Feeling depressed.

Thank you Helen. I will not wait too much longer before going back to my surgeon for the next step. I am scared. I am trying to get brave to take that next step. I have to remember too that people in general have health issues and some worse than mine and we are not alone. How long did it take for you to heal and what was your pain like after surgery?

Hi Elizabeth,

So sorry to hear about your ordeal. The fissure truly takes over your life and makes everything difficult. As unfortunate as it is, if the cream doesn't work that the doctor gives you, and you've tried many things, surgery is the best option. I had my surgery and it was very successful.

Some things to remember if you get the surgery:

1. Make sure to RESEARCH your surgeon before having the surgery.  Make sure he has performed the surgery multiple times successfully and is veery good in his department. If you research and get a very experienced surgeon, your likeliness of having the side effects that you read about online go down significantly.

2. Prepare your mind for the surgery. I went into my surgery thinking that they would do it and I'd be pain free immediately. After surgery was the worst, but until the next time I pooped, it didn't hurt that bad. 

I will post my experiene of the surgery here, as I'm sure you've seen before on other peoples blogs:

I would definately get it done, especially if you have dealt with it for a whole year. I had a chronic fissure, and after a month, decided to have the surgery. It was the best decision of my life. I am not going to lie to you, it is a bit painful right after surgery but if you can endure the pain of a fissure, it is not that much different. I posted this before....this basicallly explains how i felt throughout the surgery and after.

I first want to give you a lot of credit for deciding to do the surgery...It is not an easy desicion, as there are some stories online that can discourage you from getting it, but in the end in my opinion it it better. 

So basically, this is how it went down with my surgery. I had to fast the day before the surgery because they had to put me under anesthesia. I went in, waited, and then they put me under and the surgery was done. I woke from the surgery with morphine in my system, although once I woke up it had worn off for the most part. They basically told me I could get another dose of morphine, which would basically knock me out again, or I could stay up and move to the other room to wait until I was ready to leave. So, i skipped the next dose of morphine and went to the other room. As I was laying on the bed, the pain bagan to set in. The next part may scare you a bit and discourage you, but getting through this part is just part of the process of gettting better. So when the pain started to settle in, the paiin almost flt worse then the fissure pain itself. I was not only dealing with the pain from the fissure, but from the incision and cuts that were done form the surgery itself. This being said, you have to take into consideratino that the surgery is cutting into your sphincter muscle, so pain will come, but this is with any surgery. Unfortunately, with this surgery, it is in a very sensitivie area so the pain will be a little more intense. Some things I did in the hospital to deal with the pain was put ice on my butt, I bit down on a washcloth to decrease the tension that I would put into my butt area and to transfer the tension to my jaw biting into the cloth. They did give me percoset, but honestly it didn't help me a bit. I still felt the pain until I was able to fall asleep. The lady next to me said that the percoset made her feel that the ceiling was the floor and the floor was the ceiling, so I guess it affects some people differently than others. I also will recommend listening to music right after or watching a movie to distract yourself from the pain. SO that was basically it from the hospital. I couldn't leave the hospital until I could pee though,  which was not easy since I had so many drugs in my system and could  not really push to hard as it was painful and I did not want to upset the area.

Eventually I peed and was able to leave. Then, I took some percoset that night and slept. The next day I felt no pain, as I did not poop at all, and as with before the surgery,  the pain  only comes when  you poop. 

So the day after that I had to go to the bathroom. The first time you go to the bathroom will be very painful, almost more painful than pooping with just the fissure because you are trying to poop through a fissure and a surgery, but that comes with  the territory. I will not hide that I felt like I was going to puke the pain was so bad WHILE pooping. I also recommend listening to music while pooping as this distracts the pain  and gives some motivation  not to be afraid. The reason on put emphasis on the WHILE is beause after the pain is very dull and nothing compared to the throbbing unimaginable  pain of an anal fissure. Within  the next two weeks, I progressively felt myself getting better, and by the 2nd week I went back to the doctor and he gave me the ok that I was all healed up.

I never had any incontinence, although the only thing I still have is that its a bit harder to hold in my farts sometimes, but that is it....As far as the gauze, I only changed it because I would leak sometimes..I ended up just buying adult diapers at the store and used those until I stopped leaking. 

As far as numbing injectino you asked about, the only  thing I was aware of was the anastesia I was on.

As far as food after surgery, I just kept to a well balanced diet. I take metamucil fiber supplement every day since, and I squat on the toilet all the time now. Make sure not to take too much fiber as this can irritate the area.

Hope this was enough information for you, and I really wish you the best of luck with  your surgery next week.....Noone should  have to go thorugh anything like this, but thank god we have means to take care of it with surgery....

Also, this is another post i put that explains some things that you might want to try in addition to the surgery....

I first want to say how sorry I am, and how much we al are that you have to go thorugh this. We have all been through the same type of pain, and can sympathise with your situation. A lot of the problem with an anal fissure is its not jsut a physical problem, but a mental problem as well. Thinking it is getting better and then to be in writihing pain the next day to through your hopes down the drain ruins your day and your hope of getting better. However, since we have all been there, we can probably agree that despite all of the downfalls that can occur, you will get better given time, rest, and proper treatment. 

Here are some suggestions I have for you to help you through:

1. Try somee zinc oxide in the form of calmoseptine which has menthol to soothe the area down there as well. Calmoseptine can be bought at almost any local drugstore and can be bought online too.

2. Try squatting when going on the toilet instead of sitting. This is a much  helathier position and the poop sometimes will just slide out,  no pushing or straining involved.

3. I would definately take a fiber supplement, specifically metamucil  is what I take evveryday,  in ordr to allow your stools to be soft and to allow them to pass thorugh easily. THis being said, with any fiber supplemetn, you must drink lots of water when using them, or they will not work veffectively. Also, do not take too much as too much fiber can irritate your bowels on the way  out and diarreah actually does worse down there.

5. I would recommend getting a sphicteronomy surgery if htings dont get better. I waited it out, gave up, had the surgery, and was able to heal within about two weeks. I had a chronic fissure, so I knew where you are ocming from with v all the pain and discomfort.

Try listening to music to distract your mind a bit, especially when going to the bathroom. If you are in writing pain, distract yourself with a movie or TV show right after. Also, to prevent myself from screaming and from putting more stress in the area down  there, i bit down on a washcloth in order to make the tensions with my teeth instead of my sphicter muscle.

Goof luck Elizabeth!

Hope Everything goes Well!

Best,

Myles

Thank you for caring!  I appreciate the support on this forum so very much.  

No Problem. Hate seeing people suffering from this horrible thing.