Post by pilonidalstories.com on Sept 4, 2017 7:30:50 GMT
My Pilonidal Journey
Ah, the bliss of being ignorant. As a young 17 year old female, my first occurrence with a pilonidal abscess came pretty rough. I had previously had some discharge coming from that region while in high school but since it was so mild, i did not think much of it and blamed it on sleeping with thongs. Little did i know that this would be the start of a long treacherous adventure. I should have paid more attention to my body, instead i ignored it until one day,at 17 (as i was saying),I felt an immense pain right around the area of my tailbone in between by butt cheeks. I could feel what seemed like a swollen vein which was painful to the touch,and increased in pain every single day until i could no longer poop, sit, sleep, walk, or literally do almost any form of movement. I felt feverish, cold sweats, extremely irritable, agony, and embarrassment. I was embarrassed of the location of it and not knowing what it was. When it became too much to bear, I took the painful streetcar ride to the hospital. As i explained my situation to the nurse at E.R Registry, she looked at me compassionately and told me she thinks she knows what it was. Since i was only a few months shy of 18, she sent me to pediatrics so i could be looked after more quickly. After what felt like ages (probably only minutes), my name was called and the doctor led me into the room. I pulled down my pants and lied on the table, preparing for the worst. "Ahh," the doctor said, "Its already popped." Before I could react he roughly wiped the area and pushed out all the pus. Not paying any remorse to my shouts of pain. "See this? Smell it? This came from inside you." I did not know if he was mocking me or trying to prove a point. Admittedly i felt relief almost instantly and pretty much chased him out of the room as he hurriedly walked away. "what is it?" I asked. "An abscess." he said matter of factly in an attempt to shoo me away. "Well how did i get it and what should i do?" "take epsom salt baths because it will keep coming back." With that he sent me off leaving me with more questions then when i went in. Being naive, young and not even knowing what Epsom salt was, I embraced the next pain free years with open arms and almost forgot about the horror i had went through.
On and off the abscess would fill but discharge on its own with little or no pain. I would stuff my butt with tissue and keep this little embarrassing secret to myself. Twice it had come back painfully, but since the doctor seemed so nonchalant i would tough out the pain and pop it somehow myself. This brings me to my most recent encounter five years later at the age of 22. It came back, and it came back hard. By now i thought i was a pro at dealing with these so called "abscesses" and ignoring the little holes in the butt line, but somehow this was just too much to bear. I did my research with the all powerful Google, and informed myself about everything i possibly could. This time the abscess would not pop when i attempted to do so, and it was bigger then ever before. I was on the verge of fainting every few steps i took and could barely walk to the walk-in clinic. By now i was almost totally sure i knew what was wrong and my boyfriend forced me to the e.r. I told the nurse i believed myself to have a pilonidal abscess and explained my symptoms as well as rated my pain a 15 out of 10.
After much waiting my name was called and i saw the next nurse. She looked at it, then looked at me with what seemed to be pity on her face and sighed. "You need to see the specialist for this one, it is really big." She told me. Minutes later my name was called once again and this time the doctor was much more helpful. I told him what i thought i had and he said i was absolutely right followed by, "I am sorry to say but you will need to have emergency surgery. The nurse will call your name any second and prep you up for the anesthesiologist." He answered all my questions and assured me that this was not my fault, there is nothing i could have done to prevent it and thongs are not the reason why i got this. I woke from surgery, was told to take 1 week off work, and sent home. I was signed up for nursing care at the closest wound clinic near by and spent the next month and a bit receiving packing and cleaning of my wound. Might i say i found the first few days of this absolutely dreadful and was wondering if it would ever get better. Luckily it did. The packing became almost painless and i was only taking the pain meds for about a week and only before i headed down to the clinic. The doctor who performed the surgery had recommended me to a surgeon who specialized in what i had telling me i would without a doubt need surgery to cure this problem. After meeting with this surgeon he explained the procedure and told me i would be getting marsupialization done. He and his staff were extremely sincere and helpful and came with excellent reviews that i had checked online. With virtually no pain in my buttocks region and only a slight discharge from the abscess tunnel, i went into surgery with high hopes. I had done my research, i bought protein shakes, zinc pills, ate extremely healthy, purchased a wide variety of pure fruit and vegetable smoothies packed with vitamins and minerals needed to help my wound cure faster, and this time took 10 days off work.
As i awoke from surgery, i immediately felt pain. I called to the nurse to turn me onto my side because lying on it was causing more pain. She then gave me morphine and two percocets and when it finally kicked in i felt much better. I was walking around with my iv bag, making jokes, and drinking plenty of water and tea and juice so i could pee and get the hell out of there. wow i remember thinking, this isn't so bad after all. I should have known.. It started when i was in the pharmacy picking up my medication. Out of nowhere, i felt chills, nausea and everything started going black. I was on the verge of passing out. My friend ushered me into the washroom, and after splashing my face and my back with cold water i felt a bit better. I arrived at home, and within a few hours the pain started to kick in. I tried toughing it out as much as i could until everyone left. That was when i broke down. I could not leave the bed or move into any position besides my stomach. After a restless sleep i awoke crying in pain and feeling terrible. There is no way i would be able to take the streetcar for 45 minutes to make it to the clinic for my dressing change.i called the clinic and after hearing me choke back tears they sent me to the head office where the kind lady on the phone told me not to worry she would send me a nurse. The nurse came and was astonished that they even wanted me to travel after this surgery in the first place. She told me that they consider people young and healthy to be "mobile", not understanding that they could be young, healthy and unable to even sit a all. To my amazement the dressing change did not hurt one bit. I barely felt a thing and told my nurse i thought she had magical fingers of wonder. How could abscess packing hurt so excruciatingly and yet with this packing i could barely feel a thing? When this pain was constant and brutal nonstop all day all night? She informed me how a cavity wound and a tunnel wound are very different and it is easier to make packing more tolerable the bigger the wound is. She ordered me supplies and told me she did not think i would be ready to go to the clinic the following week either.
As the next few days sloooooooooooowly passed, i do not think i have ever felt like such a dependent wuss in my life. I can generally tolerate pain pretty well, and hate having people take care of me day and night, but this was something else. I would literally wake up every hour or two on the hour, yelling, screaming, cursing, bawling hysterically,punching walls and rocking myself in pain. My poor neighbours must have thought i was possessed. Neither my boyfriend or my pet dog and cat had much sleep either thanks to me. Luckily my boyfriend was very patient and anxious to make me feel better.4 days into recovery and still no difference. My nurse informs me that she made an appointment for a wound specialist (a lady with an advanced degree in wound care, not too sure what the fancy name for her is?) to come see me on my seventh day to look it over. I am very grateful for that considering it is almost impossible to set up a meeting with her. Worried, i asked what was wrong. Absolutely nothing the nurse tells me, my wound looks amazing as far as wounds go and there is no sign of infection. she is just doing me the favor so i can get the best treatment possible. Yes, i am lucky to have her
i must also add that i did not take my first poop until 3 days after surgery, that being four days in total since i did not have a bowel movement since the day before my surgery.
I am almost on my fifth day of recovery and am looking for any advice and tips on how to deal with this night time misery. I will update next week with news on how it is going for any one else dealing with this same situation. Thank you for reading and good luck in your recovery and/or journey. I do not expect to help anyone with this but at least relate to someone, and know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Ah, the bliss of being ignorant. As a young 17 year old female, my first occurrence with a pilonidal abscess came pretty rough. I had previously had some discharge coming from that region while in high school but since it was so mild, i did not think much of it and blamed it on sleeping with thongs. Little did i know that this would be the start of a long treacherous adventure. I should have paid more attention to my body, instead i ignored it until one day,at 17 (as i was saying),I felt an immense pain right around the area of my tailbone in between by butt cheeks. I could feel what seemed like a swollen vein which was painful to the touch,and increased in pain every single day until i could no longer poop, sit, sleep, walk, or literally do almost any form of movement. I felt feverish, cold sweats, extremely irritable, agony, and embarrassment. I was embarrassed of the location of it and not knowing what it was. When it became too much to bear, I took the painful streetcar ride to the hospital. As i explained my situation to the nurse at E.R Registry, she looked at me compassionately and told me she thinks she knows what it was. Since i was only a few months shy of 18, she sent me to pediatrics so i could be looked after more quickly. After what felt like ages (probably only minutes), my name was called and the doctor led me into the room. I pulled down my pants and lied on the table, preparing for the worst. "Ahh," the doctor said, "Its already popped." Before I could react he roughly wiped the area and pushed out all the pus. Not paying any remorse to my shouts of pain. "See this? Smell it? This came from inside you." I did not know if he was mocking me or trying to prove a point. Admittedly i felt relief almost instantly and pretty much chased him out of the room as he hurriedly walked away. "what is it?" I asked. "An abscess." he said matter of factly in an attempt to shoo me away. "Well how did i get it and what should i do?" "take epsom salt baths because it will keep coming back." With that he sent me off leaving me with more questions then when i went in. Being naive, young and not even knowing what Epsom salt was, I embraced the next pain free years with open arms and almost forgot about the horror i had went through.
On and off the abscess would fill but discharge on its own with little or no pain. I would stuff my butt with tissue and keep this little embarrassing secret to myself. Twice it had come back painfully, but since the doctor seemed so nonchalant i would tough out the pain and pop it somehow myself. This brings me to my most recent encounter five years later at the age of 22. It came back, and it came back hard. By now i thought i was a pro at dealing with these so called "abscesses" and ignoring the little holes in the butt line, but somehow this was just too much to bear. I did my research with the all powerful Google, and informed myself about everything i possibly could. This time the abscess would not pop when i attempted to do so, and it was bigger then ever before. I was on the verge of fainting every few steps i took and could barely walk to the walk-in clinic. By now i was almost totally sure i knew what was wrong and my boyfriend forced me to the e.r. I told the nurse i believed myself to have a pilonidal abscess and explained my symptoms as well as rated my pain a 15 out of 10.
After much waiting my name was called and i saw the next nurse. She looked at it, then looked at me with what seemed to be pity on her face and sighed. "You need to see the specialist for this one, it is really big." She told me. Minutes later my name was called once again and this time the doctor was much more helpful. I told him what i thought i had and he said i was absolutely right followed by, "I am sorry to say but you will need to have emergency surgery. The nurse will call your name any second and prep you up for the anesthesiologist." He answered all my questions and assured me that this was not my fault, there is nothing i could have done to prevent it and thongs are not the reason why i got this. I woke from surgery, was told to take 1 week off work, and sent home. I was signed up for nursing care at the closest wound clinic near by and spent the next month and a bit receiving packing and cleaning of my wound. Might i say i found the first few days of this absolutely dreadful and was wondering if it would ever get better. Luckily it did. The packing became almost painless and i was only taking the pain meds for about a week and only before i headed down to the clinic. The doctor who performed the surgery had recommended me to a surgeon who specialized in what i had telling me i would without a doubt need surgery to cure this problem. After meeting with this surgeon he explained the procedure and told me i would be getting marsupialization done. He and his staff were extremely sincere and helpful and came with excellent reviews that i had checked online. With virtually no pain in my buttocks region and only a slight discharge from the abscess tunnel, i went into surgery with high hopes. I had done my research, i bought protein shakes, zinc pills, ate extremely healthy, purchased a wide variety of pure fruit and vegetable smoothies packed with vitamins and minerals needed to help my wound cure faster, and this time took 10 days off work.
As i awoke from surgery, i immediately felt pain. I called to the nurse to turn me onto my side because lying on it was causing more pain. She then gave me morphine and two percocets and when it finally kicked in i felt much better. I was walking around with my iv bag, making jokes, and drinking plenty of water and tea and juice so i could pee and get the hell out of there. wow i remember thinking, this isn't so bad after all. I should have known.. It started when i was in the pharmacy picking up my medication. Out of nowhere, i felt chills, nausea and everything started going black. I was on the verge of passing out. My friend ushered me into the washroom, and after splashing my face and my back with cold water i felt a bit better. I arrived at home, and within a few hours the pain started to kick in. I tried toughing it out as much as i could until everyone left. That was when i broke down. I could not leave the bed or move into any position besides my stomach. After a restless sleep i awoke crying in pain and feeling terrible. There is no way i would be able to take the streetcar for 45 minutes to make it to the clinic for my dressing change.i called the clinic and after hearing me choke back tears they sent me to the head office where the kind lady on the phone told me not to worry she would send me a nurse. The nurse came and was astonished that they even wanted me to travel after this surgery in the first place. She told me that they consider people young and healthy to be "mobile", not understanding that they could be young, healthy and unable to even sit a all. To my amazement the dressing change did not hurt one bit. I barely felt a thing and told my nurse i thought she had magical fingers of wonder. How could abscess packing hurt so excruciatingly and yet with this packing i could barely feel a thing? When this pain was constant and brutal nonstop all day all night? She informed me how a cavity wound and a tunnel wound are very different and it is easier to make packing more tolerable the bigger the wound is. She ordered me supplies and told me she did not think i would be ready to go to the clinic the following week either.
As the next few days sloooooooooooowly passed, i do not think i have ever felt like such a dependent wuss in my life. I can generally tolerate pain pretty well, and hate having people take care of me day and night, but this was something else. I would literally wake up every hour or two on the hour, yelling, screaming, cursing, bawling hysterically,punching walls and rocking myself in pain. My poor neighbours must have thought i was possessed. Neither my boyfriend or my pet dog and cat had much sleep either thanks to me. Luckily my boyfriend was very patient and anxious to make me feel better.4 days into recovery and still no difference. My nurse informs me that she made an appointment for a wound specialist (a lady with an advanced degree in wound care, not too sure what the fancy name for her is?) to come see me on my seventh day to look it over. I am very grateful for that considering it is almost impossible to set up a meeting with her. Worried, i asked what was wrong. Absolutely nothing the nurse tells me, my wound looks amazing as far as wounds go and there is no sign of infection. she is just doing me the favor so i can get the best treatment possible. Yes, i am lucky to have her
i must also add that i did not take my first poop until 3 days after surgery, that being four days in total since i did not have a bowel movement since the day before my surgery.I am almost on my fifth day of recovery and am looking for any advice and tips on how to deal with this night time misery. I will update next week with news on how it is going for any one else dealing with this same situation. Thank you for reading and good luck in your recovery and/or journey. I do not expect to help anyone with this but at least relate to someone, and know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!