Female age 28 Alberta Canada. My first cyst came on when I was 20. I had no idea what was going on and thought I had some sort of boil or pimple.
After poking at it for 3 days the pain became so unbearable I sought help. I self diagnosed online and my doctor confirmed it for me. She sent me to the hospital where I was admitted and on IV antibiotics for 4 days. They put me under and preformed a drainage type surgery on me while I was there. It was immediate relief. I had 2 incisions either side and had tubes hanging out of my backside for about 10 days dripping onto a makeshift maxi pad type thing.
My doctor removed them 10 days after and they healed up nicely within about 2 weeks. I was told by my surgeon that the only way to fix this was to have the open surgery. He told me it would take 8-12 months for me to heal and he would remove a chunk a little larger than a golf ball. I was NOT having that, and said no thank you to him.
Fast forward 3 years. No problems since drainage and then I feel it¦ it had come back, but this time around was only mildy annoying, and not painful. So onto the internet I went looking for a surgeon that would perform any sort of surgery where I was not left with a gaping hole that took months to heal. I found a dr. in Vancouver and she did a closed surgery for me. It was pretty easy. They did put me to sleep for the surgery and it took about 1 hour, I was out of the hospital that day.
The first few days were more annoying than anything (can’t get it wet, going to the bathroom was a challenge etc etc.) I had my stitches out about 2.5 weeks after surgery and it healed up well. All together about 6 weeks and I was good as new.
Fast forward another 5 years to today (2015). A new cyst has formed about 1.5 inches lower than the last one. It came about in July. This time it’s not painful, but hurts more than “annoying” too. I took 2 weeks of antibiotics and within 4 days felt totally normal. I thought “oh okay no big deal just take antibiotics once or twice a year and this thing will leave me alone”. July 2014 was the first time it came back, then October 2014, then November 2014, and the again in December 2014 and I realized I cannot live my life on antibiotics and need to have this sucker removed again¦ I am not letting this get me down this time.
I have been making calls all around Alberta, Canada looking for surgeons who will perform a closed surgery. I am still anti open healing, and I think I always will be. So far I have a few leads and my referrals are in. Fingers crossed I can get in soon. I will keep you posted. Just some background on my case – I sit at a desk all day, and my first cyst started about 4 months after I took a desk job. Prior to that I worked on my feet all day. – I am not hairy, not overweight, and am very clean. These things choose all sorts of random people. You’re not gross for having one. – When mine flairs up I take antibiotics and they do help after about 4-5 days, but I have to start them asap after I feel even the slightest pain from it. Last time I was not able to get a prescription until 4 days after it showed up and it got bad, like I couldn’t sit down bad. I had to get on a 13 hour flight that week and had my doctor out me on IV for 2 days to get things thing to bugger off. The IV worked and I made it on the plane. – I never ever touch the area ever with bar bands. I ONLY use a washcloth or loofah to wash the area and gently pat it dry with a clean towel. Epsom salts baths daily for 10 minutes do really help. – I am on round three with this thing. I refer to it by my ex boyfriends name because it’s a pain in the a$$, I hate it, and I have no use for it : )