Hi All,
I have been suffering horribly for the past two months with a chronic AF that began to show signs of life during the month of February 2012. In the beginning I attributed minor pain and minimal blood on tissue paper after BM to possible hemmorhoids. The pain was bearable and continued on and off thru april. As of May, I have been suffering from brutal pain after each BM for about 6 to 10 hrs. I have been taking valium as needed and inserting nitroglycerin ointment twice daily for past 2 weeks. My colorectal surgeon observed fissure and stated it was high into rectum, not near exterior area. I am now scheduled for surgery this friday morning and of course, am not having any horrible spasm symptoms, just itching and slight burn sensation, although my bm's have been softer than usual. In a nutshell, do I go ahead with the surgery anyway even though I have had a few good days? I am worried that if I do not, my fissure will come back to life and destroy me again. I greatly appreciate any responses.. I am torn, literally...

Hi paininthe...
Gosh, I don't know that there are any clear answers for you other than you have to just go with your gut feel. You could get totally different advice from different members here based on their own experience, but this will be of limited benefit because everyone is so different and what drives someone to finally decide on surgery varies from one person to the next. It is completely normal to have anxiety before surgery. Only you and your physician can really decide on the best course of treatment for you. Can you contact your doctor prior to your surgery to express your concerns?

As jr2 says no one can advise you on what's best for you as we're all so different and have had such different experiences.
I went 12 years with an af that would recur on and off before finally unergoing surgery last week. During those 12 years I used Rectogesic (Glyceryl trinitrate) quite sucessfully, sometime using it up to four times a day (and yes I got some mightly headaches) but the af usually healed within a few days.
Then last August it tore and then just didn't properly heal again. When I finally went to see a specialist earlier this year I found out I had a second af so I finally bit the bullet and had the surgery last Friday (22 June).
I am now sitting (well I can't sit so am propped with one leg tucked under me) here five days after surgery and quite frankly I am not in a good place. Am in quite a bit of pain following every bm and even passing wind is very painful.
All that said I have faith in my doctor and am optimistic that the surgery will sort me out.
Good luck with whatever decision you end up taking.

JR2 and Kat,
Thank you for reading my post and expressing your thoughts. :D Surgery is now 2 days away and I just had another bm without any spasm, just itch sensation. JR2 you are absolutely correct and I will advise my surgeon the day of that I have had a few good days. Although from Kat's post, indicating that you have healed, then recur. I would not be able to deal w/ recur again all knowing that the stage has been set for surgery and I could end this problem once and for all (I hope..) In meantime, I am driving my wife crazy w/ my new found mixed feelings. She keeps telling me to just go for procedure regardless and let CRS determine once he gets full view inside, he can take necessary steps from there. My wife seems to think there is more going on than fissure due to my family history. I am 39yr old male. My father is colon cancer survivor. He had large tumor removed etc. at 64. From all research I have done online it seems that most chronic fissures do and will recur. When my CRS did digital exam to view fissure 2 weeks ago he described it as bad. Sad to say I'd almost prefer a hard bm tomorrow just to bring back pain for 1 day so that I will be reassured that surg is 100% necessary. Some have referred to fissures as the sleeping dragon that go into hiding, then come back w/ a wrath when you least expect it. That is what I fear the most. This 1 destroyed me for the past 2 months and I have only had the nerve to discuss with my wife and my parents.
Again, thank you for your responses and I will be monitoring site all day for any future responses. Thank god for this website, I finally found a place where I can discuss and learn about this problem. Heal swiftly KAT! Thanks again jr2.

Paininthe...
It is very hard to make decisions like these and I so feel for your mixed feelings. Most of the people on the board who have had surgery are happy they made the decision to go ahead with it, even though the initial days and weeks can be long and painful to get through. Others, for their own valid reasons, have chosen not to have surgery. Even long-term chronic fissures can and do heal, but it usually takes a lot of experimentation and patience and time with lots of recurrences.
Feel free to vent your worries and thoughts here. We all understand what you're going through, and though ultimately you are the one who has to decide what is right for you, you don't have to go through it alone.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

Have faith in your doctor, they see people like us every day and have learned from the experiences we recount.
I am day six post op, and am in a good place today, feeling much better, the swelling has gone down and the bruising is fading.

Dear P.I.T.,
I totally understand your hesitation to follow-thru with your decision for surgery while you are experiencing "good days". I have 100% been there!
I had my fissure for 6 months, and several times during the most horrific days of torturous pain I vowed to "call tomorrow and schedule the surgery". Each one of those times, when tomorrow came, the pain had eased up and I put off that call. But that's all part of the game...the hope that each of those "good days" would be the beginning to my healing....only, of course, to be brought back again to the "bad days". For me, it was a vicious cycle of physical and physcological pain and torment.
In the midst of one of those "bad days" I placed the call and scheduled the surgery. I had a week to ponder my decision...for 4 days after placing the call the pain remained relentless...day 5 it let up...day 6 I was second guessing and wondering if I could really finally be getting better, maybe I should cancel the surgery for tomorrow. I thought long and hard that day about all I had been through and especially how I had been fooled before into believing I was on the mend so many times since it all began. My gut said this was another trick and I approached my surgery confident that it was what I needed to do.
There is no way to know if this is the beginning to your true healing, or just a reprieve for a while. I believe it is a gut feeling that you follow after intense contemplation about what you've been through and how much more your willing to take.
I truly wish you the best either way...and remember should you choose not to proceed, and another set-back does occur, you can always schedule the surgery again. You just want to approach the surgery confident and optimistic with your decision.
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers,
Angel

The concern I would have is with the location of the fissure. My CRS had told me once that my fissure was higher up than usual and believed that this was due to elevator spasm as well as a tight sphincter. Because of this he did not feel LIS would be as effective for me as with someone with a fissure near or on the sphincter. I'm sure that your doc must feel surgery will help or it wouldn't have been offered though. I backed out of surgery back in may and have had mixed feelings about it. I am not better so I wonder if I could be enjoying life by now if I had followed through but it seems there have been many posts recently of problems with surgery and recovery. It really depends on how miserable you are and whether you feel you can continue to live with it. Also you need to consider what other options you have if any. Best of luck with your decision.

Hello,
Just wanted to let you know as of today I am 10 days post surgery. I also had a few good days before my surgery and questioned if it would heal on its own and maybe I should cancel the surgery. Honestly going through with the surgery was the best choice I could have made. My fissure pain has been close to 0 since the surgery. It is almost like it was an immediate cure and I feel blessed. I haven't felt as good as I do now in months. I know it can be a different experience for everyone but for me surgery was great. I would suggest you go through with it and get it over with.
My doctor told me that in most cases the surgery is a permanent fix for the problem.
I was very frightened to have surgery and I had never had an operation before this. It really went great and the whole procedure was painless.
Either way let us know how it goes.

I have decided that as Paul Sheldon said "go through with it and get it over with" will be my best bet at this rate. I am mentally exhausted, my wife says I am driving her crazy w/ my constant contemplation. After what this has done to me the past 2 months especially, I can not take a chance and go thru the spasm torture again. But of course, I am on day 5 of feeling pretty good. No spasm, just itch. Intentionally ate 4 slices of pizza last night with hopes for hard BM this morning. BM came out nearly painless. Just as Angel mentioned about not being fooled again. I can not let that happen. Showtime is scheduled for tomorrow @ 10:00hrs. Glad to hear recovery is going well KAT!
Thank to all for your support. I will keep you posted.