I wasn't going to make a separate post about this. I don't want to discourage anyone who's considering or just had the surgery. Don't get me wrong, the surgery has helped me greatly and I'd do it all over again--in fact I may have to. It's been about two months since surgery and I retore once about a month afterwards, and again three days ago. It's just a small, single 12:00-ish tear, in the exact same place both times. The first retear healed really fast but this one's taking a bit longer, although I think it's getting better. I've always liked Jen's story, and I'm hoping that these episodes just taper off and fade away over a year's time, like they did for her.
But I was really afraid I'd need two surgeries all along, because my surgeon admitted he's conservative with his cuts. And it looks like I might have been right about that. The tear also happens to be sort of opposite of where the incision was made, so it makes me think he needs to cut the other side too. I think my rear is still plenty tight, because I don't have any incontinence (not even to raging diarrhea!) or any of the minor leakage that others have mentioned. Hopefully I can just pile on the Miralax and nitro and get this f***er to heal on it's own, but I'm not going to tolerate more than a year of occasional retears before I do the surgery again. I just don't want this pain anymore, and while certain aspects of visiting the CRS's office and getting the surgery done are unpleasant, living with this indefinitely is more unpleasant.
I can see all the positives in my situation though, at least. I've got a great surgeon, I know exactly what to expect from surgery, and I've got this forum. Whatever happens, I'm so glad you all are here to support and sympathize with me. You guys have got my back(side)!