Hi Everyone,
It's been about two months since I had my LIS, skin tag removal and fissurectomy. Those of you who read my earlier posts know the first few weeks of recovery went very smoothly -- I never took the prescribed painkillers, didn't bleed, went back to work after four days, and wasn't in much discomfort. Then again, I wasn't in much discomfort before the surgery compared to a lot of the stories I've read here.
It's a mixed bag at this point. I was honestly hoping to have put the whole mess behind me by now, but I'm not quite there yet.
LIS: completely healed.
Skin tag removal: almost completely healed.
Fissurectomy incision: not so much.
I went back for a checkup about a month after the procedure and mentioned that I'd been feeling a little sore after cleaning. The doctor checked it out and said that the skin had started to close over the wound without the underlying tissue healing yet. He then proceeded to open the wound back up with a cotton swab, which was the most pain I've ever experienced in my adult life. I almost lost consciousness. I do have to admit I felt better after about an hour than I did before I walked in for the appointment. He told me to come back in a week.
A week later, he took another look and said I was starting to heal again, but he was a little concerned about some pus that was appearing, and that there was a slight chance I was developing a fistula and might need another surgery. He told me to come back in a week.
I made the follow-up appointment and thought long and hard before I ultimately canceled it. My rationale was that I'd had about enough painful doctor visits, and that at this point, the surgery, recovery and exams had caused me more disruption and discomfort than my fissure ever had. The bus rides, the waiting room, the fear of not knowing what was going to happen in the little exam room -- I was just done with it. I decided to try healing on my own for a little while -- reading the boards, continuing with the baths and the wet wipes, and hoping for the best. I also started using zinc oxide (the generic version of Desitin cream, which I didn't buy because it has cod liver oil and I'm vegan).
Today, three weeks after my canceled appointment, I went in for another checkup. The surgeon took me to task for not coming sooner, and said I'm healing well, but he's surprised I'm not almost done healing yet. He decided to cauterize the wound with silver nitrate, which stung a little bit at the time and burned a little bit more for a couple hours after. This afternoon, I bled on the paper a tiny bit for the first time since the first few days after my surgery.
So, life isn't terrible but it's not quite back to normal either. I'm back to doing the things I used to do before surgery, like biking to work. Some days it doesn't feel like anything's wrong at all. I'm hoping all days will feel like that soon.
Thanks, as always, for your listening and support.

Hi there Buttmachine !!
Sorry to hear things got a little tricky - I remember you doing so well in recovery but gosh a mention of fistula and more surgey
Good that your CRS is on the case
I hope the nitrate seals the deal , its such a delicate area to heal and takes so long to gain strength !

Ah, that's too bad that things weren't open and closed like we were hoping for you. You had a lot of work done and even in the best situations, there can be some delay in healing as that area is very sensitive and prone to reinjury.

I would watch out for that area and make sure you aren't collecting pus or if the pain escalates to go in. I had a fistula and it wasn't until that was taken care of that I started healing again.

Does your doctor know that you are biking? Could that be problematic in your healing at all?

Not sure if the biking is an issue, but I don't feel any worse after getting off a bike ride, and I have a padded seat. When I initially asked the doc about it before surgery, he said he didn't see a problem -- "you don't ride on your anus" or something along those lines.

hi buttmachine,
well it seems that your body wants to heal.
it's odd that after two months, your CRS seems to have other expectations about your healing that he keeps opening up the wound.
all i know from what i was told by my CRS if i had had the LIS that it would take about 6 months to heal but about 1 year to feel normal.
i am glad you did not develop a fistula. phew.
keep up the good work and here's to more healing for you.