Personal Stores Archive #6

Personal Stores Archive #6

Stories from Nov 1, 2001 to Jan 31, 2002

Date:: January 30, 2002

Story

Well, I never thought I would see myself here. I am a 34 year old woman who had a polinidal cyst at the tender age of 17. I happened to come across this web page as I was doing a search for my mother on thyroid cyst. I was amazed to find out that Pilonidal cysts is a disease...and after all those years!

I first had my cyst when I was riding on a motorcycle, i went over a large pothole and hit my tailbone...it was all downhill after that. I gradually grew worse and worse..started bending over because of the pain involved in keeping straight. Unlike most people whose stories i read, my cyst never drained. It caused an infection so great that by the time i finally got to the hospital, i had a fever of 104 and was incoherent. They immediately put me on IV's and some SERIOUS antibiotics. The infection went away (thank god, i ahve never known such pain n my life) but the determination was made to excise it as soon as possible.

I was out of school for close to a month. The wound remained open as it healed and it was a nasty one, however, it did eventually totally heal with the largest scar i have ever had on my body. the funny thing is, i have NEVER had a recurrence of it. I didnt know i was suppossed to!

to this day it has never reared its ugly head, and I hope it doesnt. For all you people out there, my suggestion is GO TO A QUALIFIED SURGEON AND GET IT REMOVED. It is worth the scar to know that the thing is GONE.

Dee Myers

Date:: January 25, 2002

Story

I am a 15 year old male. I found out over the summer of 2001 that I had what was called a Pilonidal Cyst, immediately i was afraid of the surgery part, the surgery didn't turn out too bad, because after all I was told that after all this i could sit without pain and never have to deal with this again. Well recently in January of 2002, after all seemed well I found out i still got a tract.

The first surgery they closed me up, now they have decided to do surgery but leave the wound open... If you have any suggestions on what I should do, i would like to avoid a second surgery because of school, and I want to have fun during the summer... p

Date:: January 24, 2002

Story

First Of all, Brilliant Site. I've looked on the internet so long for information on pilonidal disease and its great to find such a caring and imformative approach to the subject. For the past couple of years I've noticed a lump, and painfull swelling down at the bottom of my spine. I didn't go to the doctors in the first year because it always seem to rectify itself after a couple off weeks. Then in January 2001 The swelling and the soreness came back. this time it was very painfull and a lump formed, the lump grew considerably over the next few days to the point where the pain was unbearable. even the slightest movement caused massive amounts of pain unlike anything I've felt before. Unfortunatly I have a low pain threshold and I passed out. When I came to my mum insisted we go to the doctors, which we did immeadiatly where pilonidal cyst was diagnosed and I went straight to Hospital, straigt into surgeory. I remained in hospital for about 5 days and once discharded the district nurse took care of my dressings for about 9 weeks after. after this treatment I was aware the cyst was still there as the lumps began to come back again in much the same way as they did in the first year. I carried on with life and ignored them until November where the same huge lump.. and the pain returned in abundence.. Back to casualtly. the same procedure as the first one was carried out again but this time (different hospital) some dressing was left tucked in the top of the wound. It was left there for a week as the nurses could not see it. this caused an infection and the skin to fold in on itself and the wound to close before the cyst had healed. I was just writing tonight as Im going to see my surgeon tomorrow and we're going to make a desition on what to do next. The lumps pay me frequent visits and Im scared that it may come back in its monster form. Im hoping we come to an arrangment where by its gone for good.

For all of you who are reading this and have pilonidal sinus problems, I wish you well and a speedy recovery.

Date:: January 24, 2002

Story

I am not sure when I got my first cyst. More than likely it happened after I had my son. That would be approximately seven years. They did not come all the time and I did not know what they were. I thought I had a boil on my tailbone. I ewould soak in hot tubs with Epsom Salt and I learned quickly that I could not sit back the way I was used to doing. But it wasn't that bad. It would show up around every 4 or 5 months and it usually coincided with my menstrual cycle. I started noticing that they were coming at other times too but they were still spaced out to the 4 or 5 month time frame. I talked to my doctor at the time and he told me that it was a cyst and that it was not life threatening. He said that it was more annoying than anything and if it kept coming back that I could have it removed. Recently, (last year or year and a half) they started coming more frequently. I would do what I always did, wait it out. They always went away. So I couldn't do any crunches or exercises that required me to be on my back for a couple of weeks. No big deal. It flared up in October of last year and I went to the doctor who gave me antibiotics and told me to keep the area clean with Hibiclens. The two seemed to help. The cyst went away but it came back again last wednesday and it came back with a vengeance. It was as if I had upset it and it wanted to show me what real pain was. I went back to the doctor and he gave me more antibiotics, which are helping and we scheduled a date for surgery. I am nervous about the surgery but I feel that once it is done things will be so much better. I want to thank the person who put this site out. It has given me a lot of information on the cyst, procedure, and recovery. I pray for all those who are going through what I am going through. I will let you know the progress of my recovery. :-)

Date:: January 21, 2002

Story

i am the same guy that wrote on the 16th of Janurary, when i wrote my message my ass didnt hurt that much, until that night however. the cyst became so inflated and killed, i could barely walk so i went to a clinic. the doctor told me that it was infected and that antibiotics and painkillers would help me until i see the specialist. well a day later and the pain was even worse, honest to God i began to cry because of the pain. so i decided to go to the emergency room. there a doctor drained it for me and now i am feeling a whole lot better. a nurse comes to my house everyday to change my packaging(she inserts a medicated ribbon into the wound which is about 50-60 cm long, then puts the gauze on top)unfortunately the worst part about that is the tape kills my ass cause im so damn hairy. im feeling alot better but the unfortunate thing is that i have alot more to endure because i still need to have the cyst removed. i will keep undating on my condition, but once again i thank the person sooooooooooo much for making this site and if u people know anybody who discovers a cyst on their tailbone, please TELL THEM TO GET IT THE HELL OUT!!!!!! O.A. from toronto, canada

Date:: January 18, 2002

Story

First off. Thank YOU FOR THIS SITE! It helped so much!!! It has calmed some of my fears yet also added to my gross out factor (No offense)

I'm a 24 year old Healthy female live a normal active life. About 2 weeks ago i noticed my ass was itchy and that there was a lump. I wanted to go to a doctor but my mother insisted i wait. Wait i did through the pain of not being able to sit etc etc. You've all been there. I'm a secretary for a living so this was especially hard as i sit all day. Sunday night after i noticed the bump it burst open since i had no idea what was going on, I thought this is good whatevers in there will drain out. Went to work as usuall on monday due to severe discomfort and eww factor i went to the doc. He told me what it was..proscribed antibods and told me warm baths I missed a week of work due to drainage issues. I just went to the surgeon last night and had the lancing done. it hurt like bloody hell. But at least now i know more of what's going on. I go back to my surgeon in a week and will then schedule my surgery for a month or two down the line.

I never want to deal with this again. it's been the worse expereience of my whole life and i Pray no one else should hafta suffer through this either.

Date:: January 16, 2002

Story

I would definitely love to begin by thanking the person who made this site because you have made my life a whole lot better. My father had the same thing about 30 years ago, but doesnt know much about it cause he is a dumb immigrant, but i am very thankful because i now know how to prepare for my surgery, keep it from ever coming back, and what i should eat and do to help my cause. I just turned 19 yrs old on the 13th, but the cyst wasnt as swollen as it is right now(3 days later), maybe the strippers were bouncing off me too hard(joke). Anyway, i called to get an earlier appointment and hopefully someone will cancel.But if not i guess i just have to wait the stupid thing out. I am really sorry to hear about those who waited so many years to get rid of this thing, and those who had dumbass doctors fuck them over(sorry about the swearing but there is no other way i can show my anger). I pray to God that my surgery goes successful, and also pray to God that all of you people who have written on this site have a good life and may this stupid bump on our asses leave us alone forever!!!! Thank You so much for this site, it reassures me like you wouldnt believe!!!!!

Date:: January 12, 2002

Story

Hello My Name is Jeff and i had the pilonidal disease for about 7 months now and i tell you that it has been a pain in my ass :). Back in May of 2001 I realized that i had a lump right in the crack of my buttocks I had my wife look at it and she could not see any thing but I wanted to go to the family doctor so he could look at it and see if he can tell if anything was there. Well I made the appointment but he could not get me in till June. As May went on the lump got bigger and bigger the size of a quarter well buy my suprize the doctors office called one week early and moved my appointment up. I was happy. Well i went to my appointment he had me take my pants and shorts off and he look at it then he said it was Pilonidal cyst. He gave me two prescrptions to take and he want me to see a surgen to have it removed. Well he made the appointment for me I could trust him to get the best surgen and yes it was a general surgen. I had to see him the next week. I was in so much pain that I could not wait to get this pain to stop. It was getting hard and hard to drive a car. I would drive to work 45 minutes to work and 45 minutes back home. Well i went to see the surgen and he wanted to lanc and leave it open and let it heal from inside out. I was so releaved when it was over I had the lancing done in the emerency room at the hospital so the could give me some drugs so i would not fell anything. After the lancing was done i felt so much better. I was able to sit in the car with no pain. My wife took care of the wound she packed the way she was told to. Then five months went by and it heal nice. Until one day I came home from work and had to use the bathroom number 2 that is (sorry). Well when I was done I went and wiped and notice that i soaked the paper I was sacred had no idea where it came from then my wife looked at it and said that it came back open. The scar riped opened I asked and she said yes. She said there was tissue come out of the hole. Well the even scared me more so I made a appoinment with the surgen again. When i went to see him he was surpized that the scar came openned. He told me that he was going to put some burnning stuff on it to see if it will burn the tissue off and then close. Then see him in two weeks, and keep it covered. Well bye the two weeks it never closed I was still leaking blood and infection. So The surgen made a time and date to have the cyst removed. Which was januaru 11 yesterday. I am very sore I can barly sit, I can walk but not for a long time. I was in the hospital for 6 hours I had the spinal shot and put to sleep. They took care of me. I hope this is the last of the cyst but if not I am ready to do something else to bet it. I am off from work for three weeks. If anyone has a question or two I will be more then glad to answer them for you. My email is (Whitestallion19@aol.com)

P.S. If you just fount out that you have Pilonidal cyst I will Pray for all of you

Date:: January 09, 2002

Story

It happened to me 12 years ago. I somehow had aquired a polonidal cyst on my tailbone. They're disgusting! For a month I bleed and oozed puss out of a hole the size of a dime near the base of my spine. Within hours it would soak through my clothes. It's difficult to sit down, and the pain is terrible.

I'm a religeous man, a Christian, and I was prayed for often regarding this ailment. I believe in miracles and Gods healing power, but somehow I couldn't believe that God loved me enough to heal me. Other people yes...buy not me.

For weeks I saw Doctors until I was referred to a surgeon at Santa Clara Kaisers hospital. He told me that these things never just go away, I would need surgery to remove all traces of this web of poison that was growing in my body. He told me to come in the following week so he could judge how fast it was progressing and then be able to determine how soon to schedule the surgery.

That night I started sincerely praying a different prayer. Whether I was healed or not I just needed to know that God loved me enough to heal me, even if it wasn't in his plan. So I asked God to show me his love.

The next morning I woke with an assurance in my heart that God not only loved me but that He was going to heal me. I knew that I knew! Nothing could disuade me from my faith. I told everyone, most were skeptical, but starting that day the pressure subsided, and the pain started going away. The bleeding, oozing, redness and swelling also left my body.

By the time I met with the surgeon the next week there was no sign that it had ever been there. When the surgeon said " I can't even see a trace of what was there", I told him that God had healed me. He said " these things don't go away, it will come back, call him when it does".

Like I said that was 12 years ago. I believe that was a miracle, and that it came from God. The same God that created the heavens and the earth, you and me.

Sometimes God may use a surgeon, a pharmacist, or just the person next door to accomplish His will and His miracles. But I think it starts with acknowledging him for who He is, and asking him via a relationship with his Son Jesus.

Date:: January 08, 2002

Story

Well i think i have a P sinus. IM 15. and i dont know how u guys can just ride this out for years on end. i have had his thing 4 about 3-4 weeks and this thing is a bitch. im goinmg doctors 2 morra. i wanna get rid of it. i dont hurt me that much but it irritates me so much and the smell of the shit that cums out sucks. not thekinda smell n e 1 will find appealing. so any one that thinks they have this "gift" go 2 the dcotors and sort it out. the doctors are here to help us. let them help u. take care al u lot!

Mathias

Date:: January 08, 2002

Story

Cimm

Date:: January 06, 2002

Story

HELLO. I AM A TRUCK DRIVER WHO HAS EXPERIENCED THE INCONVIENCE OF A PILONIDAL CYST. IT WAS ABOUT THE SIZE OF A GOLF BALL AND IT WAS QUITE PAINFUL SITTING IN MY TRUCK FOR HOURS AT A TIME. IT GOT TO A POINT WHERE I WOULD BE DRIVING WHILE SITTING ON ONE CHEEK AND THEN THE OTHER AND NEVER ON BOTH AT THE SAME TIME AS IT WAS TO PAINFUL. IT WAS REMOVED BY A SURGEON AND LEFT TO HEAL OPEN FROM THE BOTTOM UP. A NURSE HAD TO COME TO MY HOUSE TO CHANGE THE DRESSING DAILY AS MY WIFE COULDNT BRING HER SELF TO EVEN LOOK AT IT LETALONE PULL THE DRESSING OUT OF MY GAPING WOUND. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT AFTER THE OPERATION THERE WAS NO PAIN. THEY TOLD ME THAT I COULD TAKE PAIN KILLERS BUT SURPRISINGLY I DIDNT NEED TO. I WAS ONLY OFF WORK FOR ABOUT 10 DAYS. I HAD NO PROBLEMS AFTER THAT UNTIL LAST WEEK ( 12 YEARS LATER ). I HAVE HAD SIMILAR DISCOMF0RT IN THE SAME AREA BUT ON A SMALLER SCALE. I HAVE A SINUS OPENING AT THE BOTTOM OF MY ORIGINAL SCAR ( THE EXACT SAME SPOT OF MY LAST SINUS OPENING )I NOTICED A SMALL SWELLING AREA THAT HAS SINCE GONE DOWN AND THERE IS DISCHARGE OF THE SAME SMELLY YELLOW STUFF LIKE LAST TIME. I AM NOT WORRIED THIS TIME AROUND AS I WILL BE TAKING CARE OF THIS BEFORE IT GETS TO THE POINT IT WAS AT 12 YEARS AGO. IM HOPING I DONT HAVE TO HAVE SURGERY AGAIN BUT FROM WHAT IVE READ I GUESS ITS THE ONLY OPTION UNLESS I WANT TO LIVE WITH IT. PS I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE PERSON WHO CREATED THIS WEB SITE AS IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY INFORMATIVE AND IS THE ONLY SOURCE OF INFO THAT I COULD FIND ON THE WEB ABOUT THIS PROBLEM.

STEVE

Date:: January 04, 2002

Story

This site's webmaster writes, "For those of you who get through your surgery and go on to live a normal life, please come back here and post your success story." I'll be glad to oblige. We all know what leads up to it, so I won't bore you with that. Let me tell you what happened to me post-surgery. I rested for a week, feeling good enough to sit on a chair in front of my computer for longer and longer periods as the week progressed.

I did have an emergency room visit two days after the surgery, but it was a fluke occurrence: my surgeon removed some packing too abruptly and broke a small blood vessel on the edge of the wound. He stopped the bleeding when I was in the office, but later, when I was ... er ... doing "number two," it broke again, and I couldn't get it to stop -- because of the location of the wound, I couldn't apply direct pressure on the precise spot of the wound, and there was no one else there to staunch the bleeding for me. Although dealing with paramedics, an ambulance, and the emergency room all by myself was an extremely frightening situation, medically it ended up not being that serious at all -- all the doctor had to do was to determine the precise spot where the blood was coming from and to apply hard pressure to it for ten minutes. No cautery was even needed. And I should point out, in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, that this was a fluke combination of occurrences that are very unlikely to occur with someone else's surgery.

Throughout the subsequent six to eight weeks, I changed my packing religiously (once per day), and yes, it is very possible to do it on your own and for yourself. The first few times you do it, you really have to screw up your courage (after all, you're reaching *inside* your body, into an open surgical site), but like any scary thing you have to do over and over again, you get used to it, and it even became fairly routine for me, a matter of a few minutes' time after my shower each day. Here's an idea: you're going to think this very odd, but I used a digital camera to take snapshots of my wound as it healed, since I didn't have someone else to take a look at it for me between doctor visits. It worked excellently, and I was able to watch as my surgical site grew more shallow and healed itself up.

It's now nine and a half months after my surgery. It *was* a surgery and a fairly large excision, so it's not as if nothing happened -- there *is* an impact on your body. If I sit a bit wrong, or reposition my buttocks without lifting them off my seat, the scar tissue can be stretched a bit, resulting in a twinge of pain. Likewise, if I don't take a shower over a weekend, the area can sometimes become a little sensitive. I personally think these are natural, and you should expect them.

You should also feel validated if you find yourself suffering from feelings of anxiety or nervousness about the surgical site. Surgery is *not* a pleasant experience. I think our surgeons forget that, since surgery is what they do, and is a commonplace part of their lives. In _my_ opinion, being worried about reoccurrance, or being a bit jumpy about that area of your body, is perfectly natural. (I have a feeling my jumpiness is a little greater than the average patient thanks to the emergency room visit.) The important thing is to _control_ any fear and anxiety you experience, and dismiss it as best you can with rationality. If it continues to bother you, seek some therapy. Shrinks are just people who stock your mental toolbox, after all.

Despite all the above, I hope to never have a reoccurrence. Despite the recurrence rate (40% for lancing, 15% for excision, I think), my father's never recurred after his surgery, and my surgeon says he's never had one of his patients experience a reoccurrence, so I'm thinking that hopefully that bet is hedged in my favor.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope it's of some use to y'all.

Date:: January 02, 2002

Story

Hi, everyone!

When I first noticed the pain in my lower back I thought it was caused by sitting down too long in a bad position. After one month I had my wife take a look at it and she told me that it was more like a "strange pimple". I went straight to the doctor, who diagnosed the cyst. I had no idea that pilonidal cysts existed before that. He gave me antibiotics (Fucidine) to try to control it but warned me that surgery could be necessary. The antibiotics helped...for three months. After that one went down I noticed another painful "pimple" about half an inch away from the first one. This was my ticket to surgery. It was a twenty-minute procedure under deep sedation (which meant that I was not completely asleep, just really really "high" and didn't feel a thing). The first week is the worst because you get tired of being in all kinds of funny positions in order to avoid pressure on the wound. For me that was worse than the pain.

Everything went smoothly and now I'm feeling perfectly fine. My wife took care of my wound every day (God bless her!) just packing it with Betadine after I showered and carefully ran water on it. In the end I was even able to go on a long trip by plane on vacation (no swimming pools or sea swimming, of course).

This message is just to assure you that most of the time, things go perfectly well and the wound heals completely and incredibly fast. Please, please don't be too afraid and/or embarrased to go to the doctor. The relief is well worth all the inconvenience.

Date:: December 30, 2001

Story

I am a 21 year old male who has been lived with a Pilonidal sinus for three years now. I just got my surgery done ten days ago (Dec 20th) and so far the healing is going very well, almost no pain now. BUT, the first week was absolutely horrible. I have never felt pain like that in my life, and i wish this disease upon NOBODY. In fact, if I ever get another pilonidal sinus, I will seriously consider living with it.

I did live with it for 3 years after all. It started out as a really painful bump on butt cheek. At first I thought it was a really deep pimple, but it never ended up going away. It would get infected from time to time which was very painful and messy since it oozed out blood and puss. This would happen every about every three months, so to me it wasn't a huge deal. The rest of the time was alright...i could live with it. But eventually it became more annoying to me and I decided to have it removed. My father had a pilonidal sinus as well when he was young and assured me the surgery wasn't so bad. Lucky for him... When i went to see the doctor, I was told that i had two sinuses. One on my cheek that was about three inches deep and one along the cleft of my butt, between the cheeks which was also about three inches long.

So there I am off to the hospital. I opt for general anesthesia since i was told that the whole procedure would take about two hours. The sinuses were taken out completely with the additional procedure of marsupialization. Nice stitches everywhere! At least they don't need to be removed as they will eventually dissolve, but they are extremely sick to look at. I almost fainted when i saw my wounds.

The first week of recovery was very bad. I slept all day and night on my side. My back was suffering because of this. I didn't feel like doing anything at all because of the pain, nor was able to walk around very much. I kept my Dilaudid pills with me all the time. Empracet and Percocet weren't strong enough. Going to the bathroom was a painful and unpleasant experience and believe it or not, sneezing and coughing was REALLY painful. Today has been the best day so far. I feel little pain even though the doctor says it will take another three weeks to heal completely. I can resume my normal activities, although driving for more than 20 minutes starts wearing me down. I did notice that packing my wound less has actually sped up the recovery process. I change my dressing twice a day and make sure I clean it very well in the shower to get all dead tissue out. I can finally sit down again which almost everyone takes for granted. I really hope I don't get another pilonidal sinus because don't want to ever go through this ever again.

To anyone who has or has had a pilonidal sinus, my heart truly goes out to you.

Date:: December 29, 2001

Story

I’m a 33-year-old male that got his first Pilonidal Cyst at age 11. I have been fighting Cyst since that time. My doctor suggested surgery and my parents agreed. After having surgery I was free from Pilonidal for about 1-½ years, then the worst happened. Another Cyst came up and didn’t go away. The doctor suggested having another surgery. I had the Cyst lanced and this seemed to help, but of course the infection came back. When I was 18-19 years old I got another Cyst right in the groin area where my leg or thigh meets with my groin. After it was about 5” long and 3” wide I went to have it lanced. The doctor told me it was actually 3 Pilonidal Cyst back to back. I wondered why this was happing to me and thought nothing could be worse than this. I was wrong. I have had many dozens of cysts and great pain. I’ve been reduced to tears and have not known relief for years and have mostly given up hope. I have had grapefruit size cyst under both my arms, in my groin area and the Cyst by my tailbone have been open and draining for over 3 years straight. There have been many times when huge cyst come up under both my arms and in my groin area at the same time, while still having one on my tail bone. Talk about a hard and painful night’s sleep. Till today I did not know this site existed. My heart goes out to everyone who has had this problem.

Maximilllion

Date:: December 25, 2001

Story

Well, where should I start. I am a 23 year old mail and have had aching in my tailbone for some time now. One day I noticed what looked like a cut on my tailbone, and had no idea how it could have gotten there. For a couple of days I ignored it and thought it would heal. Then it started bleeding and pussing, so I went to my doctor. As soon as I dropped my drawers he knew what it was. He lanced it right there, stuff my crack with gauze and referred me to a surgeon to have it removed.

I went to see the surgeon and he tells me I need to have surgery. I was not thrilled at all, infact I was very very nervous. Tuesday, Dec. 18. I checked into the surgery pavillion at my local hospital. Pre-Op got me real nervous and the IV wasnt fun. My Mom, Dad, and girfriend were all there and they did a great job of calming me down. Finally it was my time to go, so they walked me right into the OR and a layed belly down on the operating table. The gave me something to relax myself and I felt great. THen the Doc start to shave and wax back there before they put me under. After that I think he attached to velcro pads to my cheeks to hold it open, I was wondering how they did that. Me being totally drugged up now apologized in advance for any gas I might have passed during the procedure. Next thing I knew I was in recovery. The excision was closed with stitches.

Boy did I feel like a million bucks. Got some pound cake and graham crackers, and some Vicadin aka Hyrdrocodone. Went home and slept comfortably for most of the day. Wednesday and Thursday I spent mostly at home, Friday I went out to blockbuster to rent some movies. Saturday was my big first day out and went to the mall and the bar (didnt drink with the vicadin though). That night I came down with a low grade fever of 100 and that continued into sunday with the pain increaseing instead of decreasing. I had a bad feeling it was infected. I called up the doctor and told him of the fever, the swelling of the excision, and the increase in pain. Now, I had no idea how it got infected, after I took the dressing off, I showered, washed it with anti-bactrerial soap and dried it dry as a desert. The Doc says infection occurs from 30%-50% of the surgery.

Go into the ER on Sunday and lay down waiting for the doctor. He proceeded to take out the stitches without a local. PAIN PAIN PAIN, this was horrible. He had to snip the stiches, pull them out, then cut open some of the healed but infected wound. Let me tell you, Ive had 2 kidney stones so far in my life, and this pain was HORRIBLE compared to those. I bit through 20 layers of gauze and it brought me to hyperventilating tears. There must have been 3 or 4 ounces of pus that drained out. He packed it and told me to go home and take baths to soak it and pack it with saline moistened gauze until wednesday when I go into the office.

So here I am, with a open wound from the surgery, actually feeling a lot better. It stings a little when I put the gauze in, but, starts to feel better after that. Pus is still draining, as he said it would. Got my appointment in 2 days, wish me luck. One heck of a Christmas Present.

All in all, I think it was necessary, however, if you do get this done, I would say opt for the open wound so you dont have to go through the pain of getting those stiches removed if it gets infected.

Date:: December 24, 2001

Story

Well, after reading all these horror stories mine isn't quite as bad. The only thing I do not understand is how some of these people dealt with having the pilonidal cyst for many years, putting up with the flare ups and pain. I first discovered that I had something wrong back in August of 2001. I was indisposed in the toilet when I noticed blood on the toilet paper. Now I had just slept with someone who was a freak so I was worried that I had a sexual disease. Anyway, the blood would come and go for a month until one day in September my tailbone started to hurt. At first I thought I had bruised my tailbone and the pain would go away. Everytime I did sit ups it would hurt but that is the only thing that bothered me. My condition got worse after each day went by. I got to the point where I was almost paralyzed from the waist down. I went to a clinic and they diagnosed me with a piloniday cyst. They gave me antiobotics and Darvocet painkillers. My cyst was large but they did not lance it. Instead they said to take the antibiotics to kill the infection and it would go away. They also said I might have to get it surgically removed but I wanted no part of that. For a week and half I had to sleep on my stomach. The cyst finally broke and began to leak that disgusting puss and blood. What foul odor it was. Now I had dislocated my ankle and had to have a steel rod and nine screws inserted into my left ankler but I tell you that nothing compares to the pain of having a pilonidal cyst. I would lay on my bed all day with a heating pad to relieve the pressure and pain and would take 4 hot baths daily. I remember the morning I went to the clinic they gave me a prescription to pick up. I dropped off the prescription at the drug store and went to class. By the time I picked up my prescription for the antibiotics and pain killers I could hardly walk. Just when I thought the cyst was gone it began to flare up again during Thanksgiving weekend. It formed into a big ball with no pain and it ended up popping one evening while I was asleep and noticed my draws were full of blood and puss the following morning. I hesitated to have the surger right away because I did want to miss any classes. Afte the semester I went to my primary physician and he diagnosed me with having a pilonidal cyst. He referred me to a surgeon and had surgery a few days later. It has been a week since the surgery and I feel great. They closed the wound with ten stiches. I get half of them removed this week and the rest next week. My recovery time is quicker than I thought. I'm able to do some physical activities I was doing prior to having the surgery like working out with very, very light weight. My mother has been a angel sent from heaven because she has been taking care of me and cooking me healthy meals and making sure I take my vitamins so the wound can heal quicker. I hope everyone who submitted their stories do not have a recurrence of the pilonidal cyst. Man, what a pain in my ass it is to have one but I'm praying that it does not come back for me.

Date:: December 22, 2001

Story

Hello I'm a 23 yr old guy just diagnosed with the P. Cyst. I noticed it around 3 months ago when I found a bump on my tailbone just at the top of the crack. I figured it was just a bruised area like many others did and just blew it off. After 3 months of enduring the big painful bump, it finally started to ooze yelloish, blood streaked liquid. Still I did nothing. Finally the other day 20 Dec 2001 I consulted my GP who put me on antibiotics. After the first day of being on augmentin, the thing got huge & burst. luckly i got home before it did. That pair of underwear went in the garbage. i'd have to say 1-2 ounces came out. Now it's really sore & I go back to see my GP on thusday where he'll probably lance it. Hopefully he'll reccomend the surgery after that so I can get rid of this thing. My girlfriend's cool with it so far but we'll just see. Wish me luck!

Date:: December 18, 2001

Story

I am a 19 year old male who's in college. I have had the operation twice and it really is a pain in the rear end. Playing soccer in high school i thought that the tailbone pain was just a side affect of practicing too hard. I ignored the pain till i had to go to emergency one day because it was bleeding and i had no idea what it was. Soon after it was diagnosed i thought my life as a teenager was over. Since then I have had two surgeries to remove the cyst. The long recovery period is what i could do without, but its necessary. If someone would of told me that i would've had a butt problem that required surgery twice before i graduated college i would of laughed. I couldn't believe it though when i found this website. It's so conforting reading about other people who know what you've been through. So far i've been free from any recurrences and of course i check myself almost everyday. thanks to the founder of this website.

Date:: December 10, 2001

Story

There is hope for all of you. I'm a 36 year old male who had the open wound procedure done at age 17 I had a very deep rooted cysts the operation took almost 3hours. I am happy to say I have had no problems since. This procedure is probably your best bet for long term positive results, although it requires more healing time. I feel its the best way to totally get rid of the cysts. good luck to all... kenny from Coral Springs Fla.

Date:: December 07, 2001

Story

Hi It is me again Amy, I posted on here a few weeks ago, about having the pilonidal cyst surgery. Well on December 3rd, I went to the hopital and had it done. Boy was I scared... The anesthesia scared me the most, and waking up with a sore throat and blisters in my mouth from the tube was bad too. However they told me that the surgery was a success, they removed the cyst, and now I have 8 stitches there. I will get the stitches removed the 19th. I can only lay on my side or stomach, and it hurts to ride in the car, and i had to buy a donut to sit on. The surgeon told me not to take a bath or shower till the stitches are out. Yuk spoung baths.. :( Well, I sort of wish ihad of chosen the open procedure, because it sounds like i would be back to normal by now. I was told that I can not go back to work until the 19th too. oh well i guess things will be better inthe end.(literally) good luck

Date:: December 06, 2001

Story

My experience with pilonidal surgery was a good one, and well worth the recovery time.

My first pilonidal infection occurred in 1994, while I was in college. At first I thought I had just bruised my tailbone so I didn't go to the doctor until the area was quite swollen and painful. The doctor at the college's health service gave me some antibiotics and tylenol with codeine and made an appointment for me with a surgeon. That night, the infection was so sore that even with the painkiller and lying on my stomach, I couldn't sleep for the pain. The surgeon just gave me strong antibiotics which cleared up the problem in a few days. He described the surgery options to me and I decided to wait and see if it turned out to be a recurring problem.

Two years later, the infection recurred, but again went away with antibiotics (and frequent baths). So, again, I decided to wait and see about the surgery.

Two years later, it was infected again, only this time the antibiotics did not clear it up. I spent the week I was on antibiotics at a conference. Lots of sitting.. ugh. I took hot baths twice a day, but it didn't help. Two days after I got home, I had the cyst lanced. Ouch! The local anesthetic shots were very painful. Then, the next day, I was supposed to remove the packing the surgeon had put in. I couldn't get it out (mostly too chicken to really yank at it), so I had to go back to the doctor's office, where the nurse did it for me. Over the next few months, the area continued to drain at a slow rate and then five months later, 2 days before I was moving from one apartment to another, it got reinfected and swelled up to walnut-sized in just a few hours. Very painful. It was lanced again that day. This was pretty much the point where I decided that it was time to have the surgery.

I had the cyst/sinus removed in September 1999. It was done under general anesthetic (which was probably the part I was most scared about, but it turned out ok) and the incision was left open. I noticed someone below said that having it stitched up is the only option when you live alone. I disagree. I have roommates, but they are male and I am not, so I did all of the wound-care things myself (cleaning and repacking the wound twice a day). The first couple of days this was sort of icky (seeing the gaping hole, yanking out well-lodged packing, figuring out exactly how to place the mirror, and what angle of approach to use), but I quickly got used to it and it was ok. I also didn't have much pain. I never took the strong painkillers that they gave me to take home after the surgery. Basically, the incision only hurt when I put pressure on it, which it seemed best just to avoid doing anyway (rather than risk damaging it somehow). I spent a few days at home lying on my stomach and on my left side (cyst was somewhat to the right) and then more days being careful not to bump the area on anything. It took a couple of months to heal completely, but it healed beautifully and no problems since! At no point did the surgery cause as much pain or anguish as the individual infections did.

Date:: December 01, 2001

Story

I am writing this for my husband again, I wrote a few weeks ago about us not having insurance to take care of his cyst. Anyways, we got medicaid for him, and he had a general surgeon remove the cyst two days ago. He has a four inch incision, 13 stitches, and so far so good. The doctor said it went great in the OR, and he did well the first day (due to the drugs im sure). Must have been some good stuff they gave him, he asked for a capichino, and french toast in recovery...then a juicy tomato...lol...He is now very sore, laying on his back and side mostly, keeping ice on it helps alot. and going to the bathroom is hell he says, he sort of has to sit leaning on one cheek on the hopper...if he sits straight down he says it feels like his stitches are splitting....poor guy... This thing has bothered him for years, it itches, and causes pain, and im glad he finally got it removed. Now we just need to pray we can meet our bills with him out of work for a couple of weeks. We had no problems at all having a general surgeon do this surgery, if the surgeon has experience doing this, and has done many of them, then he is as qualified as any other surgeon. He knew exactly what the cyst was, and exactly what to do, and had done alot of them, so just ask the doctor if he has any experience in this field, and go with your gut feeling from there, my husbands operation went great, he didnt need a specialist, and its not because his wasnt serious or big, because it was huge, sometimes it would swell the size of a chicken egg with infection, and at one time I got around one hundred hairs out of it at once.

Date:: November 29, 2001

Story

Hi! First of all, this is the best website that I have ever seen regarding Pilonidal cysts. When I was 17 years old, I started to have an itching sensation, well, you know where. A few months later, not only did it itch, but it started to bleed! I am not one for doctors, so I put off getting it checked out. I started trying to fix it myself, by cleaning it with hydrogen peroxide, putting bandages on it...but finally I realized that this was a problem that I just couldn't solve, so a year after I started having problems, I saw the doctor. When he told me what it was I thought it was the strangest thing ever. He put me on antibiotics and that seemed to clear it up - but only until the pills ran out - then it would come back. I was off and on antibiotics 4 different times with no luck. So, they sent me to see the general surgeon. I ended up having surgery shortly after (Sept. 2000), when I was 19. The surgery went fine - they stitched it up and everything went great for the first week, until I came down with strep throat (must have cought it in the hospital!!) While sitting in the car on the way back to the doctor to get my throat taken care of, a few of my stitches broke. That spot still hasn't closed up, and my surgery was over a year ago!! I am still struggling with drainage. It doesn't hurt at all, but I am getting some pusy stuff coming out of there, and occasionally, blood. I have started taking hot baths every day to try and draw out the infection, because I don't think having surgery again is worth my time, since it didn't do a thing for me the first time. If there is anyone suffering from re-occuring cyst, and if you are managing to keep it under control, please e-mail me and let me know any tips you have. I am currently showering in the morning, bathing in hot water at night, and am dabbing the area with neosporin, and trying to remove any hair with Nair.

Thank you, whoever you are, for setting up this website. I have learned so much from you! And to everyone suffering - you aren't alone. Take care!

Date:: November 29, 2001

Story

Hi, my name is John,I live in Pittsburgh, PA. I had my first flare-up on October 30, 20001. I went to my Primary Care Doctor on Nov. 1 - antibiotics reduced the infection though the following week i was in a surgeons office - he scheduled the surgery for Nov 12. I was fortunate to have read this site before hand. The surgery went well. They stitched me back up rather then to leave open to heal. I think you MUST request this to be done if you live alone as I do.

I wish I woudl have realized that the stitches would stay in for 2 weeks and in my case there would be drainage. Here is what I recommend, the sterile pad they gave me in the hospital were 8x10. write down the information on the bad and then immediately, have a friend (or you can go once you can drive) go to a Medical supply store and buy them. What I liked is that one side was absorbent while the other side had a shield to protect my clothing. In my case I ran out and had to be creative. I finally went to Med Supply store, but I forgot to keep on of the pads supplied by the hospital. So, I ended up buying 8X10 absorbent pads (on both sides) and then protecting my cloths by placing Maxi Pads on the 8x10 pads to act as a shield for my clothing. Today, day 17 stitches are out, but there is still a little bleeding. So I now use "Dignity" superabsorbent liners and instead of using for bladder control I place then on my rear. Problem solved.

Things to consider: 1)if you have the luxury to determine when surgey will be. remember that you may have several weeks of drainage and will have to adjust some of your activities sice you will be wearing protective sterile pads on the wound while it heals.

2)Also, it is extremely nice to have someone with you for a couple of days, at least for the first 24 hours.

3) I was not permited to drive for three days or to shower for two days.

4) No strenuous activity, so do your heavy lifting before surgery if you live alone.

5) sitting hurts, it just does, I starting sitting in 5 days and was back to work in one week. and yes, here I am on Nov. 29, 17 days after surgery, and it still hurts to sit, it just does. bring a pillow to work it helps.

6). I was surprised that my best friend suffers from the disease, though he hasnt had surgery. So, dont be ashamed of it.

7) the incision was longer than i thought - I thought it would be one inch - wrong, try 4-5 inches from my tailbone going straight down the middle between each cheek. and 6 stiches. I seriosly don't know what I would do if they had opted to open, remove then pack rather than what they did, "open, remove and then stitch". I am happy to take my risk with a 25% reaccurance rate.

8) if you are a man and hairy, well, you will be shaved, so, just think of all the places you might get undressed, i.e., gym, bedroom, etc. Just something to remember as this will be a reality of surgery in yours as it was mine.

Well, my behind is sore from sitting here typing this. I need to stand up for a little bit. Take Care and Good Luck

John from Pittsburgh, PA

Date:: November 28, 2001

Story

I am 40 years old, have never had surgery. I would say to the young people, ride it out a bit, don't rush into surgery, wait to see if it's so acute that you need surgery (and I'm including lancing in that).

I first got it in my late teens, same as most -- a bump that soon got a little bigger, but not that big (little bigger than a pea). Then it got softer and began to drain -- mostly clear liquid, a little blood, and yes the hairs that come out of it. My doctor gave me the options, the various surgeries, etc. But he said as long as it's draining on it's own, I might want to try just wearing a bandage, waiting for it to heal, keeping it clean, and seeing what happens.

So I did that. Over the years it has come and gone. Sometimes been gone for months or even a year or more. It's actually gotten better in that the bouts are shorter, the draining less, the size of it smaller, the pain (which was never that great that I couldn't function, unlike some others I read about)has been less. I've learned what makes it come and what makes it go, how I need to make sure my car seat doesn't have me putting pressure on it, how I need to keep it clean, etc.

Now when it drains, I don't even wear a bandage -- just a bandaid, or even nothing, as it's not that much. There have been times when I've actually popped it myself, started the draining (as that is when it hurts most, when it's filling up but not draining yet, and is wanting to burst) by using a pin while sitting in a hot bath.

This has worked for me for more than 20 years, and from what I read, it's definitely a lot less trauma than having the surgery. So again, I would say to people, ride it out and see how bad it is before opting for surgery.

Date:: November 28, 2001

Story

Hi, Well here goes.. This is my Story, I will be updating it as the events unfold.

Well, It all startedat the end of my Senior year of High School 1998. It was just a small lump under the skin with not much pain. Well we went on a trip and went Go carting with my school, and I got hit from behind, and this thing popped. That is when I found out it was a pilonidal cyst. I went to one doctor, and he only gave me some dematology cream, and said to apply it for a while and it should go away.. WRONG, obviously he did not know it was a cyst.

Well, I went on up until about 4 months ago, with recurring infections, and the same cycle and pain every two weeks. I was really scared and embarassed about my little problem, so I did not ever go to a doc.

Well, At a physical exam, on Nov. 8, my Family Doctor took a look at it and said it was definately a Pilonidal Cyst, and that it had not only one opening, but about 6 (one large abcess, and 5 midline pits). So, she sent me to the Colorectal Surgeon for a consultation.

I heard that it could take weeks to get in for a consultation, but luckely there was a cancellation, and I would be in within a week. So on November 14, 2001 I went to my surgery consult, and here is how it went.

I had to stripdown, (very embarassing), and lay flat on this table while the Dr. and the Assistant looked at my bottom and talked about it. Well there I lay, feeling like hurry up already. Well he said he would need to do surgery, and that he could use one of two methods, 1. Excise it with Secondary healing, where they pack it etc., or 2. Excise it with Primary closure, where it is stitched up. Well I chose to have option 2.

So on December 3rd I will go into the University Hospital under General Anesthesia and have this thing removed once and for all. YEAH... I am very nervouse, as I have never been in the hospital before or had surgery. I will update my story after monday, when I am back at work, hopefully I will only be out for 4 days... Well wish me luck. Amy Ray

p.s. if any of you want to email me let me know. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has already had this surgery, and could tell me the whole procedure from a patient standpoint.. thankyou..

Date:: November 23, 2001

Story

Hi, I too have suffered from this horrible painful cyst on my behind. I have 8 brothers and sisters and guess what? 5 of us have it; 2 of them had it removed and the other ones I guess, have decided to suffer thru it.

Since my first pain when I was in high school (20 yrs ago), I've had 2 other recurring episodes and I'm going thru one right now. I find it flares up when I sit a lot and also deal with "bumpy roads" from driving.

I'm deathly afraid of surgery so I pray that the good Lord relieves my suffering and I know He will.

This site is absolutely wonderful in that, it's extremely informative and the fact that I can read stories from other suffers, believe it or not, is a great comfort in knowing that I'm not going thru this alone.

My butt hurts but it's not as bad as the previous times before. I've learned quite a lot since reading the info on this site and plan on going home and taking a shower and using some alcohol in the immediate area. I have long curly hair that does fall out a lot in the shower and also breaks in little tiny pieces.

Thanks for the information....

Now.. the question is... do I opt to have surgery or shave my head??????

Thanks, Marti :)

Date:: November 23, 2001

Story

This is only a briefing, as I am kind of ticked off right now about the entire situation.

Here it is, Folks, in a nutshell:

I was misled.

This "specialist" that I saw this past Monday (11-19-01) appears to be a General Surgeon, not a Colon and Rectal Surgeon. He didn't come right out and say either/or, nor did I ask him outright.

I discovered it by looking his name up on the Internet. He evidently has privileges at at least 3 [local] hospitals, and underneath his name is the title of General Surgeon, not c/r. Also, I looked him up thru the abcrs.org (American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons) website, and his name is not in there whatsoever.

No wonder he wants me to take the 'wait and see' approach (see more about this under the Pilonidal Discussions link).

I am glad I discovered this now, but he has done these procedures regarding pilonidal cysts, but I want a c/r surgeon to perform the procedure, not a general surgeon.

Date:: November 21, 2001

Story

Well, lookie here! LOL My story did, indeed, get posted. I am the person who has had it for 5 or 6 years and only recently got a correct diagnosis.

Ok, fast forward here. I don't think I mentioned how my visit to the specialist went this past Monday, Nov. 19 2001.

OK, I was extremely nervous driving to the town where the drs. office is located. I don't know why--I've handled 2 c sections. Maybe it's because we're talking about a different area of the body! LOL

Anyway, to insert some humor/fun stuf here, the doctor, a male, is one extremely fine specimen of a man (a total hunk!!), so, I don't know if that made it easier to have him, um, looking at that part of my body! LOL

OK, he said that (thankfully) there is no abscess. However, he doesn't seem to think there's an immediate need to do surgery. He said, "If it's not bothering you, then it's not bothering me," meaning, if it irritates you, then, yes, I will do surgery.

He cautioned that, even if surgery is performed, there is a 20-50% chance that it could come back. Seeing my 2 small children and realizing that taking care of them involves "moving around" (LOL), he thought that I might want to take a wait and see approach to it -- in short, I will definitely need help because he said the first week I will be "down and out," so to speak.

Also, he does the open wound method -- no stitching of the wound -- and told me I will have to have the gauze changed on a daily (more than once, I know) basis -- will need someone to do that. I don't think that I will be able to "get back there" to do this; am I correct in this, Everyone?

He said I would have it done on an outpatient basis and that I could choose to be awake or not (I choose to...LOL) and that I would remain there for 2-4 hours afterwards for monitoring purposes.

Well, he said that since the holidays are upon us, it would be best to wait till after the first of 2002, anyway. He said to wait 1-2 months to see how it's doing/I feel and then go from there.

Since I've had it this long, it's not like it's a "dire" thing to wait a while longer.

Also, he was irked by the fact that the family doctor who lanced it sewed it on the inside. I don't know if this is a no-no, but, from what I've been reading about this stuff, lots of people have been "sewed shut." Maybe it's referring to the inside of the area and not the outside...to what he's referring to.

He also appeared annoyed by the fact that the family doctor (also any other doctor that had looked at it) didn't tell me how to 'take care of it'/myself--that is, keeping the hair away from the cyst by using a hand razor (TendCare and Nair hair removal products are OUT of the question) to get the hair shaved as close as possible; also, I'm to take a bath every night vs. taking a shower. I guess this is to ensure that the area definitely has a chance to soak/get cleaner.

Yeah, everyone, I know about hygiene, but when someone tells you this, it almost sounds like you're not bathing daily, etc.! You get my point?!

When I told him that the family dr. said it was a dermoid cyst, he was quick to say, and I mean abruptly and firmly, "No, it's a pilonidal," like, "Duh! That other doctor doesn't know what he was talking about!!"

I would like to deal with this doctor, although he's not in our [future] heal insurance's PPO network. If I don't choose him, the only colon and rectal surgeons who are listed in the network are in the city--an hour away.

Oh, I did find out from the receptionist that as far as these procedures go, the most extensive surgery runs around $1,000.00, and that doesn't include the hospital letting the surgeon use their room, nor does it include surgical supplies.

I'll keep everyone posted.

BTW, I'm a 32 year-old female who has this awful disease/call it what you will, so it's definitely not a guy thing! LOL

Date:: November 21, 2001

Story

Just testing (again) to see if it'll let me tell my story. I've had this pilonidal cyst/disease stuff for over 6 years (that I know of), have finally been diagnosed correctly with it, and have made up my mind that, as soon as I can arrange for some help with 2 little children, I'm having surgery, hopefully in January 2002; if not, then soon afterwards.

If this lets me "speak" (LOL), then I will post my story when I get a chance later today/tonight.

I am glad that there is a place to come and "talk" about this thing that is, really, a PAIN IN THE BUTT! LOL

Date:: November 20, 2001

Story

I'm not a health professional at all, but I can make a suggestion to help the wife of a pilonidal sufferer, (11/5/01 story) who did't have insurance - this treatment was very effective on my 19 yr old daughter who had her cyst opened. she was given oral antibiotics for 10 days and also soaked her tail end in a tub of very hot water with 1 cup of epsom salts added to it, she soaked at least 2 if not 3 times a day, for 2 weeks - untill the oosing pretty much stopped. She wore a "mini-pad" or "panti-liner" over the area to keep her clothes from getting gunked up (uncented of course). It appears to be healed pretty well, but some day she will probably need the surgery, she may not though either, according to her doctor. Good Luck!

R D N's mom

Date:: November 20, 2001

Story

Well I have had 4 operations for Pilonidal Sinus, 3 of the being open wounds and packed daily with Kaltostat, they were not to sore. Now my 4th op was done three months ago and i am still not back at work, the wound was closed and this has been the worst op yet. The stitches cased a lot of pain but looked a lot cleaner, but they wound dehissed so I eventually had to get some of the wound packed. The wound has bled a lot and the scar tissue continues to get hard and soft...but hopefully this is the last...no this is the last op !!! So anyone got Ideas why my scar tissue goes hard and soft..normally it gets hard it if it recieves some pressure but goes back to normal within a day?? Well good luck eveyone !!!

Date:: November 17, 2001

Story

OK, my turn! LOL (Yeah, a person needs to have a good laugh, even though it's not a 'laughable' subject.

Anyway, here goes...

Around 6 years ago, I noticed what I thought was a small pimple on my, um behind. Not knowing what the heck it was, I tried combating it with Neosporin...no go.

Feeling somewhat pessimistic, I thought, "Could this possibly be some type of cancer?" I didn't tell DH about it right away; frankly, I can't remember when I told him, since it's been too long ago to remember.

Fast forward here...

I don't remember how I came about noticing it; maybe I just felt back there for something, and, voila!--there it was! I know that it itched and felt like a sore spot; it didn't grow in size, bleed, leak, etc.

Well, at some point, it really got to itching, and, one day when my mom was visiting me, I let her look at it, and she (not a nurse, etc.) tried "working on it." She used a bobby pin or some other instrument (yeah, probably a no-no, but I wasn't too worried because it itched, and I told her, "Believe me, you can't hurt me!!!" LOL)

When she was, um, working on it, she said that it had popped (under her pressure), that hairs (little ones, I guess) and green pus or something, along with blood, came out. I'm like, "WHAT??!!" I put a large bandage on it. I think it felt better after that, but, guess what?! You guessed it! The sucker was back in full force not long after that.

This time when Mom tried working on it, it hurt/was more sore than itching, so I halted her early attempts at getting anywhere with it. I told her that I'd just go to a doctor and see what he/she could do about it.

Well, at a routine OB/GYN exam around 5 or 6 years ago, I brought up the subject of this annoyance to the female doctor. Now, I hadn't brought up the subject to the receptionist over the phone when I alled to make my routine appt. Well, the doctor only stuck the area with something to drain some fluid, and, believe this...she charged me $100.00! Needless to say, I, as well as DH were royally ticked off! If she had actually went ahead and DID something with it, then, yeah, I could've seen charging me $100.00! Well, she called it a sebaceous cyst, said that any surgeon, even herself, could remove it, said, "If, in around 2 weeks, it's still acting up, then come back, and I'll look at it again." NOT! I felt that she wouldn't do anything to get the job done and try to charge me a fortune again.

Not long after this, when we had established a family doctor in a nearby town, I just went to him to see what he could do about my condition. I was tired of it and wanted some relief.

Before he looked at it, he consulted with me and said that if it was too big of a deal, he'd have to refer me to a specialist. Not once in our conversation, though, did he mention the word 'pilonidal cyst.' Well, after he looked at it, he said, "I can get that," and proceeded to get his surgical tools. I'm thinking, "Here we go, Boys!!" LOL

After he removed it/lanced it, he called it a dermoid cyst...again, no mention of pilonidal.

Well, he had to administer more anesthetics through the needle because I started to feel pain, and I said in a hurried tone of voice, "I'm feeling it! I'm feeling it!" Quickly, the pain of it subsided, and I just laid there while he performed what I believe (now that I've researched this stuff) was only a lancing. However, he removed hair that was coiled and 2 inches in length. He commented to his nurse while he was working, "I've never seen anything like this before." Looking back, I wonder if he had even 'heard' of pilonidal. He did say, though, that hair follicles had a tendency to get trapped underneath the skin, couldn't grow outward like normal hair, and became embedded.

He said that he couldn't guarantee that it wouldn't come back but felt that he had gotten all of it. He had inserted a scope in the area to ensure that there wasn't anything else in there "that wasn't supposed to be in there." He stitched the inside of the wound, which was supposedly good, but the outside stitches had to be taken out by him around 2 weeks after the procedure.

I really didn't have any pain after this; almost felt nauseous when I first looked at the incison site, though. Ugh!!

He said that if it did come back, he'd just perform the procedure again.

I couldn't walk like a normal person after the lancing. I walked like a robot! LOL Well, it was temporary, of course, and that night I had to lie on my stomach or side to sleep. I took the next day off of work.

Well, I had flare ups which consisted of itching, soreness, and a pinching sensation in that area in the fall of 1999, so I went back to this doctor. He looked at the scar/area and said that he couldn't see where anything had come back, and he also couldn't explain why I was having these sensations of itching, etc. I asked him if it was normal for scars to do that, but I cannot remember his answer. I really don't think he had one. LOL Believe me, I know my butt, and I wasn't imagining things!

Well, since that time, I've had these flare ups, but, around 2 weeks ago, I knew something was definitely up because when I felt the area, it didn't feel like a firm scar, like scars normally feel. It felt like a flattened piece of skin, and it seemed to me there is/was a fluid-filled sac there instead of a lumpy scar.

My mom looked at it and commented that she thought it just had been raised and then drained or something, but I don't recall it draining without my knowledge. Well, I went last week to a diff. family doctor (the other one got ditched by me due to my dissatisfaction with him and his staff before my DS was born in 2000), and this female family doctor diagnosed it as being a pilonidal cyst. She said, "I'm seeing 2 things here." I'm thinking, "Yikes! What??!!" Evidently, one of those sinuses I've been reading about has formed in the area, and I don't beleive it's supposed to be there. She said, "If you want this (correction of this) done right, you need to see a colon/rectal surgeon."

She referred me to a female surgeon, and I checked her out, but the woman's booked up for the remainder of this year as far as surgeries go. Also, I don't know if the woman has done many of these, and I'm not entrusting such a delicate matter to just anyone! I am happy to say, though (haven't met him yet) that I found a male doctor who does these surgeries at the hospital in a nearby town.

After calling the Physician Referral Service at a nearby hospital, the woman highly recommended him, he's board certified, has done a bunch of these, and she said his success rate is high. I have an appt. for a consultation on 11-28-01. After I called his office back to ask whether he was booked up or not, the receptionist said, "There shouldn't be any problem." She said that he prefers to get his patients in for surgery soon after he consults with them.

The reason I want it done now instead of waiting till after the first of the year (DH's health ins. at his work changes after the first of the year also) is cause I don't think I can stand it too much longer, and I don't want to risk getting an abscess from it/having it become infected. Heck, it might already be infected.

I will say, though, that I'm not embarrassed to tell you stuff that we all know would be considered to be embarrassing, so here goes: Now the sore/area forms a scab (feels like it), but then goes away. Does this make sense? Last night when I got up to use the restroom, I felt back there and noticed that some hair (fuzz from clothing or something) had actually gotten caught in this "scab." I tried pulling it out gently. Crazy, huh?

I'll keep you posted as to what happens after my consultation.

Thanks for listening.

My scare

Story

My story began in November 1998 when I first felt pain in my lower back. I went to the doctor and he gave me antibiotics and said it would clear up. After a week and a half I got a rash so had to go back to the doctor who discovered I was alergic to penicillin. He then gave me a different type of antibiotics which did clear it up. About a year or so passed with no problems. It then came back. I went back to the doctor who again gave me antibiotics. After several reoccurances of the pain one doctor asked if I had been refered to the hospital for treatment, I had not so he refered me straight away. I went to the hospital who put me on there waiting list. To cope with the pain and discomfort of this condition I had baths daily which seemed to help as when I showered I would feel the discomfort again. After being ont he waiting list for a year and not hearing anything through work I was given private medical insurance. The good news was they would cover me for the operation. Within 4 months I was in hospital having the Bascombes Procedure performed by a specialist colorectal surgeon. That was on 14 August 2001. I had 6 weeks off work as it was too uncomfortable and painful to sit down. The wound was left open so did take a long time to heal along with it having to be packed with Jelonet every day. I went back to work at the end of September and had no problems. Although the wound is still not competely healed even now the surgeon is very happy with how it looks and I get no pain at all from the site. If anyone out there is reading this and wondering should I have the surgery, I would say yes. I had to run my life round this problem and bath daily or else I had pain. I now dont have to think about it.

Date:: Friday, November 09, 2001

Story

hi all, i just want to thank the creator of this web site! it is wonderful to be able to talk about our struggles with this condition. through other web sites, i found and have used an effective remedy to the pilonidal flare-up. that is to apply warm compresses to the area for 20 minutes each day(or several times a day) until the flare-up passes. the compresses should be as hot as you can bear. also, try and keep pressure off the area as much as possible. i am a 22 y/o now. last year i had a painful lump on my tailbone that seemed to be a tailbone injury. i went to the doctor and i was diagnosed with a pilonidal cyst. shortly after, it was lanced...let me tell you--that was the worst pain of my life. i had a flare up a few months later that was treated with antibiotics. i was very skeptical about surgery. i have read statistics stating only a 50% chance of cure. and the 8 weeks of healing seems so long, not to mention the pain. thank you, brett, nj

Date:: Monday, November 05, 2001

Story

PLEASE READ --- A GOOD STORY ABOUT THE SURGERY Like many of you, I came to the web to find out info. about the condition I had suffered w/ for over 7 years.. a pilonidal cyst.. almost everything i read was a horror story. I was very VERY close to NOT having the surgery, but after meeting a few friends on this board, I decided to go through w/ it and get it done. NOT ALL SURGERIES GO BAD!! Believe it when I say that most stuff you will read on the web will be the "worst of the worst" bc in all honesty.. who is going to come to the web if their experience was wonderful w/ no pain?!! Anyhow, I hd the surgery 4 days ago.. My surgeon could NOT believe that i had heard so many horror stories about the surgery and recovery because he had performed hundreds of them.. and not ONE time (or so he says.. ) had someone had complications. This of course made me a bit happier and less worried going into it. now don't get me wrong, i am not saying it is a piece of cake surgery.. there exists a GREAT possibility for infection, especially if you dont take ALL the precautions and REST REST REST!! My wound was stitched. I know some say the best method is to leave the wound open, but my surgeon never used this method, always stitched it, and promised I'd be OK! :-) The surgery was very quick.. they found a huge abcess under the primary cyst.. and the dr. was surprised at how infected it was!! he said they were not prepared for how big it was!! wow!! i said "that's from 7 years of pain!!!" Anyhow, the thing i was most scared of was the IV!! and that was NOTHING!! no pain at ALL!! :-) I went home in about 4 hours after getting to the hospital. I slept most of the day . I am on some sort of codeine for the pain.. pretty good stuff!! Day 1 and 2 was rough, only bc you are soo sleepy and you can only remain in one position.. your stomach!!! It gets to be a pain..!! OH-- and peeing!! it hurts... then trying to poop (not to be gross) REALLLLY kills, so a word to the wise... drink metamucil or eat prunes or somethign!!!! By day 3 I was feeling SOO much better!! I played w/ my dog outside (not roughly of course... just throwin the frisbee) Today I feel better than yesterday.. and I only needed one pill today! the stitches look great! I went to the dr. today.. he said i am doing great!! I actaully did the wash today and made dinner! I can sit for "short" periods of time.. Each day gets easier.. I promise!! I am looking for full recovery in about 14 days.. Please email me if you need to talk about this.. Good luck and just do it!!!

Date:: Monday, November 05, 2001

Story

OK, I am writing this for my husband, who has one of these cysts. He is 30 years old, and has had this thing for 2 or 3 years now, and we didnt know what it was, and have no insurance. At first it was just a sore bump, but then it began to get really sore, and drain just a little. it would get so swollen, that I would squeaze it for him to drain it, and he would have relief for a few weeks, then it would fill back up again, and we would have to drain it again. Now, this is gross, and no one else has said this has happened to them, but the last time I drained it for him, all of a sudden the thing burst, and something came flying out of the drainage hole. It happened so fast, it freaked me out. I looked for what flew out, and found it to be a huge clump of HAIRS...no kidding, there were about a hundred hairs, all about one inch long. It grosssed me out so bad, I was gagging. Green pus, and hairs...ewww..anyways, he needs this thing removed, and we have no insurance, and the emergency room wont do it, they say he needs a specialist, and no specialist will do it without cash or insurance, so what are we supposed to do? this thing is not getting any better, and we dont have the money, we are in Florida, any ideas?

Date:: Sunday, November 04, 2001

Story

hello friends its me HECTOR. IT IS NOW 4 WEEKS AFTER MY SURGERY AND HORROR STORY. BY THE WAY IM 16 YRS OLD. THE WOUND IS FINALLY HEALING UP I HAVE 1 MORE INCH TO GO I STILL CANNOT GO TO SCHOOL. THE BOTTOM OF THE CUT STILL BLEEDS NOW AND THEN. BUT IM NOT ON ANY MEDICINE NOW THANK GOD. I WANT TO GO TO SSCHOOL SO BAD, BUT I AM A BLEEDER SO I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. PLEASE EVERYONE DONT TAKE YOUR CYST AS SOMETHING THAT WILL GO AWAY ON ITS OWN. I HAVE BEEN THU HELL AND BACK SINCE MY SURGERY WITH MANY COMPLICATIONS. BUT I PRAY EVERYTHING WILL COME OUT FINE. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL, AND THANKS FOR MAKING THIS SITE, IT HELPED ME PREPARE FOR WHAT WAS COMING. BYE.... HECTOR