I’m 19 years old. About 3 or 4 years ago I fell off my bed and went to the doctor where my pilonidal abscess was diagnosed and I was given antibiotics to treat it. By the time I had gone to the doctor, the abscess had already started to drain on it’s own, so my primary care doctor did not see a reason to get it lanced. She squeezed out a lot of the pus and had me take warm baths to assist the drainage.
After a few days the swelling went down and the opening (where the abscess was draining from) healed over. Three weeks ago I started noticing it was uncomfortable to sit, and I attributed that to a recurrence of the pilonidal abscess. I called my doctor to let her know it came back, and then I did the warm soaks to help drain the abscess myself. After a full week, the abscess was still open and draining, so I decided that I would go to the doctor the next day (since it was a Sunday). I didn’t even make it that long. That night at about midnight, I woke up with a pain incredibly intense from my back end and when I went to draw another bath, I almost fainted.
My mother took me to the emergency room where a nice lady cut the abscess open and squeezed out a golf-ball sized mass of pus from my abscess. Following that, she dug around in the wound to make sure there were no hidden pockets of infection. This was the most painful experience of my life. She mentioned that I could get surgery, but that it is a long recovery for a small operation. My mom and I discussed it and decided that if the abscess came back, I would see a surgeon. Well apparently my body wanted the surgery because that abscess did come back. I went to see Dr. Lister in Framingham, and he decided that since I’m a girl it would be better to do a closed excision so it would be prettier when it healed. I agreed and then he gave me my instructions.
To reduce the risk of infection, I was ordered to prepare my bowels as for a colonoscopy and not eat anything but water and jello for 7 days after the surgery. That’s where I am at now. So far so good, no infection and it has already healed over so infection is not too much of a worry anymore. I am also taking clindomycin 4 times daily, which I have been on since a week and a half before the surgery. While the healing process is slow and difficult (without food), I am expected to have less than 5% chance of the abscess returning, I was also instructed not to sit or lay on my back for 7 days after the surgery, and I was not required to flush the wound or change any dressings.
Still healing and I hope to post again after everything is done and I can eat food again!