It all began 6 months ago, when I felt some pain on my tailbone… (cue the dramatic music!)
On Fourth of July weekend, 2018, I noticed a growing “bruise” on my tailbone. I thought it was from sitting around all weekend on the concrete and pavement, but I thought it was odd I had never had this issue before. The only time I noticed pain when sitting on hard surfaces was about 11 months earlier, when I had experienced a bruise-like sensation on my tailbone after sitting down for awhile on a wooden bench.
After 3 days, though, it went away, and I forgot about it. This time, however, I tried to shake off the feeling that it was getting worse. I tried my best to ignore it. As the days progressed, the “bruise” swelled up and turned red, and soon I was completely unable to drive, sit down, or lie on my back. Needless to say, I was sleepless and in agony! I wandered around my house 24/7 because I couldn’t sit down – even lying on my stomach was excruciating! My mom and friend (who both had personal experience in chiropractics) both thought I had a misaligned sacrum, or coccyx, and advised I ice the area 20 minutes on, and 20 minutes off. Well, I iced it but it did nothing to stop the pain. Ibuprofen and Tylenol were useless. Hot baths were useless. NOTHING even seemed to take the edge off. Nights were spent tossing and turning, sleepless, and days were spent aimlessly walking around in fatigued agony because I just couldn’t relax or abate the pain.
About 3 days into this nightmare, I tried stretching the sacrum – horrible pain ensued. Then, I visited the chiropractor and got the sacrum region adjusted – oh mama, the PAIN was unreal!
Finally, after a week I couldn’t stand it anymore, and went into urgent care. The nurse looked at me like I grew a third eye when I told her the pain started after I sat down for too long. Clearly she did not know how to deal with this. I couldn’t sit down for the visit, and was incredibly desperate to receive pain relief at this point. As soon as the doctor took one look at my butt, she said “Yep, looks like you have a pilonidal cyst.” So she told the nurse to hold me down, and injected a local anesthetic into my behind – dear reader, that was by far the most pain I’ve experienced in my young life!!!!!!
So she incised and drained the abscess, packed the wound, and sent me on my way. I was sore from the procedure, and a bit traumatized I will say, but the “real” pain had gone and I was incredibly joyful and THANKFUL TO GOD that I was finally on the road to recovery! It took me about 3 days before I could sit down properly again, but I felt the pain greatly diminish each day. What a beautiful feeling! It was terrible unpacking the gauze myself….my sister had a good look at my butt while she helped me, haha….but I bit my tongue and got it over with, and was extremely happy to be pain-free!
Fast-forward into the recent months, and I’ve had tons of little flare-ups. I have to really monitor the amount of time I sit down, so doing work, driving, and traveling in general are causes for nervousness for me. Recently, the “cyst” flared up bad again and I got antibiotics from a different urgent care doctor. Both this doctor and the previous one told me there is essentially no cure for this disease. 🙁 Now, the “cyst” is flaring up bad again, but I now know how to use good hygiene, so it hasn’t gotten horrible. And it was clearly an answer to prayer that it hasn’t gotten worse.
Now, I am searching for a doctor in the Minneapolis area (or Minnesota in general) who can do a pit picking procedure on me. I am confident my case is not too severe yet, and I am incredibly hopeful that I can get this procedure done well, and be pilonidal free because of it. I went through a stressful few days calling up tons of hospitals and doctors in the state, and being scared and frustrated because they had no idea what to do about my case.
Then, due to Dr. Sternberg’s website, I found this resource and have recognized it is a TRUE answer to prayer. I went from being incredibly fearful and confused to having a better, correct knowledge of this condition and understanding that I do not need intensive surgery right now (if ever). I can’t express my thanks enough for pilonidal.org! Jesus heard my desperate plea for a cure, and He lead me here.
So that’s my story for now! Please don’t give up hope if you are still in the dark and confused about this disease – believe there is a cure despite what most doctors say! Find a knowledgable, experienced doctor and pray that Jesus would direct him and you towards the right treatment option for your case.
Blessings!