Post by pilonidalstories.com on Aug 28, 2017 12:38:10 GMT
“WARNING: my story seems long but should take 5-10 minutes to read through but I have tried to make it as detailed as possible and hopefully it will be insightful for people needing to know about Pilonidal’s. I also have a few questions at the end so if anyone can answer these for me that would be great.
The Beginning: On day 1 It started with an aching and sore feeling in the centre just above “the clavical cheeks” I thought I had pain in the area because I tend to hit speed humps hard when riding my motorbike, I believed I had either fractured or broken my Coccyx, as the days went on the pain got worse and the area started to have a lump which was hard when I touched it so my mum took me to A&E Hospital to be checked out, the doctor I had was not compassionate at all, she took a brief look at the area and pressed down on the lump as hard as she could (It took everything I had not to scream in pain) so she just told me to go home as I must have just fallen on my bum and lump was a bump that would go down, on the way out we spoke to my aunt (a receptionist at the hospital) and she told me that it could be a pilonidal as she has had 2 cases in the past. By day 4 I had terrible pain standing and sitting down the only way I could be comfortable was to lay on my side on the sofa or my bed, working part time as a waiter at the time I was on my feet 6 hours a day and taking paracetamol every 3 hours and applying deep heat cream on the lump. I was waking up at in the middle of the night every night for the next 3 nights and by day 7 I had woken up in such bad pain I had to have my mum drive me back to the same hospital at 02:00 o’clock in the morning.
Hospital, Burst and Surgery: After an hour of waiting to be seen by someone I was taken into a room and the trainee nurse looked at the area and told my mum that I would be staying in the hospital for surgery (I had no idea what was actually happening). The same nurse attached a needle/IV to my hand for the drip later, I was left alone in a dark room to get some sleep as the surgeon wasn’t in the hospital at that time, I was in too much pain to sleep and I had no phone battery so I was just starring at the ceiling for three hours worried that I wouldn’t be able to travel abroad with my friends in 3 weeks time. I suddenly felt a weird feeling on the pilonidal so I went to adjust my underwear thinking the label was irritating it and I realised my boxers were wet! I went to the toilets to check it and I realised my pilonidal had burst! The smell was disgusting and in the mirror I could see that there was pus coming from the lump, I got plenty of toilet paper and started to push down on the lump to get rid of the pus, there was a lot! Once I was confident that most of it was gone I went back to the hospital bed and a few minutes later I was greeted by my sister! – She had coincidentally woken up in the night and asked me mum where I was as my mum was pulling up in the driveway. My sister was told that I was going to be a few hours. Three nurses rolled me on the bed to the operating theatre (I still wasn’t completely sure what was happening) and they told me that they were going to put me under anaesthesia for the operation, they told me to count down from 100 and I was out by the time I said 97.
After Surgery: I didn’t even realise I had been put out, I asked the nurse next to me how long the surgery would take and she smiled and said it was already done; that’s when I realised I was in a completely different room, the nurse told me to sit up for 15 minutes and asked me what sandwich I wanted to eat, after I had my sandwich the surgeon visited me to tell me that he had completely removed the abscess and that the recovery time would be between 6 months to a year. After I had been monitored for an hour I was wheeled out to the out-patients section and was given my medication, my doctor’s note signing me off from work for 3 weeks and taken home by my sister. I was so happy to be able to sit down without any pain again. As the pain killers started to where off I noticed that I was sitting on something strange, I checked and found that I had a blue sponge thing taped to the area and it was completely soaked with blood, I had to just ignore it until I saw the nurse tomorrow.
Recovery: For the next 3 weeks after surgery I went to the nearby hospital daily to have the packing bandages changed I was completely free of pain so I was able to drive! The first 3 days of having the packing replaced was more painful that the actual pilonidal itself but luckily only lasted for 2 minutes each time (and I had forgotten to take paracetamol before going). The nurse taught me how to change my own packaging as I refused to miss my 3 week trip abroad. I went on my trip and changed my packing twice a day (It was hard – it involved a lot of twisting and mirrors). By the time I got back I was confident I could do everything myself but 2 months later I had to go back to the doctor because it was hurting again – turns out my own care wasn’t as great as I thought it was because the wound had become infected, I started a new office job and I actually never went back to the hospital for bandage changes as I didn’t have the time but by 6 months after the surgery the wound had become so small I just covered it with a Savolon bandage and after a year the wound was completely closed (but with a little discoloration on the scar).
2 Years after the Surgery: It has almost been two years since my surgery but I still get an annoying pain (between 1-lowest to 10-highest I would say 2) directly in the area, it usually goes away by itself after a few days but it happens every couple of weeks. I am honestly terrified of having another pilonidal again and have even had a few nightmares of it.
If you know the answers to some of my questions below please answer them, it would be greatly appreciated.
When I exercise I tend to sweat from the scar – is this common with scars?
If the pilonidal does come back will they open the same scar of do they have to find another way?
Since this pilonidal I also have a small case of Hidradenitis Suppurativa – could this be linked to pilonidal?
Does anyone else have small pains or days of discomfort in the healed area – I get worried that it might somehow be opening up again!
Thanks for reading and I hope this is useful for anyone needing to know more on the subject.”
The Beginning: On day 1 It started with an aching and sore feeling in the centre just above “the clavical cheeks” I thought I had pain in the area because I tend to hit speed humps hard when riding my motorbike, I believed I had either fractured or broken my Coccyx, as the days went on the pain got worse and the area started to have a lump which was hard when I touched it so my mum took me to A&E Hospital to be checked out, the doctor I had was not compassionate at all, she took a brief look at the area and pressed down on the lump as hard as she could (It took everything I had not to scream in pain) so she just told me to go home as I must have just fallen on my bum and lump was a bump that would go down, on the way out we spoke to my aunt (a receptionist at the hospital) and she told me that it could be a pilonidal as she has had 2 cases in the past. By day 4 I had terrible pain standing and sitting down the only way I could be comfortable was to lay on my side on the sofa or my bed, working part time as a waiter at the time I was on my feet 6 hours a day and taking paracetamol every 3 hours and applying deep heat cream on the lump. I was waking up at in the middle of the night every night for the next 3 nights and by day 7 I had woken up in such bad pain I had to have my mum drive me back to the same hospital at 02:00 o’clock in the morning.
Hospital, Burst and Surgery: After an hour of waiting to be seen by someone I was taken into a room and the trainee nurse looked at the area and told my mum that I would be staying in the hospital for surgery (I had no idea what was actually happening). The same nurse attached a needle/IV to my hand for the drip later, I was left alone in a dark room to get some sleep as the surgeon wasn’t in the hospital at that time, I was in too much pain to sleep and I had no phone battery so I was just starring at the ceiling for three hours worried that I wouldn’t be able to travel abroad with my friends in 3 weeks time. I suddenly felt a weird feeling on the pilonidal so I went to adjust my underwear thinking the label was irritating it and I realised my boxers were wet! I went to the toilets to check it and I realised my pilonidal had burst! The smell was disgusting and in the mirror I could see that there was pus coming from the lump, I got plenty of toilet paper and started to push down on the lump to get rid of the pus, there was a lot! Once I was confident that most of it was gone I went back to the hospital bed and a few minutes later I was greeted by my sister! – She had coincidentally woken up in the night and asked me mum where I was as my mum was pulling up in the driveway. My sister was told that I was going to be a few hours. Three nurses rolled me on the bed to the operating theatre (I still wasn’t completely sure what was happening) and they told me that they were going to put me under anaesthesia for the operation, they told me to count down from 100 and I was out by the time I said 97.
After Surgery: I didn’t even realise I had been put out, I asked the nurse next to me how long the surgery would take and she smiled and said it was already done; that’s when I realised I was in a completely different room, the nurse told me to sit up for 15 minutes and asked me what sandwich I wanted to eat, after I had my sandwich the surgeon visited me to tell me that he had completely removed the abscess and that the recovery time would be between 6 months to a year. After I had been monitored for an hour I was wheeled out to the out-patients section and was given my medication, my doctor’s note signing me off from work for 3 weeks and taken home by my sister. I was so happy to be able to sit down without any pain again. As the pain killers started to where off I noticed that I was sitting on something strange, I checked and found that I had a blue sponge thing taped to the area and it was completely soaked with blood, I had to just ignore it until I saw the nurse tomorrow.
Recovery: For the next 3 weeks after surgery I went to the nearby hospital daily to have the packing bandages changed I was completely free of pain so I was able to drive! The first 3 days of having the packing replaced was more painful that the actual pilonidal itself but luckily only lasted for 2 minutes each time (and I had forgotten to take paracetamol before going). The nurse taught me how to change my own packaging as I refused to miss my 3 week trip abroad. I went on my trip and changed my packing twice a day (It was hard – it involved a lot of twisting and mirrors). By the time I got back I was confident I could do everything myself but 2 months later I had to go back to the doctor because it was hurting again – turns out my own care wasn’t as great as I thought it was because the wound had become infected, I started a new office job and I actually never went back to the hospital for bandage changes as I didn’t have the time but by 6 months after the surgery the wound had become so small I just covered it with a Savolon bandage and after a year the wound was completely closed (but with a little discoloration on the scar).
2 Years after the Surgery: It has almost been two years since my surgery but I still get an annoying pain (between 1-lowest to 10-highest I would say 2) directly in the area, it usually goes away by itself after a few days but it happens every couple of weeks. I am honestly terrified of having another pilonidal again and have even had a few nightmares of it.
If you know the answers to some of my questions below please answer them, it would be greatly appreciated.
When I exercise I tend to sweat from the scar – is this common with scars?
If the pilonidal does come back will they open the same scar of do they have to find another way?
Since this pilonidal I also have a small case of Hidradenitis Suppurativa – could this be linked to pilonidal?
Does anyone else have small pains or days of discomfort in the healed area – I get worried that it might somehow be opening up again!
Thanks for reading and I hope this is useful for anyone needing to know more on the subject.”