing his butt, and checking out his stools!
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby Sue1962 » 09 Nov 2011, 06:28

OMG Lurker!!! Dawn said you would have a story to tell. I was thinking about you after your surgery, I didn't see any posts from you and posted a thread, Dawn told us you had no power. I am so sorry you had to go through that!!! I am glad you are doing much better with the power finally on!!! You are a trooper!!! I am seeing a CRS 12/1/2011 and my anxiety is through the roof. My fissure is feeling so much better I am thinking maybe I don't need to go, but I know it will come back as it has done for the past 3 years, so I am keeping my appt. I am scared to death of the surgery, but I want my life back. I hope you continue to heal pain free!!!! Please keep us posted.
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby TonyStone » 09 Nov 2011, 07:24

Glad you made it!
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby Tim » 09 Nov 2011, 07:42

Happy for you man! Glad you got it taken care of. Kiss that wife of your's and be sure to tell her you love her. If any good comes out of a fissure, it's appreciating the small things in life. As odd as this sounds and I'm not a full blown "Holy Roller".... I really have to thank God for my fissure as I'm a better person than I was before...however, God can now make it go away...I've learned my lesson!
Take care and hope you're on the way to recovery!
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby Savaici » 09 Nov 2011, 09:00

Good luck with your healing! Eight days without power could not have been fun, and recovering from surgery! Quoted all that your wife had done, and my hubby simply replied that he loved me, which made me feel good if I have to go through anything. All the very best!!
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby BaronVonDeucerton » 09 Nov 2011, 09:12

Thanks for the great write up on your experience. I am scheduled for LIS on November 15, 2011 after dealing with a very painful and non-healing fissure for around 5 months. I do have a high tolerance for pain, so hearing that you don't and made it through good, is definitely comforting! Good luck to you in your healing and getting your life back after dealing with the asstrocity we call Anal Fissures! :D
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby jenny2 » 10 Nov 2011, 06:08

glad to hear that you are doing pretty good. that sure was a rough post surgery you had to go through with the snow storm and no power. hope you continue to have pain free days...
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Re: My LIS experience

Postby Jojo1 » 10 Nov 2011, 07:25

Wow!!! I am so glad you're doing so well under the circumstances. While I appreciated your entire post, I (selfishly) was most pleased about your mentionint the surgery positioning before and after. I know I will face down, but was wondering about getting there and waking up. Thanks for the insight.
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