Hey NG! I’ve had my gallbladder removed and a hysterectomy – both surgeries were easier than the LIS, and not just because nobody tried to take my internal organs out without anesthesia!

I had my gallbladder removed when I was 18 – it took the docs a really long time to figure out what was wrong with me because nobody expects a skinny teenager to have gallstones! The recovery was quite smooth (my friends snuck me out of the hospital the day after surgery and I went to Dairy Queen to get a chocolate Sunday in my hospital gown!). I did have a complication, though. About a week after the op, I had a horrible chest pain. I tried to deal with it by knocking back some vodka, but eventually took myself to the hospital because I thought it could be a blood clot. It was just tense muscles. After that, all was good. :D
The hysterectomy involved a long recovery. The worst part, though, was waking up after surgery to discover that I am one of the few people for whom morphine doesn’t kill pain! I had to wait a few hours in absolute agony for the morphine to leave my system and they could give me Demerol.

It took a while to be able to poop without pain (maybe two weeks), and I had to be very careful walking,, couldn’t lift anything remotely heavy for at least a month, etc. It wasn’t a particularly painful recovery; it just took a long time to get back to normal. There were some ups and downs – one day I’d feel like, ‘yeah! It’s over!’, but the next day I’d feel delicate and tired again. I’d say it took one month to get past the ups and downs, and about another month after that to feel like I was fully recovered. I just had to adapt to a new normal for that period, which meant moving a bit slower than usual, being careful with myself, and resting when I needed to.
But really, the ass surgery recovery was the toughest I’ve had. I agree with the others – it really matters where on the body the surgery is done. While the area of the body involved in circumcision is pretty delicate (!), the good thing is that circumcision doesn’t involve the urethra, so peeing won’t mess with the healing in the same way that pooing messes with butt healing.
I’m definitely not minimizing what you’re about to go through! I don’t think it’ll be a walk in the park. And I really sympathize. If you like we can see who can whine and moan the loudest … the fistulotomy gal or circumcised dude!
:D