Cleft lift surgery scheduled for 6/1/12

Wow!! Great news.....

I love reading your updates, they are so encouraging and hopefull to others going through this.....

Also, don't worry if one area closes slower than the rest. Jared's did that also....his issue was due to an undissolved stitch the surgeon thinks....once it was removed, the area closed. But having an area that is slow to close has happened to a few past cleft lift members.....2 i recall off hand....and both did have successful closure of the area in time.

I had a similar problem. Three small opening that were not closed after the stitches were removed. A couple of weeks after the stitches were removed they closed on their own with no problem. The doc suggested I put antibiotic ointment on it two times a day. If you decide to do that cover it with a bit of gauze because it will stain your underwear. Glad to hear you are doing so well.

Thanks, Jaredsmom! One day I'll just be another one of many that got through it with the cleft lift, but right now I truly believe not enough people are getting the cleft lift. I really do believe it's the best option and I don't quite understand the people who think it's so drastic for this to be a first option. I would have jumped at this if I had known it could have been a first option for me.. It's better in every aspect that I can see as long as the person has health insurance.
You were definitely the main person that led me to get this surgery as I've been reading your posts since I first got my open excision in January and I immediately started second guessing everything (before I even knew I wasn't going to heal from that one). I feel like sometimes people believe you're on here just throwing the cleft lift in peoples' faces and refusing to see any other decision as viable.. but I know your son's situation and the disease overall enough to know that you're educated on this, you know what worked for your son, and you know what doesn't often work for other people.

Thanks for letting me know as well, Durango! I knew it was definitely common for this to happen with the bottom of the scar and it only makes sense. I'm not too worried about it failing to close up because even though that part is more "open" than the others, it's still on the surface and not an actual hole. Plus it's definitely granulating well.

I did forget to leave out that I do have to keep one small gauze pad rolled up in the crack so that that part can continue to granulate and heal fully. As for putting antibiotic ointment on it twice a day, he never said anything to me about that, but I'll definitely look into doing it since you seem to have had no complications with it.

I can't believe how good you look already! You are right you don't have anything that looks different about your butt at all. I know what you mean about being hesitant to show pictures and I'm hoping my son will decide to allow me to post his. You are young and pretty and the fact that you have put your face and well.. your butt on here makes you a brave girl in my book, much braver than I would have been at your age. I think it shows that this disease can happen to anyone. You are NOT heavy or hairy. Let's face it this disease is not cute but it does happen to cute people just the same.

Awe, well thank you! I wouldn't call myself cute but I do believe many people don't realize this disease strikes people of various types and backgrounds. No one should be ashamed of or embarrassed by it because it is something none of us could prevent. The fact that this was known to be most common in hairy, overweight men was horrifying to me when I was first diagnosed. How was I supposed to understand or explain that I got this as a normal size, non-hairy female?
It definitely didn't take long for me to get used to it and realize there was nothing I could do about it. All I could really care about was getting rid of it and getting it taken care of. That's all any of us should care about.
Thank you for the kind words and definitely keep me updated on your son's situation as you get the surgery scheduled and done.


Another update: I will be adding two photos of my open wound before I got the cleft lift done. They're really not great photos as they were taken with my camera phone AND I like to say my open wound/hole was a deep abyss. It was a clean job but definitely more scary on the inside than it appeared on the outside. I am only posting these so you can understand how much my surgeon shallowed the cleft and what he had to do to get rid of the wound I was plagued with for over 4 months. I will post the link on my post in the pictures forum.

Hey guys here's a quick update on my cleft lift wound/scar. Almost all of the glue has fallen off at this point and I've avoided the urge to pick it off because I am not risking pulling on anything back there!
With the glue gone, there is a scab but it's not very nasty looking at all anymore.. it's actually a pretty thin scab that goes all the way down the wound where the two sides were stitched together, and some of the scab is healing enough to be falling off on its own and it looks fine underneath that.
The very bottom of the wound is still healing itself as well and as fast as possible. It's almost done I believe, it's just that it's actually raw flesh/scar tissue rather than healed skin so it looks a little bit less pleasant, obviously. I want to try what Durango said, applying antibiotic ointment on it every day but I'm scared to do anything to the wound that my surgeon didn't tell me to do so I don't know about that yet.

I'll upload some new pictures either tomorrow or the day after that (won't be 'til evening or later because I have work) so y'all can see how quickly it's healing and looking better.

I did want to tell y'all about a scare I had yesterday- that made me cry actually- because I know a few people are getting cleft lifts soon and if this same thing happens to them, I want them to have heard about it and not freak out about it. If you take a look at my most recent pictures (the 13 day post-op pictures) there is a tiny (and I mean TINY) area right above the glue/scabbing/scar that looks like a continuing line/scar that's already healed. It's a little bit darker and if you actually click to the biggest scale/most zoomed, it almost just looks like a dark purple dot or something. This area is above the wound and I believe it is above where the old wound was even.
Well, I was feeling around the wound with my fingers yesterday to see where it still hurt to press and where it didn't (because I was getting some random twinges of pain when I moved a certain way and I couldn't tell which side of the butt it was coming from which felt weird).
While doing this, I pressed down on the small area where that tiny dot was, and it kind of sunk in a little bit. I don't mean SUNK in, more so it felt kind of like a dimple and sort of hollow underneath of that.. and then I saw that dot and thought it was a tiny hole. I started panicking thinking I was having a recurrence and blahblah so I started feeling around even more. I felt right where the scar starts, a bit to the right, and it felt slightly hard, almost like how my cyst felt when it originally developed.
I'm not sure if, to understand that hardness I'm talking about, you'd really had to have had the cyst with no sinus or draining (like I did), but this is just what it felt like, and it hurt when I touched it in the same manner as well. I pretty much sat down and started crying facing the belief that I was having a recurrence and I'd have to figure out where to go from here. It made me so sick to my stomach that I really didn't keep feeling around or looking in the mirror or anything.
Today, I decided to investigate more. I felt the hollow-ish area again and realized it's not exactly hollow, I just think the skin was pulled over tightly and because that's where the crack began before (I believe), there was not as thick of a layer of fat to fill the skin completely and stay put when touched. So, with touch, it does push in a bit easier. Then I investigated the hardness and realized what I probably would have realized yesterday if I didn't jump to conclusions so fast.. The hardness goes pretty much all the way down the scar. It didn't hurt when I touched it today so I'm not sure why it was a bit painful when I touched it yesterday. The hardness, I believe, is just the thickness of the layering technique my surgeon did when he made the one side mobilized and sewed it over.

All I really have to say is.. be calm during the healing process. Don't freak out about any pains or weird feelings. Obviously keep your eyes open for urgent signs like severe and not-ending burning, wound site hot-to-the-touch, feeling sick, running a fever, wound site area severely red, unwanted draining/pus etc. Otherwise, take it slow and steady and call your surgeon or post on here about any questions or minor problems if need be.
Give your surgeon some credit. If he was good enough for you to choose him, he's done cleft lifts successfully, and he is a specialist, he likely did your surgery the way it was supposed to be done. My paranoia failed to credit him with the fact that I had just seen him a few days prior to the scare and he would have told me if there was a recurrence or problem beneath the scar.

My next follow up is on the 27th and I'll keep y'all updated with any further tips/information/progressions.

I've seen all of your latest pictures and you really do seem to be on your way. I can see what you meant about the glue. I guess you just had to be patient and let it come off on it's own. I think you having some fear is really normal. That seems to be the common thread with everyone recovering from this disease no matter what surgery they had - fear of it coming back and /or the incision opening up. Stay strong we're all pulling for you.

Hi UnluckyOne,

Do you know if your doc does pit picking? I am also in the Atlanta area. I've only had one lancing and would like to try pit picking before surgery like a cleft lift. Thanks!

I'm sorry, I do not know. He never even mentioned it to me, but it wouldn't have been an option for me because I had an open wound that wouldn't heal, therefore cleft lift was my only saving grace. But his office is SO nice and helpful (as is he, especially in the bedside manner department) so if you call the number provided for him on the surgeon list, they can tell you automatically!
Good luck!

Nikki, did you call his office? If you did not, I have a follow up with him tomorrow so I could ask him for you. Let me know ASAP, though.

Hi UnluckyOne firstly congratulations on getting the treatment and you feeling better and getting on with your life. secondly I think I have a pilonidal. It doesn't hurt but it pusses every other day. What are the recovery times like on the cleft lift as I am a very busy man and I can't really have much time off work as I fear I may get fired, then I will lose my house and car and what not. I have been looking about for a couple of months now and there aren't many good posts on any forum about the recovery. Is it really that fast getting back to every day chores and work? thanks

Aaron,
Well if you look at all of the dates on my posts you'll get a better understanding of the recovery time. Against everyones' orders/advice, I went back to work 3 days post-op. It was quite difficult the first day because I wasn't forcing myself to sit for long periods yet, and driving was awkward/uncomfortable.. but it got much better 4 days post-op and by 5 days post-op I was doing all sorts of things- sitting, bending over, feeling almost perfect. Got the drain removed at 6 days post-op which made everything so much easier and then 7 days post-op I was working at my other job and that including moving and carrying very heavy bins, walking and bending over a lot etc. I was fine.

The first week is the biggest thing to get through because it's gradual improvement and you don't want to stretch yourself too far but you definitely want to test the waters as much as possible. Some people wait until almost 6 or 7 days to start sitting but I can't imagine that because by then, I was already back to doing all normal activities and felt great.

It also depends how long you keep the drain in, because everything gets much, much better after the drain removal.

I would say go for it.. You shouldn't have to take off any more work than they would allow for a medical thing like this and it would be better for you to get this all behind you as soon as possible..

Good luck

UnluckyOne
Thanks for the advice, I just need to find a surgeon that will do it in the uk now. I am not really bothered about the scarring just the recovery time. Was it that painful? I have a high tolerence for pain though. Also I could just take a weeks holiday and get it done over that time if it's about a 7 day healing process then I can get back to work. There isn't much heavy lifting or bending down in my job I work in an office but thanks for the helpful advice on you getting back in work within 3 days. I am feeling a little better now I have found this and can talk to people about it. It is just a ballache having to get all this sorted.

Hope to hear from you soon
Azz

http://www.pilonidal.org/xfforums/index.php?threads/uk-surgeons.4851/
http://www.pilonidal.org/_assets/pdf/db_md_pdf/PiloMDs_NON-USA_4_2012.pdf
That should help for your search within the UK I believe. The scarring isn't bad at all.. and even though it was a thing I was scared of, I'd rather have a scar than a PC. The pain wasn't very bad (I also have a very high pain tolerance, but I don't think it's the same when it comes to being sliced open etc) plus you get prescribed a fairly high number of serious pain meds. That took care of it all for me and I only used them sparingly because I don't very much like popping pills. If you work at an office your biggest problem is just going to be sitting for long periods of time and I'm telling you now, you will experience discomfort.. even after a week. Notice I said discomfort, not pain.
My biggest tip for you would be to start sitting as early as you can after the surgery, even if you feel like you can't or shouldn't. The human body is a crazy thing, and it needs you to teach it how it will be sitting and how the skin will be stretching. It needs to get used to it for a while until the pain and discomfort goes down.
I will also advise getting a coccyx cushion (fairly inexpensive) because it will help you a lot.

It's definitely a pain to get it all sorted out- and I had to work in the surgery around my job(s) as well.. but it's worth it. Trust me.

Just wanted to give a quick update on my cleft lift as I am still healing. I'm struggling a bit to get the very bottom of the scar to heal and I was making excellent progress but my surgeon's assistant did use silver nitrate on it at my last office visit (Wednesday, the 27th) and I officially hate silver nitrate. I feel as if it killed a lot of the healing I had already done and it made the bit of wound that's left much more sensitive, tender, feeling like a fresh wound. It hadn't felt like that for a while until he did the treatment.
I'm still very confident about the cleft lift (especially since only 20% of patients have problems healing the bottom of the wound like I am.. plus people like Durango have the complications with the bottom of the wound but heal up very quickly) and dealing with this surface wound is much easier than dealing with the gaping open wound I had.

I'm starting to just hate my body and that rate at which I heal..

My biggest problem was healing at the bottom of the wound site when I had the closed surgery. I went 17 months before I opted for the cleft lift and have not been able to believe my progress. My open wound was pretty low to begin with so I went into the cleft lift surgery knowing that the bottom may still be a problem. To my surprise, my wound is all but healed up. I can't find any visible opening and it is exactly one month from the surgery today.

This may sound weird but my doctor recommended rolling gauze into a cigar shape (like a cigar vent) and buttressing the lower cleft region. His rationale is that either the gauze will keep the area dry and/or oxygen will help healing. I don't know if it will work for you but it did help me. I am due to see him on July 23rd to get the "official" your healed. I am considering a bottle of champagne for the day I hear those words. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the response, Eagle! I've been doing the cigar-rolled type thing with the gauze since I got the stitches out. Firstly, getting oxygen would be hard at all because it's where it goes into the cleft (because my surgeon left the cleft at the bottom, only took the top of my crack). I think a lot of the slow healing had to do with the fact that there was a little bit of a stitch still left in the bottom for about a week and a half before I noticed it and took it out myself so although it seems like I should have the last bit healed by now, I couldn't have done any healing there until that was out. But yeah I've come a long way since when he silver nitrated it. Almost all the way healed, I'd say.
I might take one more picture tomorrow but other than that I won't be posting again until I'm fully healed and it's over with because I've only got like a mm or less of surface skin to fill in.

Thanks, everyone, for following my story and I hope I've been able to help y'all!
Today marks 1 month and 4 days since surgery and I wouldn't regret it for a second.

Hi. I am just back from vacation and wanted to check in to see how everyone is healing. It sounds like you are doing well even though that last bit is being difficult, but it sounds like you may have just figured it out yourself by finding that bit of stitch. I do remember the whole silver nitrate ordeal when my son was going through it trying to get his wound to close. I hope you are done with that and that you are fully healed soon!

I just looked at your pics and it seems you're on your way to a finished healing. I had my surgery on april 24th (closed) and it looks pretty well healed now and has been for a few weeks and it seems you are a month behind me so you should be well on your way. Looking at your pics though it seems you might've healed a bit quicker than me, but diff type of surgery so it makes sense. I still feel slight (very slight) discomfort in the lowest part of the area but that's after excessive continuous sitting (at work). My surgeon told me it will take up to 6 months to FULLY heal so I expect very minor healing to continue occurring in the mean time.

Lilly, I just realized you're from Maryland! That's where I am originally from. I'm doing very well.. The silver nitrate felt like a step back and had me very down about the whole situation but my body just picked itself right back up and I'm nearly 100% healed. Should be in the next few days I'm thinking. Will definitely post a couple pictures. Even with my slow-to-heal part and all, being healed in a month and 1 week is a blessing.
Razonian I am happy for you that you healed! When you say closed, do you mean the close excision? You are very lucky, many people have complications with that procedure and keeping the wound closed. I hope you continue to progress and stay healthy and healed.