Personal Stores Archive #10

Personal Stores Archive #10

Stories from Aug 1, 2002 to Sept 30, 2002

Date:: September 20, 2002

Story

September 13,2002 -- A day in my life that I will never forget. I decided to go ahead with the surgery removing my pilonidal cyst and of course, what better day then Friday the 13th!! (Just kidding because it was not purposely scheduled for that date for any reason.) First, let me begin my story which dates back four years ago when this small hard-like ball just appeared at the top of my butt crack on the right side. It was just a little tender and then got progressively worse. After my family physician looked at the site, she gave me a round of Keflex to take, which took care of this problem in a couple of days. I did not feel anything again until almost two years later when it came back in the exact same spot and again the Keflex made it disappear. A Another year and a half later in May 2002,I felt the bump come up again on a Friday and it was just a little tender when I would sit down. Assuming my "cyst" had returned once again, I decided I would go ahead and start some antibiotics. It was rather late on Friday when the tenderness began, so I assumed that it would be alright to begin my antibiotics on Monday. Unfortunately, my "assuming" lead to a very different plan that I was not prepared for because by Monday it was all I could do to get into a car, sit down at the table, go to the bathroom, etc., without feeling more pain than I had dealt with in the past. By Tuesday, I was scrawling my eyes out on the way to work just with driving and especially if I even hit the smallest bump in the road. Being as I work for several physicians, I had one take a look at it. He came to the conclusion that it was an abcessed pilonidal cyst and sent me immediately to a surgeon for consult. I could not stop crying because I was in such pain, but the worst was yet to come. I arrived at the general surgeon's office within 15 minutes and she lanced my cyst stating that it was the size of a golf ball. I was supposed to pack the wound twice a day after showering. I was so upset that I did not realize the doctor had told me to soak the gauze before dressing the wound, so picture if you will, me lying across the bed with a washcloth in my mouth and holding on to the bedpost for my husband to attempt to change my dressing with dry gauze. After this horrible pain, two days later, it was infected, so the doctor had to put a draining tube in the wound, which in my opinion was a breeze compared to stuffing dry gauze to someone's meat!! I finally healed over that situation just to have yet another one return on August 31. This time, I did not waste a minute. I started antibiotics and quickly went back to my surgeon's office for yet another lancing of the cyst. This time I did not have to deal with the packaging of the wound because I was scheduled for excision of the cyst for the following week. The surgery went really smooth. I chose to get the full anesthesia with the two tubes down my throat breathing for me instead of the spinal. The surgery itself did not take but 30-45 minutes. I had been cut all of the way to my coccyx bone and it was as big as a tennis ball. Believe it or not, I was feeling pretty good with no pain with the packaging or anything. The home health nurses came out to my home to teach my husband and mother how to dress the wound and so forth. Unfortunately, there are some nurses out that who make you wonder how they ever became a nurse. The nurse I had the last day of the home health services wanted to show up two hours past the time she was supposed to have been here, but my husband had already packed me. I had already taken my pain medication assuming she would be close to being on time instead of a couple of hours late. When she came out for the evening dressing (the first time she was my nurse), she kept asking my husband and mother questions about dressing the wound and she was also going by some piece of paper with steps on how to do it. I am sure you realize that by this time I am getting pretty nervous, but I thought or was hoping she was kidding until she jabbed the Q-Tip into my wound and it started to bleed excessively. So, approximately 3:00 a.m. I was awakened by the severe pain that I was having. I ended up passing out almost twice. I went to see the surgeon the next morning who informed me that the nurse had tore some tissue in my wound and then I had to have it cauterized with Silver Nitrate, which burns really bad. Other than that pain, which has not eased up alot, but some. I have no regrets of going through with the surgery. Eight weeks is a lot of packing, but I have purchased some books to read, movies to watch, and my family keeps a check on me, so I am keeping myself occupied. I would much rather have a total of eight weeks of inconvenience with some pain (which does not seem as bad as with packing the infected cyst)than worrying about when it might pop up next, Christmas? Thanksgiving? or like mine did, Vacation? Please understand everything is completely your choice and no one else's, but my personal opinion is to get put to sleep rather than having a spinal because if you sit up within four hours of the surgery you will have a very, very bad headache and who needs that when the other end is already going to be throbbing. I would also suggest keeping the wound open and trust me, I cannot handle pain at all, but it has only a 5-10% chance of returning with open packing versus closed wound with 20-30% possibility it will return and plus if the wound gets another pocket in it, you are going to have to open pack it anyway. I hope this LONG LONG experience has helped at least one person do what is best for them. Thanks to those who made this website possible. I am so blessed. Rachel

Date:: September 19, 2002

Story

Hi, I'm an 18 year old male. Six days ago I felt a small pain on my buttcrack. By the second day I couldn't sit or stand, everyday was getting progressively worse. Two days ago I went to the doctor, and he set me up an appointment that day with a surgeon. As soon as I showed the surgeon, he said "that's going to have to come out". I asked when, and he said "today" haha kind of suprising to me. Anyways I had the surgery and they gave me an epidural. All I remember is this needle going into my back but it didn't even hurt. I sat talking in the recovery room after I woke up to one of the nurses for about 90 minutes. I asked her when surgery was going to start, haha she told me it was already done. I was so drugged up I didn't even know it had happened. The next day they showed my mom how to pack the wound, that was probably the most pain of the whole event. But it honestly wasn't too bad. Long story short, this surgery experience was very pleasant. I just hope that I recover ok and the infection doesn't come back.

Date:: September 18, 2002

Story

Praise Jesus! After 10 years of putting up with pain and oooozzing, I finally got rid of my cyst today! At 9:30 this morning at the VA Medical Center, I had that son of a #!*$ cut out! Now I just have to pray it doesn't come back like it does in most cases. I have never had any kind of medical problem that has given me so much hell as a Polynidal Cyst! The first time it reared it's ugly head I didn't know what it was. I thought, "Oh God, there's something growing out of my ass!" It wasn't that big to start with but it felt like a grapefruit! I couldn't even touch it with my finger because there was so much pressure inside it, it hurt like nothing I had ever experienced. It was right at the top of my crack of all places! Not that there's a good place for one of these but if I could pick from between having one on my forehead or in the crack of my ass, I'd take it on the forehead! At least there I wouldn't have to sit on it! When it would swell up I couldn't do a damn thing. I couldn't sit, stretch, bend over to put on my shoes. If I sneezed I'd almost start to cry! I've had this thing lanced so many times that it started popping on it's own and it just never would heal anymore. You talk about make a mess in your "Tidy-Whities". And the smell! Like a small rodent died down there! The doctor told me after I woke up that it was the size of a chicken egg! My heart goes out to any person who carries one of these bastards around every day. After 10 years, I have had enough. If it comes back I'm going to have the doctor remove my entire ass! I don't want another one. If you do have one of these go ahead and get it removed. The surgery is not bad at all and is worth it. If it comes back, maybe it won't be as bad. I just couldn't deal with it anymore. It was getting bigger every year I had it. Now I have a large divit back there but oh well! It's gone for now and hopefully forever! I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my ass hairless from now on! Good luck to you all!

Date:: September 14, 2002

Story

Hey Y'all!!! Well I have finally got the surgery seven days ago and let me tell you get the surgery. Don't wait a minute longer, don't live with this cyst because it will win without a doubt. I'm a 31 year old male and two years ago I had my cyst drained. One month ago I had another flare up and was given Keflex and was told told make a date for surgery. My doctor was very straight forward, he said you take care of it now or live with the reprecussions in the future. He said you'll have one week of real bad pain and then you'll be ok. I had the surgery Sept. 6, it was a Horizontal incision about 4 inches long all nicely stiched up, that wasn't the problem, the problem was the "packing". The packing was about 4 tampons stiched together and then stiched into my butt cheecks as hard as possible. I had a nightmare that the person putting the packing in my ass put his foot on my ass to get the most pressure on the stiches. By Wednesday that packing was killing me. Use the pain meds they help a lot. Tonight I am in Utopia, no pain only the healing of the scars. Get the surgey done, don't suffer, one week of suffering from the surgery and then you'll be fine. Thanks to this site for making me get the surgery. Peace y'all.

Date:: September 10, 2002

Story

I am a 27 year old female. I noticed a soar tailbone a few months ago which only lasted a few days. Then two weeks ago it started again. Within 2 days it became extremely painful. I saw my primary doctor immediately and he diagnosed me with a pilonidal cyst & put me on Keflex 500 and gave me Tylenol #3 for pain. I missed work the next two days and was completely immobilized. It was then Labor Day Weekend - so on Saturday I had to be taken to the ER and they said it was not close enough to the surface to drain but to come back on Monday to the ER. They changed my antibiotic to Augmentin 875 and gave me an even stronger pain pill (Lorcet). I never got out of bed until Monday and when I went to the ER then drained it (they said at least a few ounces of fluid came out). It was terrible pain - but quick - and I was soar but at least the pressure was gone. I missed that whole next week of work and saw a general surgeon twice during that week to confirm the infection was healing. He said it is looking better and I need to see him in a month to make sure it is completely healed and then we will set up surgery. I am so nervous and reading these stories don't help much. I am a legal assistant and I sit all day. I just used the rest of my sick and vacation days for the year. It is going to be terrible. The surgeon said that I would miss at least a week of work. I don't know what I am supposed to do. And from hearing other stories - I seems like it could be more time than a week. I will only say that I cannot believe the pain that such a thing can cause. Reading some of these stories I don't feel so bad. The only thing I kept telling people is that I cannot walk, sit, sleep, sneeze, go to the bathroom, or anything without screaming or being in severe pain. And to top it all off - for the girls - I got a terrible yeast infection from the strong antibiotics and I can't even really treat it until I am off the antibiotics. I hope it all works out.

Date:: September 10, 2002

Story

Hey Hey, tis me again.. Im the guy who had his surgery on june 3. Well its been several months and i have not had any problems at all. My rear is a little funny shaped because of scar tissue, but my doc says it will go away in a year or so. There is no pain, and best of all, NO CYST. Just to let you know a)get the surgery, dont wait, and b) when they give you sodium pentathol for the stress, life is GOOD

Date:: September 07, 2002

Story

Wow, I had no idea this was such a popular problem. Mine is an old experience, but I'd like to add my story, too. I'm a female, age 39. I was in a car accident when I was 18, and within a few weeks I noticed the pain at the base of my spine. I couldn't sit normally in a chair--only to one side or the other. Fortunately, my doctor diagnosed the problem very quickly, and he surgically removed the whole cyst. There was no talk at all about lancing or draining. I was groggily awake during the surgery, and the doctor even let me see the cyst after it was removed. Just looked like a hunk of skin floating in alcohol. Nothing impressive. My doctor said that perhaps the accident had caused the inflamation of the cyst. (I don't know if I had one prior to the accident, or if the accident caused one to develop.) For a few days following surgery I had a drain attached to my incision, and then the incision was closed with more stitches. Staples (!!) held the outer skin closed so the inner stitches wouldn't pull apart. I was uncomfortable for a few weeks, and I have some scarring, but the wonderful thing is...I haven't had any more trouble with the area at all! I'm so glad my doctor knew what he was doing, and I'm glad to know I'm not alone in my experience of this wierd problem! In my circles, no one has ever heard of a Pilonidal Cyst. May God grant to each of you knowledgeable and skilled doctors, like He did for me. Cathy

Date:: September 04, 2002

Story

Well my story is much like the rest except for the fact that the first time mine bothered me I was in my twenties, I am now 58. So, as you can see I have suffered quite sometime with it. At first I had it lanced and packed about seven or eight times, then it started coming to a head by itself and drained. Then for a few years it didn't bother me at all so I thought "oh great it is gone". Don't be fooled by this, it doesn't just go away and with time it just gets worse. It had been sore for about a week but I thought just one of those things it does and goes away. Alas I went to visit my sister 327 miles away. After I got there (for a three days stay that turned into a seven day stay) it swelled up as big as a hard baseball. Well you all know the pain so I don't have to tell you that part. After the sits bath, hot clothes and so on it came to a head in two places. My sister pressed on it to get the junk out until I cried. But that is when it started getting better. After I got home I made a appointment with my GP, that was on August 13th. I was in the hospital having the surgery on the 30th. It is today the 4th of September. I feel sore of course and am having a time with bending, sitting and etc like everyone does but just knowing I won't have to go though this again is worth it all. I have a incision that goes from the top of my butt crack to about 1/4 of and inch from my rectum. Most are in surgery about 40 mintues or so I was in surgery 1 and 1/2 hours. So you see don't put it off go now as fast as you can. It will never go away it will only get worse. I hope you are all doing well and your pain is easing with each day. Oh and I had no hair in mine either. So good luck to all who haven't had the surgery yet and best wishes for a fast recovery to those who have. Last but not least thanks so much for this web site it is so important for those of us who have this problem to have a place to learn about it and trade experinces.

Date:: September 04, 2002

Story

Hi, My name is Adam and I just found out that I had Pilonidal disease about two weeks ago. I've had it for 5 years. I have had the hole in my skin for a long long time but though nothing of it, then one day I slipped at a waterpark and landed pretty hard right on my tailbone. I was inbetween 10th and 11th grade when that happened. I was not overweight so don't think that you have to be big to get this. The pain that came after my crash landing never really stopped. My skin condition never changed but I always felt a constant irritation. About three years ago is when I started to feel the lump. At first I just disreguarded it and lived with the pain hoping it would go away. By this piont I was to embarassed to go to the doctor and I wouldn't tell anybody about it. I figured if I said to a friend, "Hey I got a lump in my ass crack." that I would thought of as a laughing stock. My flareups started about a year and a half ago. This is probably the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. When I touch it, it moves like liquid down my spine towards my little hole and I feel like I have this bone snake attached to my spine that says, "haha, you cannot sit down." Since my flareups have started, infact since the pain started, I have become very lethargic. I quit all my sports after this came about and I just started to be lazy, always tired. I've gained 60 pounds since this started and now I just don't have the energy to stay awake, play with my kid, make love to my wife. Sometimes I even have to turn down sex because i'm afraid I'll get blood all over the bed. I would have gone to the doctor a long time ago but it seems that everytime I would muster the nerve to go, I would lose my job because I was tardy. I blame that tardiness on restless sleep and a weakened immune system. I hope that the removal of my cyst will be the miracle I have been looking for. I never knew what this was and I have always been scared. As I got older I started to think what if this is cancer? That just made me all the more scared to see a doctor. I'm to young I just had a kid. I just thought if I left it alone it would go away. I was in denial. Anyways my wife has known about this and the other day she told to try to find out on the internet what it is. So I went to Google and typed in Small hole in tailbone. The very first site to come up was Pilonidal.org. The best site I have ever visited and a godsend if there ever was one. Now that I know what it is, I'm still scared but I can more easily deal with it now. I just got a new job and my insurance starts soon so I hope to have this thing removed. I think that five years of suffering is long enough to go through constant pain. It's about time to because my flare-ups come at about every other day. My wife now jokes about how I should do my own laundry she doesn't like to see the discharge on my boxers. Any ways I've talked way to much about this. The reason for that is that I have never told anyone why I sit sideways or no I don't want to drive. So I never received any sympathy and now that I know what it is, for some reason, I want the world to know so I can say look at what I've gone through for the last five years. Anyways wish me luck, I have yet to go to the doctor. If anyone out there has words of encouragement then please e-mail me. I'm scared as hell to go the the doctor, nonetheless the surgeon. Ok i'll shut up now Thanks for all your supportiveness and thanks to the creator of this site.

Adam Arizona

Date:: September 03, 2002

Story

Hello, My name is Oliver and I am 21 years old.. I first noticed the pain and swelling near my tailbone about 2 months ago. I felt discomfort for about a week and then it went away, so I thought I hurt myself working out. But a week later the pain came back 10 times worse and i noticed the blood. I went to the doctor and he gave me some antibiotics and the swelling and pain went away and now there is just some occasional drainage (not a very large amount). My doctor said that as long as the infection stays away it will make the surgey and recovery go alot smoother. I am going to see the surgeon next week to schedule and appointment for surgery. I am totally embarassed by this, but all of your comments are making it easier. I an=m scared shitless about the surgery because it will be my first of any kind. .wish me luck and i will let u know how it goes.....Ollie

Date:: August 19, 2002

Story

Hello im a 15 year-old male. I discovered that I had Pilonidal Cyst about 3 weeks ago. I had it for a long time and didn't know it. There would be times when I sit down it would hurt really bad. I just thought it was from sitting down to much. It would usually go away and it was all gone (or so I thought). Well anyways a couple weeks ago I went Jet Skiing. I had fell in the water too. After Jet Skiing the same pain came up again. But this time it wouldn't go away. (It seems when I was jet skiing and when I fell into the water the salt water flared up the cyst.) The pain went on for a few days. I knew something had to be wrong. Then I decided to check it out. So I looked in the mirror the best way I could and checked it out. I saw "white stuff"(later confirmed "pus") coming out. It scared me half to death. I told my mom and she took me to the doctor. The doctor told us it was Pilonidal Cyst. At the doctor's office that day, the doctor said he would drain the cyst to make the pain go away.(which he did and the pain went away). My doctor had also scheduled an appointment for me with the General Surgeon. The appointment wasn't until a couple of days. But those couple of days the cyst filled back up and it was hurting like hell! Finally the appointment came and the surgeon examined it and said I would need sugery. So he scheduled me in the end of that week.(which was quick)So I had to go though about 2 days of pain. The day before my sugery, the area around the cyst had gotten so swollen it burst. It relieved the pain alot!! Actually there was no pain. Then came the day of the sugery. I didn't choose to have open healing or the close one. The surgeon just told me if the infection was deep it would have to be open wound, it the infection wasn't deep, then he could close it. After the surgery I found out that I had the "open wound" one. At first the packing and unpacking of the wound was PPPPPPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNFFFFFFFUUUUULLLLLLLLL!!!!!! But now its gotten less painful. Right now im still in the process of healing. Since school is coming up, my mom & nurse are worrying if I can sit in class all day. But I dont know, I will have to wait and see. Well thats my story it seemed to me that everything went quick for me compared to everyone elses stories. I just can't wait until this wound closes! Thank you for reading it --AJ

Date:: August 18, 2002

Story

This is from June of 2001 after my surgery: I had surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst two weeks ago tomorrow. I still have a healing open wound, but it is healing very well. I had no choice as the cyst was very painful and hot compresses didn't help. I was very reluctant to get the surgery after reading about all the horror stories on another site, but as ugly as these stories were my surgeon was that positive about the operation. I had immediate pain relief...meaning the pain after the operation was one tenth the pain of the cyst. The remaining open wound is one half what it was two weeks ago. The packing and unpacking process was a bit painful in the beginning, but painless now. I have never sat on a donut and golfed the Saturday following the Tuesday of the operation. I have golfed three other times since. I went to a concert on Friday night and a movies both Saturday and Sunday of this weekend. Slight discomfort, shifting somewhat from cheek to cheek while seated, but overall bearable. Hope all of this helps you decide. Basically, at a certain point you have to get the surgery, and my experience with it has been good. Today it is August 18,2002 and I have no signs of any problems. Feel 100% normal.

Date:: August 17, 2002

Story

Hi, I am a 25 year old male, who just recently had a pilonidal cyst/sinus removed. I first found out about my cyst probably 5 years ago. The doctor that I consulted with then said that as long as it was not causing problems (at the time it was mildly inflamed but not draining or anything) I should not get it removed. That was the last time I went to a doctor about it until December last year. At that point, the cyst was larger, infected, draining fluid. It had grown laterally across my right buttock. In fact, I did not go to the doctor because of the cyst, but because of a painful enflamed area on my right buttock. I thought it was acne or some sort of cyst. It turns out I had a large abscess on my right buttock at the far end of the pilonidal sinus (I confess, I suspected it had to do with my condition, though it was 15 centimeters from the dimple where the cyst was originally diagnosed.) At that point I had to have the abscess opened and a lot of dead and infected tissue removed right there it the practice. That hurt. It hurt a lot. A lot. Ouch... I ended up with an open wound on my right buttock about the size of a quarter. The doctor confirmed my suspicion that the wound on my buttock was related to my cyst, as it was connected to it via a long sinus filled with hair. His recommendation was surgery as soon to have the entire wound removed as soon as possible. Due to my own stubbornness and stress related to my job, I postponed going in to have the entire sinus removed. I told myself, 'I cannot miss work', or tried to convince myself that it was healing and I could have it done later. It was in fact healed (the wound from the abscess, that is, not the entire condition of course) except that the sinus leading to the abscessed region remained open and drained constantly, leading to my investing in considerable quantities of gauze and medical tape. When it was draining a lot during this period (Jan-July) I had to change the wound dressing (basically it was just a giant gauze band-aid to absorb the draining fluids) three times a day at work or more. Ultimately, I think the real reason I did not go back in was fear: I was told that the wound would have to heal open, which meant for me that I was going to have an open incision on my backside from my tailbone to beyond the point of the December abscess, a distance of approximately 15 centimeters. About three weeks ago, I went in finally for the surgery. The doctor said I am very lucky. The wound should have been treated much earlier and my postponing it the extra six months with it infected and with the opening at the lateral end of the sinus could have lead to even more serious problems. The OP was done under a full narcosis and all told lasted not much more than 30 minutes I was told. The wound turned out indeed to be very large, extending from a point just left of my tailbone (on my left buttock) to the region of the abscess, 15 centimeters right of it. In the end, they sewed up the wound however, which I only was told after the OP. Apparently, the surgeon did not feel comfortable leaving my with an open wound of that size after all (as I was being treated out-patient). The wound has healed well up to this point, The stitching between my buttocks did not work out (I think I was moving too much, I am not one to sit still, much less lie on my stomach), so that portion of the wound was indeed reopened and, though large and deep, has been healing well since then. The far end of the incision (where the abscess was) also has a small area which has not healed correctly. The doctor says it should close up still and probably will not have to be operated on again. I was out of work for two weeks all told. Though I still do not have the whole thing behind me (I am chilled by the stories of reoccurring problems I have read here), I am very optimistic and I am certainly excited about the prospects of being able to sit down normally, not having to take medical supplies with me on business trips, and just no longer having to do all the things I had done to hide this condition from everyone. I cannot encourage you enough, if you think you are suffering from this condition, or - even worse - if you know it and are doing nothing about it: get it treated. Chances are, if you have been living with this for a long time, you have long forgotten what having a 'normal' back-end is like: that it is possible to sit comfortably(?!) two hours through a film in the cinema or even get through a day of work without pain and suffering. (okay, work still might be like that, but at least without the cast you can focus on the pain and suffering that you are getting paid for!!!) Regards, --ct

Date:: August 13, 2002

Story

my name is ben, and first off, for the last six months i have been completely disgusted with myself, not knowing at all what was going on with me. i felt guilty and horrible, like i was being punished for something that i did wrong. i tried everything to keep people from finding about about it, which included wearing numerous pairs of underwear to keep liquid from showing up on my pants. i also would run to the bathroom every half hour to clean up disusting junk. tonight i decided that i should just do something about it, so i looked online and eventually found this page. i am happy to say that i just told my girlfriend about it, and tommorow i am going to tell my mother. i hope that everything works out.

Date:: August 05, 2002

Story

August 5th, Hi. I'm a 22 year old man that first had a problem with a pilonidal cyst back in April. I didn't know what it was, and at first I thought I had done something to my tailbone. I left it alone thinking it would go away, but after a couple days, I couldn't move without being in pain. I went to the doctor, and he said I had a pilonidal cyst, and he lanced it right then and there. After a couple months, it came back, and I took some antibiotics, which cleared it up for awhile. It once again came back, so I decided to have the open healing surgery. I'm not through with healing yet, so I can't say whether or not it will come back yet (I'll save that for later) but I can tell you that the process of surgery went very smoothly. Afterwards, I had pain medicine, but I have hardly taken any. I felt little pain whatsoever, and I've been able to move and sit without any major discomfort. The doctor says that it should only take about 4 weeks to heal up and then I should be good to go. So - there is hope!! Of course healing is different for everyone, and the cysts are different sizes, but so far, I am pleased with my decision to get this literal pain in the butt out of my life.

Date:: August 01, 2002

Story

Hi Everybody, I'm a female in my early 20s, I had full excision surgery on Monday (3 days ago), and would like to recommend it to anybody. I had only found out I had the disease a week prior when I went to the doctor for some discomfort, and was sent to a surgeon pretty much straight away. I admit that I spent most of the weekend reading a lot of the horror stories on this site, and was petrified by the time it came for me to leave for the hospital. What I have learnt is that because I had the surgery so quickly, the full extent of my wounds was two tiny holes about the size of 5c pieces. Sure, I had the dreaded packing, but that was taken out the very next day and is required no longer. To be honest, the most painful thing about the surgery was not being able to lie on my back for a few days, and having my hips dig into the hard hospital bed on the first night. When reading some of the stories people have sent into this site, I'm so very thankful that my surgeon convinced me to have the surgery straight away, before the problem got too far out of control. I hope that someone else will read my story, and be brave enough to opt for full surgery straight away, as I can promise you it's nowhere near the pain you think it'll be, and it's much better than going through the same problem later when the cyst is bigger and recovery much more involved. Thanks for reading.