MY LIS STORY

Hi buddies!!!

First of all, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!! Everyone's messages to me today ment so much to me. You guys are truely wonderful friends. I decided to start a new thread about my LIS expirience, so anyone lurking around the board considering LIS can read my entire story. I will also post all my post-op results and appointments here.

Last night, I began drinking the magnesium citrate at 5 pm. I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a bowel movement. Needless to say, there was no BM in the evening. I went to bed at 10 pm and woke up at 2 am. I had a dream about my operation. In the dream, I knew everyone in the operating room. My older sister was my anesthesiologist (which is not that weird because that is her job in real life), my husband was the surgeon, and my friends were the scrub techs and OR nurses. The whole dream so vivid and weird. I could not fall back to sleep after the dream and stayed up the rest of the night considering canceling the surgery because I felt great. Finally at 5 am, the mag citrate started working and I went to the bathroom like 5 or 6 times. I did'nt have anything to do all morning and I was done pooping, so I decided I would go to school for my morning lecture to get my mind off the upcomming LIS. I left school at noon.

My husband, son and I got to the hospital around 2 pm. They finally called me from the waiting room at 3 pm. They started the IV and the doctor came and talked to me. He said while he had me there he wanted to do a full inspection of my anus. He was going to "explore" it in his terms (this is what Fissy is having done next week). He said if there was any hemmies, he wanted to remove them. I told him, my butt was his at that point and he should do everything in his power to make me better. I also told him I felt great and I was still having serious doubts. He reminded me that I have been through too much, and I decided in the end to just go through with it.

They brought me into the OR and I saw the stirrups! They totally freaked me out, but before I knew it, I was asleep with general anesthesia. When I woke up, I was in the recovery room. I could feel a sorness on my butt and it was painful to sit directly on my butt. The CRS came and talked to me. He said I am lucky I had LIS because I needed it. He said I should have had it over a year ago. There was alot of scar tissue. He also said my spasms were just horrible. I guess I was spasming all the way up to when he made the cut. I was just one of the lucky ones who seldomly had PAINFUL spasms. He said the only way I could heal is by LIS because of my spasms.

Does anyone remember some of my threads on my blue anal scar/hemmie (I know Lecia does - she held me together while I was a basket case about it ). Well, when the doctor did his "exploring" down there, he decided it was another hemmie (I had 2 removed with RBL before this). This hemmie was different as it was actually in my anal canal and he said he zapped it by using something that starts with an "S". Now if anyone knows what this is, please tell me because I would love to read up on whatever treatment he used on me. I always wondered if this little line was a hemmie - it was real tender and mildly swollen at times. He said I have a plug of gauze in me that will come out with my next BM. Did anyone else have this plug??

I am mildly sore now, and I expect to be even sorer tomorrow, as that is how most surgeries go. I actually have to prop my butt up on my left side when sitting because I think my incision is on my right side. Could anyone else tell which side their incision was on? I have no fissure pain at all. All the pain is definatley coming from the incision. It is very distinct. MY CRS gave me some darvocet. I hope it works well because I have never taken it.

I am not looking forward to my morning BM at all. I took 2 stool softeners because I am going to take my pain meds. My CRS wants me to go back to my regular diet ASAP. This will be no big deal because I am very healthy and I basically have a fissure diet anyway - with the occassional veggie pizza and chocolate of corse!

I know I am not incontinent already because I am holding farts in just fine!!!

Also, I looked at the clock and my operation started at 4:30. They were rolling me in the recovery room at 5:30. Does anyone have any ideas why the operation took as long? LIS is supposed to be like 5 minutes!

I hope I am healed. I hope I had my "butt makeover" like Fissy. I really love you guys. I would have never taken this step without your prayers and support. :redlove:

Jen

Jen,
I am so glad things went well for you. It sounds like you really needed the surgery. I took darvocet after my hemmie surgery and although it wasn't very strong it didn't make me sick like the oxycodone did. If I didn't have much pain I took 1/2, at the worst pain I took 2, although with the hemmie surgery it didn't really help me all that much. It should work for you if you are not in terrible pain.

Hope you have a good and restful night.

Take care,

Jo

Hi Jen,

Congrats. good to hear you are well.

You probably got sclerotherapy, which is basically and injection that used to trea spider veins. it scars the vein and prevents it from flowing blood.

please do keep us posted on your progress.

Chris

Oh BTW in a few days, you shoul dnot need the darvocet. A couple ibuprofen should be just fine.

Yeeaaaaayyyyy Jen is back...Jen is back

CONGRATS BABE !!!!! YOU DID IT Wow, thanks God you posted - I was waiting for you whole day here . I just was about to go and watch a movie and decided to check just one more time and there you were . HE HEEEEEE, now I will take a pleasure of saying - " I told you so " !!! I am so glad you are home and safe and that you are now on the road of full recovery , buddy, what a relief ! Don't worry about first BM - I braced myself and when it started going out I was in shock how painless it was ! I know it sounds like oxymoron but trust me in this one too- you will be pleasantly surprised - just some muscle pain in your cheek where
incision was done - not a fissure pain !!!! Maybe you will have some pinching due to hemmie treatment though - but I hope not !!!

Now your questions - I was cut on the left side and most CESs do it on the right because there is one hemmie column on the right and 2 on the left, so left is more risky. You are also lucky to have GI, since local can irritate
anus and I had that . He even hit my hemmie that I never had before visible .

Why it took and hour in the op room ??? I suppose they took time to position you nicely and waited for you to be knocked out pretty good LOL. Than he did examination before the procedure and also took care of your hemmie. Than they had to clean you up, transfer you on new table and drive out when all of your vital signs were in perfect order. - That is my best guess ; ))) !

I did not have "packing" in the butt, but I read about it couple of times. Some CRS do that some don't - just one of their quirks LOL. I hope it will fall out easily !!!

Yes, my CRS insisted on me going to normal diet ASAP and the theory is that butt has to be trained to function normally. It worked great for me until my butt got "stiff" again after couple of months.

Now rest buddy - take that Dervocet to help you sleep through the night !!! Have the most peaceful dreams Jen and see you tomorrow :sprinkleheart:

so your dr saw a lot of scar tissue?? did he remove any of it? i'm amazed you're attempting to sit already! i literally laid on my stomach for 2 weeks after surgery, never even tried to sit regular. good job! if your dr actually saw the spasms, it's likely LIS will help you!

Sweet Jen
So happy that your surgery day went well, and I think you are so wise and realistic when you expect your bum to be sore for a couple of days, BM to be XXX, etc. - you've had surgery! When it is all over you will be so happy you had it done.

Hope your fissure leaves you for good

:truebud: Corsica

So glad its all over Jen and you made the right choice.

Yeah, dont panic about the first BM, it will be ok, and get easier each time afterwards.

Have a good rest and get well soon, and I hope your fissure-days are well and truly gone!

Jen, I am so happy to hear of your experience. Hopefully you will heal quickly. Just think that after few weeks you do not have to focus on butt issues anymore. You are so brave that you went through this.

Congratulations Hope you will be painfree forever down there now.

Jen, please make sure you rest and just recline all the time, why even worry about sitting? I barely sat for a week after my surgery, I just laid around and let things "relax.'

Here's hoping your first BM was a success today!!



I am so proud of you and hope your recovery goes smoothly!!

Dearest Jen
You did it girl !! I am so proud of you too !
I wish you a fast and forever healing, may you never ever suffer this way again !!!

Sending you a very very very big hug !!

Thanks for all the support guys! I just can't say it enough - you all are great!

Cinderella - Are you still getting LIS soon? I thought you were getting it in September sometime?

Tabby - I love the flowers! You guys are all so computer savvy - I would never know how to do things like that!

BG - I checked out the sclerotherapy. That may have been it, but the way he described it was different. He said he was going to zap it or cauterize it. But I swore he said the procedure strted with an "S". I guess I will find out more at my follow up

Well, no BM yet! I am afraid that I am getting constipated with my pain pills. However, everytime I pop a pain pill, I pop a stool softener as well. I am always VERY regular. I think another issue is that I did not eat for 24 hours, until 9 pm last night - and then I just had soup. I may not have much in me to poop out! Did any other surgery folks get like this with surgery?

This guaze in my butt is freaking me out. I can not feel it, but I know it is there. I would love to take a soak, as I am VERY sore. But, I am afraid to soak with this guaze still in me. I may just wait until I finally poop it out.

I am such a worry wart. All I can think of now is complications (not healing properly, abcess, fistuals). However, I think MOST of the time people get their complications from their actual fissures and not the LIS incision.

Thanks again for all your support & prayers. I can not put a price tag on all the wonderful advise you have given me. It is so nice to talk to everyone about this stuff since I can't really talk about my taboo surgery.

Jen, I know what you mean about the worrying, I had no BM the first day and I'm very regular normally. I was freaking out all day and most of the next day...and then it just happens
Dont fret, easier said than done!! maybe its our bodies way of letting it heal a little! Just relax and tell yourself it will happen when its ready to happen. Honestly, it will be ok, please dont torture yourself!

And GET WELL SOON!

Jen
Since you haven't eaten a lot that must be the reason you haven't had a BM yet. Your worry is understandable and normal, but think about it this way: It will go away! Think about how much you have worried about having a BM when having the fissure?

Give yourself time to heal, as Kim says, it will be better after a few tough days....

Corsica

What is guaze?