This is a cool idea. I am male, 51 years old, with a career in mechanical engineering. My main hobby is mountain biking, which I pursue very enthusiastically - I participate in amateur racing at the Expert level. Another of my hobbies is health and nutrition. I feel very strongly that most diseases and afflictions can be prevented or treated with really good nutrition. I get most of my advice these days from the Paleo community although I can't quite say that I eat a fully Paleo compliant diet.

I am on my second fissure right now. The first developed in late 2008, self-mis-diagnosed as hemmorhoids. Went away for a while and returned with a vengeance in early 2009. Finally seeking medical advice, my primary care physician was unable to diagnose (still thinking hemmie) due to pain and tightness. Sent me to CRS, who had the same problem attempting diagnosis, so he went for EUA (examination under anaesthesia). Upfront he told me he suspected AF and if so, while I was under anaesthesia anyway, he could do LIS. I said sure. That's exactly what happened, and I healed up uneventfully afterward.

I am married, but no kids. We have three cats. We live in a rural enviroment, on six acres, and I commute about 45 minutes each way to work. My wife is into horses and we both love the rural lifestyle in general.

My Goodness

You guys are way up there on the totem pole compared to me .
I'm just a CDL driver/Health Care Provider with some crazy wild hours.
But the lady of the house and the kids do not mind as I'm home most
weekends.

Something keeps pulling me back to this site even though I'm healed,
as I tried to leave; only to read a post while unregistered and wanting
so bad to give some advice that I did not see forthcoming.

Yes my battles were long and hard. 20 years fighting those monsters
and in those years I may have had 8-10 months at the most of
reprieve before I would get my next fissure-(I was a re-tear king).

How did I cope? Basically I would just attack it the natural way; my
religion being one that stresses healthy eating and temperance with
countless health books (ever heard of Ellen G. White), really gave me
a heads-up on what I should be doing.

My fissures never totally incapacitated me as the spasm were very
short-lived and I pretty much kept working and being the weekend
warrior that I was. Albeit the nighttime burning and shooting spasm
kept me awake many a nights.

Hey enough about me, how 'bout those beautiful drawings from lefthanded.
Her story touched me like no other........bless you lefthanded. Thanks for
all the other responses here too.

I feel like giving a big hug to all of you.
Lets do it...............

(((igrik1986,Ever the Optimist,Scientist2516,JHH,rio,lefthanded,Superfissure,soffiler)))

Ahh doesn't that just feel good..............thanks again guys.

Aw Butt, Big hug back to you too and anyone else reading this.......
Thanks for sharing.....

Wow, Lefthanded the art work is amazing! I have tears rolling down my cheeks now just reading your story. Amazing how you have turned everything into something positive through your work.

I joined this forum when I was in the darkest place imaginable.... Days when I didn't want to wake up. That's how bad the pain got for me. Then I discovered you wonderful people who know how I feel, who know the fear of this horrible condition. I can vent when I like, I can ask any question and nothing is too much. Without this forum I would never have been able to get through the days when I was losing the fissure battle. And now I am still on the roller coaster, but it know I can get through it with all of you on here.

Day to day in my job I am very busy! I am an Instructor/Assessor for one of the main colleges. I teach students in-house and I visit their workplaces to instruct too. If I am having a bad day, I really get into my work and distract myself as much as possible, so I don't think of the pain. I take pride in my job and get great satisfaction from seeing the students achieve their goals. In the past year or so, I have really changed the way I think. I try not to get too stressed about silly little things anymore and I really appreciate the things I have. I live healthier than I have before, and I do things I wouldn't have done before! Being in pain for so long really makes you realise what is and isn't important. This is for all of my lovely forum friends out there.....

First of all, this forum has been a lifesaver for me on many occasions. Just reading that there were others was so comforting. So thank you to everyone who shares so freely on here and tries to help and encourage others. You are all amazing!

I've been a stay at home mom for 19 years. I'm female and married to the man of my dreams. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary this December! We have 4 kids ages 19, 17, 9 and 7. The first two are biological sons and they last two are daughters adopted from China. I homeschool the younger three. My oldest is in college and the next son will start college in January.

Before I had my first son I was an accounting manager for a travel agency. I love, love, love being home with my kids and wouldn't trade one minute of the time I've had with them. My husband is retired from the Air Force (26 years) and is a pharmacist now for a local grocery chain.

Great topic!

I'm a 39 year old female junior high teacher in Canada. My hobbies are running, travelling, swimming, biking, and strength training. I'm not married and don't have kids, but have a long-term boyfriend who is definitely seeing me through a low-point in my life right now. He is very understanding (as much as one can be without having a fissure) but when I told him about the surgery and that there is a small risk of incontinence, I could tell he was just horrified. (I've only had my fissure for 6 weeks but many of you dealt with it for years and I think I will get the surgery if mine doesn't heal in a few more months.)

Like all of you, I have a lot of days where I am in pain 24/7 and often think about "calling in sick", but if I stay home there won't be any distractions from the pain, so I just stay at work, and even though I feel depressed and angry, I am able to hide these feelings and do my job just as well as always. I spend very little time sitting at work, which is a good thing, because on a day where the pain is the worst, sitting is horrible.

Socially I still go out with friends or my boyfriend as though nothing is wrong. Even though he knows about it, I am VERY careful not to complain too much about my predicament, because judging by what I've read on this forum, I could be in this situation for a long time, and he doesn't need to be brought down by my problem. (Although, I was in so much pain when he picked me up from work the other day, I started crying and didn't stop for an hour. I hate that. We've been together for 4 years and he's only seen my cry like twice.)

I still go to the gym every day and honestly, until I found this forum, I was forcing myself to alternate swimming with biking (but then I saw that a lot of you have been warned not to bike, so I figure I'd better stop doing that too!) I swim or water run every day. In the New Year I plan to start running again IF I CAN. (I am currently taking time off because of overuse injuries.)

I have enjoyed reading your stories and loved the art work!!

Great work lefthanded, also your story is very inspiring, as an artist my self your work is beautiful...and every ones story to boot.
I'm a 51 year old female, when I came to this forum over a year a go it was an amazing moment in my life, with a fissure , divert and IBS, I thought ruled my life now I rule it.
As a Cosmetician my customers depend on me, male and female, to guide them and give them the best advice in skincare, health and beauty. I have to be the healthiest I can be, keep my immune system strong.

I get kinda get emotional when my clients ask me, "Have I lost some weight, don't work too hard". I usually give them that extra fragrance or skincare sample...lol.

At first i was petrified to get back into my Field, because it was so demanding. But when there is a will there is a way, so I meal plan, eat before my shifts, now as far a exercise, I get enough at work.
If I can do it any one can, be positive as many of us still are, Time does heal, that's a promise.

Thanks to everyone and this forum, I still like to chime in every now and then to see whats up or down and give any advice I can.

and to all.

I have a question that I can only ask here…I am mid twenties and recently landed my first corporate office job a little under a year ago. I have been dealing with this little problem of ours for 15 months, and have tried everything at this point, including LIS. I am purely miserable and now taking antidepressants because I have no faith in humanity anymore. I have hid this from my employer all this time, I used vacation days for surgery, doctors visits, etc. It's getting very hard to keep this secret though, I show up late, I go to the bathroom frequently, avoid social gatherings etc., and I recently told them vaguely, "I've been having problems with my stomach." I am so depressed, my work has slumped significantly. I cannot deal anymore, but I am too scared to tell them enough details to put me on disability. I want to just flat out quit and tell them I'm going to "find myself" or travel or something, but I am scared that I will never get another job again because of the gap in employment. I know many of you have had to juggle similar dilemmas, so I was wondering if any of you in the U.S. might have some insight on what mysteriously quitting my job until I can fix this thing might mean for my future employment.

First off, you would likely be better off career wise going the disability route. But if you have enough funding to carry you through what could be an unknown period of time, you could consider resigning. What is your surgeon saying about the next step for you? Second LIS?

If you absolutely are decided that you would rather leave your place of employment, you will want to do so in the most professional manner that leaves your employer with a favorable impression of you. I wouldn't recommend telling them you want to go off and find yourself or travel or something. Future employers who may contact this former employer aren't going to be terribly impressed with that as a reason for the gap in employment. There is nothing wrong with resigning your current employment by saying you have a health issue that is likely going to require some further surgery and longer term rehabilitation, though making it clear the health problem is temporary in nature it could take some time to resolve it. You don't want to leave with the impression that you are someone who is going to have long standing health problems that will interfere with your work.

You can also indicate that during this you are off work you are interested in receiving some further education and training in your field. Future employers are going to want to know that the time was spent in some way that makes you a more valuable employee to them, and that is how you need to frame it, both for the employer you leave, and for future employers. So, for example, if you leave your current employer, always emphasize to them that you feel your ability to be the best asset to the company you are capable of being is being compromised by this health issue and that is why you want to take the time to get yourself fully recovered again. Always, when communicating with any company, keep their interests in the front of your mind and the way you can be a better asset to them.

Any situation is recoverable ... when the right approach is used. You might even want to consider a consultation with a career advisor to help you frame this all in the best possible way.

Good luck to you!

Thanks jr2. My CRS wants to have me evaluated for crohn's before anything. Honestly, I don't know how comfortable I am with any further surgery. In my opinion, these guys are 0-2 at this point (hemorrhoidectomy and LIS/Stricture), and I don't have much more faith that they can find their way out of a paper bag much less rid me of my condition. Maybe I will try botox again, or perhaps see another doctor, but I don't think I can bring myself to the anxiety of LIS again. My continence is very important to me. I was thinking that maybe I can take your advice and try to get a research job at my college, or get hooked up with a part-time gig through an old professor. I can just say out front I am dealing with some medical issues and really need the part-time schedule for frequent doctors visits.