Hi,

Just would like to introduce small topic, to know each other better.

I am IT change and release manager in one of huge telecommunication companies in Europe(11 countries). My daily business is to control all software changes upon to certain systems within organization. It looks like regular office work in front of computer most of the time + meetings. And I posses own hosting company, which is more like hobby. I like swimming a lot, and visited swimming pool once per week before.
Also I started PhD studies 2 year ago, but now stopped due to terrible condition. I never go to loo at work, and always keep it till evening.

I find it difficult to avoid constant dinners with partners drinking beers and eating steaks...

Also I have got 2 kids 6 years girl and 5 month old boy. And beautiful wife of course, she is very supportive!

Hi Igrik,
It's always great to get to know each other a little more & the way this can impact upon our lives. Great idea!........
I'm qualified in Business & Languages, but am currently working as a PA, coordinating HR, Finance & H&S for a German company - not where I'd envisaged myself a few years back, but enjoying it all the same!
My passions however lie in travel & art & crafts - I do a bit of children's party-planning, cake design & my latest mission is writing a book, based on a lot of my experiences with my anal issues - I figure that something positive always has to come out of a negative & this is something strong in my focus right now.
My fissure has impacted on my life as with everyone else. In my case, I delayed family planning because of having to deal with it all and although I have a beautiful daughter & always wanted more children, I'm not sure (for various reasons & not just fissure-related) whether this will ever be a possibility again.
The trauma of it all hit me hard causing a severe onset of depression at the time, which I got through with the help of ADs (I am now off them) I became very obsessed about every twinge, every BM, my diet. it was awful.....I'm back on track & far more relaxed these days, although my nature will not allow me completely to dismiss the past & I continue to be slightly-obsessive & very careful today.
I will not however allow this to take over my life again! and I am pleased to report I am living life pretty much to full, allowing myself red wine & a little of life's naughtier things (in moderation!) again.......I went on holiday for the first time in ages this year and it was the best thing I could have done....Would recommend to anyone over the worst of the fissure hell because the distraction in itself, works wonders.
I've been on the site since around March 2012 but was following it closely since Dec 2011, which was when my fissure first reared it's ugly head. I continue to be here because I quite simply want to help others through the pain of it all & have met some wonderful people on here in the process.................

This is a great idea!
I'm a scientist - a cell biologist/neuroscientist/geneticist, working on the development of the nervous system, using fruit flies as a model organism, since it's messy and expensive to work on mammals, and flies have muscles, nerves and genes remarkably similar to ours. My scientific background helped me to read about the sphincter muscle and how it's controlled by our nervous system. Even though the knowledge didn't have much practical benefit (swapping hints here was the most helpful thing overall), I still felt better for knowing more or less what is going on. I did find that I could get quite a lot of information from reading clinical trials.
My loves are my family (great, supportive husband, two children aged 15 and 12, one dog) and music and dancing. I play fiddle for dancing and teach it also. I also love to read novels and hike in the mountains.
I'm an expat, born British but now naturalized American. We get to go home every summer to see my family and stock up on chocolate biscuits and other British goodies.
My children call my fissure "your problem", as in "how is your problem today, is it hurting you?". I feel very lucky that my "problem" did not stop me from going camping in Southern Utah or going to Britain this summer. I couldn't do as much, and sometimes the pain spoiled things for me, but mostly I was OK. If I was going to be in pain anyway, I might as well be in pain in Zion Canyon or Bryce Canyon. And I had some very good days.
I was obsessive about AFs, but never really depressed except when the pain was terrible, or after a set-back. However this experience has given me a new insight into pain, and how people struggle with it. I'll never take painlessness for granted ever again, and I think I'll be more compassionate of people who can't do things because of pain.
Thanks for this question, Igrik.

Nice...

I'm a 41yo man, married, with 4 kids between 5 and 11. I had my fissure jan 2013, and joined this forum short after. Many times during my fissure joyride, have I felt like the worst husband and dad in the world. I literary spend hours every day on the sofa, squirming in pain, and being grumpy. I had to cancel two planned vacations with the family, so I still have some catching up to do.

Regarding job, I have my own IT consulting business. I started it in December 2012, and got my fissure shortly after. As you can figure out, it has been uphill, since I couldn't work much of the time, and I guess I lost about $20000 in income because of this stupid fissure, so talk about bad timing. Anyway, two months ago I got myself a good client, and have plenty of work for the next long time, so things looks OK again.

When my fissure was worst, and I kept retearing, I was down there in the black hole. I found relief in logging my progress (or lack thereof) and found strength to keep fighting on this forum. Now, after I have healed, my head is still screwed. I think about my butt too much, and I'm still very carefull about my diet. I hope someday it will all be a distant memory, but right now I use it to remember to enjoy the simple things in life. Working, biking, running, watching a football match standing up. All the things we take for granted, but has been near impossible with a fissure.

I have chosen to stay here, to follow my friends, and to give support and inspiration to new sufferers.

JHH

Hello! I am a woman granted with anal fissure around my 50 th birthday. Since divorce about few years ago I live alone with my and for the cream on the cake I lost almost all my work and clients due to the crisis (my work was kind of a counseling an preparing documents for people buying and selling properties). Few years ago I started planning to grow more vegetables and herbs on a piece of land I bought, as I am a keen gardener and it would add to my budget, but my health got worse and this year fissure disabled me completely. I already suffer from consequences of lyme disease and hoe, hope, hope, that at least the fissure will go away.
I love reading - just read a good book "The discovery of slowness" from Sten Nadolny. It is about arctic explorer John Franklin and when I read about what he and his crew endured I forgot about my pain for a moment. And when I am in a lot of pain I just re read good old Jane Austens Pride and prejudice.
Some of my favorite films: Brokeback mountain, Breaking the waves, The scarlet letter ....,and TV shows: Northern exposure, the vicar of Dibley, Midsomer murders...
I am still hoping to get better with healthy life style and that after 7 bad years better times must follow. Currently I spend most of my time collecting info and thinking about possible cure (even considered fecal transplantation, but I went off that idea).
Again I must say this forum and you people here saved my sanity for now. (I love all the icons here).

Hi. I am a 61 year old woman with one daughter and two grandkids, and a partner of 15 years who will soon become my legal spouse. I grew up in the midwest, but moved to the Seattle area when my job was eliminated in Iowa and one opened up here. I worked as an industrial insurance claims examiner (worker's comp) and liability claims manager for over 13 years before the aftermath of multiple surgeries from colitis and Crohn's left me unable to continue the rigors of commuting, meetings, travel, etc. I have had AF almost since my Crohn's diagnosis, which came when my colon was removed and my ileum was surgically turned into a reservoir known as a J-pouch back in 2002-03. My AF are a result of my Crohn's diagnosis, and are recurring and will never go away. They are made more difficult by no longer having a colon, because of the caustic nature of stool that has not been processed by a colon. I addition I developed transverse myelitis, which is inflammation of the spinal cord which causes symptoms like MS.

When it became evident that I was not going to be returning to work I turned back to my first love -- art. I am now working as an artist. My favorite medium is soft pastels, but I also work in watercolors and colored pencil and occasionally acrylics. My favorite subject matter is the mountains, and I love to paint en plein air, but that has become increasingly difficult for me with the worsening of both my TM and my Crohn's, and especially with AF and some leakage. It is hard to set up your easel in the wilderness when you need a restroom handy at all times. So I have to rely on photos I took during the 3-4 years when I was an avid mountaineer and backpacker . . . things I miss very much due to my health. I also like to do figures and portraits, but not the formal "sitting in a chair with a fake smile" kind of portraits . . . but rather natural and spontaneous images of people at work, play or just generally unaware of the artist.

I would post a couple examples of my work, but I am having trouble figuring out how the image up-loader works . . . oops, there it is! I did this on Mt.Rainier back in 2007, from the parking lot at Sunrise Visitor Center. I climbed Rainier in 1995 ... and I really miss hiking those glaciers! This is about 8"x10".




This is a self-portrait from 2008 . . . I am due for a new one here soon! Also pastel about 10"x8".

Inspiring, lefthanded. I'm trying to express something about how brave you are to turn your inability to work into a positive thing - your art. But I don't want to sound trite or to minimize your pain. Oh dear - just know that I am awed. Thank you so much for telling us your story and showing us your art.

Fabulous picture of Rainier Lefthanded.
Totally respect your attitude of turning your pain into something amazing.
All the very best to you & many thanks for sharing this with us x

Fantastic art lefthanded.

I'm a director and consultant in IT. Recent years I've managed to work with the same clients which is good as I'm not sure how I would feel moving from location to location, staying in hotels with this condition, and how that might irritate the condition. In fact I am considering taking a break when my work contract does eventually end.

I too prefer to go to the loo in comfort at home, especially as the toilets at my current client site are cold, often grubby, and if I'm having a bad day (with the fissure/BM's) I can't always focus with a neighbour in the next cubicle :). In fact I have made the client aware I have a health issue I need to manage so sometimes arrive a little later in the morning, although usually in the office by 9:30am.

I am quite religious about my diet. I eat quite a lot but diet is very high in fruit, fruit juices, vegetables, nuts etc.

My dad was also a sufferer but had an operation and longer term I think I will get something done about it too. I will always maintain my very healthy diet however but I don't want to be trying to kind of second guess my BM and over manage the condition for the rest of my life. I can sometimes be religious about food and too much consideration is given to my butt :). I suffer with IBS too which isn't great for a fissure sufferer and a few other minor health issues that need managing and it would be great to cure what can be cured. On the whole I'm quite healthy!

Fantastic lefthanded!

I am glad you easily found how to place picture. This is something I was working on to be easy.