I had my first pilondial episode in December 2013.
I started to experience severe lower back pain, like something I had never felt before. I went tor he doctor and without even checking my back out he told me I had kidney infection. As a nursing student back then I didn’t believe that was the case and I just had a feeling he was wrong. I took the antibiotics he prescribed and I just got worse and worse to the point where I couldn’t move, fever of 103 F and the worst pain I had ever experienced. I couldn’t even move. I was bathing when I noticed a huge bump at my cleft the size of a golfballand immediately went to the hospital. They hooked me up to an IV of antibiotics and pain meds and I woke up the next morning covered in blood due to my cyst popping on it’s on in my sleep…disgusting I know…
After that my doctor recommended to just keep the wound clean and let it close on its own. Which it did but 2 months later the little bugger decided to come back in full swing right before a vacation. I go it lanced by a different doctor who recommended I have it packed and cleansed daily.
This was March 2014, they thought the wound was going to close but after months and months of was obvious it was not gonna close. I met with a surgeon who told me “I’d have to live with it or wear a vacuum drain for the rest of my life” but thankfully this site helped me realize I had other options and I met with another surgeon who was WONDERFUL!
I met with her February 2015 and she scheduled the surgery for May 2015. The surgery went good, I was sore but by all means no where near the pain I experienced during my flare ups. my advice is to try and walk as soon as possible!!!! It helps move your bowels and relieve constipation after surgery, thankfully I knew this from working with postop patients and this helped my constipation a lot. After 3/4 days I was fully able to walk around and after a week I could sit normally.
I’m now 3 weeks post op and my Dr removed my sutures yesterday, there’s some exudate and blood which alarmed me at first but everything is good, and I’m hoping and praying this thing is gone for good so I don’t have to worry about it anymore!!
To anyone experiencing these problems I really recommend surgery, as a healthcare provider and as someone who dealt with this. Just do your research and find a good search, don’t settle!! Get a second, third, or even fourth opinion.