Well, Iâ�?�?m finally all healed! It has been a long road but there is an end to it all. Had my last follow up appointment at the hospital and was discharged. Everything is all healed nicely. Now Iâ�?�?ve just got to keep it that way. For those who havenâ�?�?t read my earlier entries Iâ�?�?m a 23 year old NZ European male. I had my first cleft lift operation November last year and the second in May. Following on from my last post I opted to not go and see the GP for antibiotics as they probably wouldnâ�?�?t have helped that much anyway. I did follow the surgeonâ�?�?s apprentice recommendation to shave the area. I didnâ�?�?t want to use a bladed razor because I thought it would irritate the skin too much so decided to purchase a Phillips body groomer. It has two ends; one that trims and the other that shaves the hair right to skin level (I done the later). I think shaving the area really helped with the final healing of the wound and I will look at shaving again every month or so. I am going to consider laser hair removal because it isnâ�?�?t the easiest of places to get to and I donâ�?�?t particularly want to rely on my parents or future girlfriend to do the shaving for me. In all honesty, that just isnâ�?�?t fair on them or me! How did I get the final part of the wound to heal you ask? Persistence and a positive attitude. I will admit that Iâ�?�?ve had my ups and downs throughout the ordeal, but the bottom line is I couldnâ�?�?t exactly do much about my situation so just went with it and looked at the bright side of things. With regards to the wound, I must stress that I would consider keeping the area dry just as important as keeping the area clean – if not more important. I would have called myself OTT with regards to cleanliness. I resorted to using a hair dryer to blow dry (on cool setting) the area once I had a shower and throughout the day. I truly believe this really helped me. Also, I made sure to eat really healthy (lots of fruit and vegetables), drink plenty of water, and I even exercised with dumbbells just to try keep my fitness up because I couldnâ�?�?t workout like I would have liked. If I had it my way I would have been running on a treadmill, but alas, because of surgery I had to take a step back from regular exercise. I even took up drinking green tea with all the talk about it having antioxidant benefits – and I will continue to drink it just because. Iâ�?�?m still somewhat limited in what I can do physically. For example I wouldnâ�?�?t want to run any sort of distance and I even find the simple task of picking things off the ground difficult. I actually crouch instead of bend to pick something up, itâ�?�?s weird but it works for me. I am committed to getting back to 100% physically though. Iâ�?�?m going to up the weights gradually and get back on the treadmill and start out slow and gradually reach running speed. By the way Iâ�?�?m not crippled from the operations. I can still perform everyday tasks. I do, still, however dislike sitting for prolonged periods of time due to some mild discomfort. Iâ�?�?m sure things will continue to improve with time though. For those who read this I hope you find it motivating and that it gives you added strength to push on. I never would have believed an abscess on ones backside could cause so much drama. But there is an end to it all. Keep strong everyone. Iâ�?�?ll be sure to provide a follow up post in a few months. Lindsay