ANYONE WHO WANTS A DETAILED STORY ON PRIMARY EXCISION AND CLOSURE, PLEASE READ MY STORY.
My name is Laveen, and today I was discharged from the hospital after a primary excision and closure surgery with absolutely no problems. I would like to take you through in detail and in a proper manner, my personal experiences before, during, and after my surgery I did not realize until a flare-up that I had pilonidal sinus for over a year. I first saw its effects when looking down at the toilet after number 2 and seeing some blood which worried me.
I scheduled an appointment with a colorectal doctor and saw him right away. He checked me out (including with his finger) and said I was absolutely fine (so I was misdiagnosed). After that I always wondered why I experienced a discharge after pressing on my abscess (which wasn’t inflamed at the time) but experienced no pain, so I let it be and thought nothing of it. Then one fine day, after having a few beers with some friends, I experienced my first flare-up. It was so painful I was not able to sit down at work, and went to see a doctor, who first uttered the dreaded words “you have pilonidal sinus” to me.
As soon as he said I needed a surgery and discussed a flap I freaked out in total fear and called my parents, who live away from me. As soon as we sought 4-5 different opinions, it was explained to us by one doctor that it is possible to treat it with no surgery at all and just with antibiotics, as long as the flare-ups were not happening often. Of course, I went for this option first, which was tough to live with as I wasn’t allowed to sweat for too long, and to take a sitz bath everyday, and showered 2-3 times daily to make sure there was no flare-ups. ANYTHING to prevent me from going to the surgery table after seeing such scary images.
However, for my case, my flare-ups were happening to often no matter how hard I tried. The final straw came when I wanted to go out with a few friends and have a few drinks, and in the morning my abscess had swollen like a balloon to the size of a golf ball. My doctor took a look, put me on 2000mg of antibiotics for the week, and recommended that I had a surgery. At this point I was much more inclined to it as LIFE WAS JUST NOT WORTH GOING THROUGH WITH THIS DAMN THING IN MY BODY. He talked to me about the options, which included Primary excision and closure, primary excision with secondary intention (open healing) and different flap surgeries. I decided that for me, primary excision and closer would work a lot better as I didn’t want to miss so much work (open healing takes longer) and since I have a 75% chance of no reoccurrence (according to my doc) it was worth a shot. It sounded better then having my body changed with flaps or going through painful open healing (which I would have to do anyway if my wound got infected).
So, I scheduled the surgery where my parents were based, and took 4 weeks off work. One thing you will realize, is that knowing you have a surgery (and its your first time) plays mental games with your mind. My advice here is to read people’s stories (including this one) and know all the information you can, as it puts your mind a little more at ease. One thing I discussed with my doctor which I recommend you discuss with yours, is to have the wound OFF THE MIDLINE (as this website discusses in detail) as you have a greater chance of healing and lower change of infection.
My D-day had finally come, and the hospital inserted a drip into my hand. Believe it or not, THAT WAS THE ONLY PAIN THE ENTIRE DURATION BEFORE AND DURING THE SURGERY. I was then wheeled away to the operating room. One of my biggest concerns about surgery (perhaps the biggest) was GENERAL ANESTHESIA. I had never “gone under” and was so scared I might “not wake up” or be asleep and feel all the pain of the operation, or that something else might happen. As the anesthesia was injected into me, I tried to lighten the mood by talking to the doctor, who I was comfortable with. I KID YOU NOT, THE NEXT THING I KNOW I am waking up next to my mom in the post-op room. I DID NOT FEEL A THING, AND DID NOT REMEMBER A THING ABOUT THE SURGERY EXCEPT MY LAST JOKE TO THE DOCTOR. It was remarkable.
When I woke up, I was in a bit of pain, but only because this hospital had me on a weak pain killer (level 1 paracetemol). Once they put a level 2 painkiller in my ivy I was alright. If I were to do it again, I would ask my doctor to arrange a level 2 or greater pain killer in my drip so as not to be pain when i wake up. Anyway, the anesthesia made me so sleepy I really didn’t notice any pain that much, and when it wore off and I was conscious, the pain killers had already set in and I was fine. DO NOT LET PAIN SCARE YOU, THE HOSPITAL HAS GREAT WAYS TO MAKE YOU COMFORTABLE THROUGHOUT YOUR ENTIRE STAY.
I have to say, for me it was cool to see my wound without feeling so much pain, I got my mom to take a picture to show me. The only really frustrating part about this ordeal for me was this stupid tube or “drain” that they attach to your butt to help drain the wound. It is frustrating to get comfortable with it, and hurt a bit pulling it out when I was eventually discharged (with no painkillers). After four days of sponge baths, a lot of t.v, and laying on my stomach and side, I was discharged from the hospital feeling fine. I experienced NO INFECTION AND NO COMPLICATIONS AT ALL SO FAR and the doc said my wound healing “looked fabulous”.
The changing of the dressing was NOT painful as it was just gauze with sanitizer and a bit of tape where they already shaved me. Today was my first day being discharged and my healing has gone very well so far. My stitches (6 in total) will be removed in two weeks. When they removed the stick that was keeping that drain to my ass, i felt no pain, so i don’t think dealing with them will be a problem pain-wise. I think I chose the right surgery, and if I experience any issues or a reoccurrence, I have the open healing or flap surgery in my locker to tackle this thing. I will now take prevent measures such as hair removal, and in my opinion, losing some weight. You really feel a sense of freedom and happiness that you can resume your normal life, that this damn thing doesn’t hamper you every day.
And after knowing the full surgery experience, my advice to anyone considering it is to GET IT DONE. It is NOT THAT BAD and YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO LIVE LIFE NORMALLY (in my case, going to the gym, playing sports, drinking with some friends, socializing, swimming and so much more). Also in my opinion IT IS NOT WORTH LIVING WITH, ESPECIALLY IF YOU FLARE UP ONCE A MONTH OR MORE AND THEN GET PUT ON HEAVY ANTIBIOTICS. Please remember, DONT BE SCARED, SURGERY IS OK. YOU ARE IN THE HANDS OF PROFESSIONALS AND FOR THE MOST PART, THEY DEFINITELY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
I was discharged after four days, I feel fine and my healing process is going well. I wish you all the best in battling this disease and I can honestly say post surgery, there really looks like there is light at the end of this horrible tunnel. Laveen