I’m Katie, a 27yo female. I don’t hear many stories from kiwis or Australians so here isy contribution! My story is a little different to most that I’ve read. I was born with a dimple in the cleft of my buttocks. I assume that way back then there was no cause for alarm, however the doctors did tell my mother about it so she has always been aware of it.
Anyway, my first experience with this horrid diease was when I was 14 years old. Like all my pilonidal abscesses, it started off with a pain on the tailbone, like I’d bruised it. I don’t remember much of the process of this first one, I do remember that it was lanced and drained in a doctors clinic and I was sent home. No problem! Till about 7 years later. I had another flare up in my early 20’s. Again had a lance and a drain, this time at an emergency clinic. At no point had anyone ever mentioned to me surgery to get rid of this.
So at 25years old I move from NZ to Australia. For some reason here is where my disease gets out of control. It had been about 4 years since my last flare up, and I’d thought I’d done something to my tailbone, fallen or something because it was excrusiatingly sore. I head off to the doctors, he looks at it – briefly – says its inflamed tissue and sends me home with antibiotics. Two days later I’m vomiting in pain, close to calling an ambulance, go into the GP clinic again in hysterics, and another doctor rushes me into the treatment room at the back, and with no anesthetic he lances it straight away, my goodness, that instant relief, I will never forget – it should have been lanced and drain two days prior he tells me, and mentions this I one of the largest pilonidal abscesses he’d seen.
Again I was not told about corrective surgery. Instead was told there was nothing I could do to prevent these abscesses reoccurring. My flare ups become more frequent once I moved states. I had another 4 abscesses in the space of a year. My new GP referred me to a specialist who booked me in for a excision in 4 weeks time! Cut to present day, I am now 1 1/2 weeks post op, and today is by far my best day! I have a open wound, and we are using V.A.C (vacuum assisted closure) therapy.
I have a love/hate relationship with this machine. It’s frustrating being constantly hooked up to this machine, but in just a week my wound has halved in size! Extremely painful dressing changes but in my opinion so worth it because of my rapid heal time. And dressings are only twice a week.
SO even though I’m still recovering, I want to share my story and put a positive message out there (I read some horror stories prior to my surgery that didn’t help AT ALL).
12 years of this disease and I’m confident I’m on the road to never having this pain in the bum ever again! Yesterday I had a dressing change and they opted to change the foam packing to gauze packing. WHAT A DIFFERENCE So much more comfortable for me, and fingers crossed that dressing changes will be significantly less painful for me.
Fingers crossed!