Just a thought- the shot they gave you may have been Versed- it’s what they used when I had the “look in your stomach with a camera” thing done.
http://www.rocheusa.com/products/versed/pi.html
They gave me the injection (through a port, I think- not in the arm) and I was OUT like a light. I woke up in recovery- never heard or felt a thing.
Good luck to you- that sounds perfectly horrible.
I’ve thought of one other thing, Audrey. You might want to invest in a couple of knee length sleep tees. Brynda mentioned a new nightie or lounge clothes. I’ve lived in San Antonio, so I know that you really, really need something cool and comfy. Something like this, maybe: http://www.roamans.com/roamans/product/product.asp?pf_id=20007&dept_id=739&rootdept=610&parent_id=735&
Wearing something like this makes it easier to take care of the wound.
I wouldn’t say that it wasn’t fixed correctly, it’s not like the doctor was drunk when he perfromed the procedure, I just happened to be one of the approximately 10% of people who have surgery for PC where the surgery doesn’t “fix” the problem.
Looking back, I think the longest period where I went gauzeless between my ass cheeks was about 9 months.
After my 6th and final surgery I couldn’t sit down or lie on my back for 1 1/2 months and I wasn’t supposed to climb stairs.
One of the more scary moments for me was the first time after each surgery that I would have to try and go #2. Because you have to exert a fair amount of pressure in that area, I was afraid that I would rip the stitches right out of the wound, which would not have been a good thing. Thankfully it never happened.
Audrey, I am not a doctor, but I play one on TV.
You may want to lay off (as it were) the happy sauce during your convalescence. Alcohol is a vasoconstrictor and can interfere with circulation in other ways.
You may wish to increase your intake of vitamins A, C and E as all of these will help with tissue regrowth and healing in general.
I’ll even venture that spicy foods and chile peppers are going to be right out.
Check with your doctor about these suggestions. Your situation is massively sucky but there is stuff you can do to speed the process. The first woman I lived with and another friend at the time both went through this and survived.
Would a child’s plastic swim ring help for sitting? I know you can use those when piles are severe and episiotomies are hurting after childbirth.
Good luck with the surgery and with getting decent drugs.
Hi, sorry to hear about your bad luck. I really don’t mean this to be in bad taste, and apologise for any offence caused, but have you considered maggots?
I’m not a doctor, but they sound to me like the ideal alternative to the constant changing of gauze, and apparently result in much less scarring than traditional methods for healing wounds, as they digest all the dead tissue but leave the healthy tissue.
Things you will want to have for dressing the wound:
Gauze - the non stick kind for packing
A large gauze for covering the packed wound
Adult diapers(shudder).
Okay… the adult diapers were HUMILIATING. But they allowed me to leave the house and not seep through clothes, or onto my car seat(it happened the first time).
After the drainage slowed to the point I didn’t need adult diapers, I had to wear… a maxipad.
I can buy anything and silence a clerk or wipe the smirk from their face with a glare. Wearing these was emasculating for me.
I did not date during that period.
My wound healed well, though there is a scar. A very noticeable one from what my ex-husband told me the first time he saw it by normal lighting.
How do you leave a wound open and keep it from healing shut? Won’t it heal over on its own even if it is not stiched shut?
Good luck!
As I understand it, the packing of the wound with gauze is what prevents the wound from scabbing over, and the wound heals from the inside of the body outwards.
As the wound heals, less and less gauze is able to be packed into the wound. The first time my gauze was changed, they pulled an entire bottle of the stuff out of my wound. My dad said it was like watching a magician pulling one of those colorful handkerchiefs from his sleeve.
Thanks for all the additional advice! I do plan on going to the medical supply store for all the bandages, gauze, tape, etc…the only thing I’m wondering is that a lot of people say to use a “moist” gauze so that it won’t stick to the wound–which would hurt like almighty hell, I imagine, to remove–but what is the gauze moistened with? Hmmm.
As per the new nightie…yes, that does make sense, Lynn. Normally I wear long pajama bottoms to bed but if I’m going to be living in this stuff, whatever’s most comfy and easy.
Primaflora, they do make a seating “ring” specially for people with this condition…I haven’t gotten one yet cuz I’m kind of broke, but I’m sure I’ll get something b/c you’re right, you can’t sit comfortably for awhile without something keeping pressure/weight off your tailbone.
Zenster, thanks for the TV doctor advice. 
You will be relieved to hear that I have already forsworn alcohol, and that I went to the store yesterday and bought lots of veggies and protein…also a multivitamin, and I’ve been drinking far more than my usual daily allotment of water. (I’ve heard zinc is particularly good for healing wounds, so I may get a supplement, but mostly I’d like to eat a lot of good fresh healthy food.)
Trabi, your maggot link was very intriguing, and I’d honestly think about giving that a whirl if I were in the UK…but I can’t see American doctors even knowing what I’m talking about, much less administering them. 
It’s funny how many people turn up who’ve either had one of these, or know someone who has…it’s just not something you usually bring up at parties.
I went through this as a teenager. I really recommend the “leave-it-open” version. My doctor injected a dye and then kept cutting until no traces of dye were left. The resulting hole was more than 4" long, 1" wide and 1 1/2’ deep. Since it is close to the tailbone, it is low enough that the scar doesn’t show with any clothes that I have.
But the only severe pain (I was under general anesthesia for the surgery) was when they removed the packing for the first time after the surgery. I remember biting the pillow during that part.
After that it was several months of sitz baths and using a Maxi pad to absorb any leakage (fairly embarassing for a teenage boy). But the pain was nothing, just a minor irritation, and did not cut back on my activities at all.
In contrast, my ex (wife at the time) had the surgery in her mid-30s, and was subjected to the process where it is closed off, with maybe a small hole for drainage. It healed over too fast, got badly infected and burst in the middle of an auto trip, releasing the worst-smelling fluid imaginable. I rushed her to the hospital for a second surgery, where they finally got it right.
I second the idea of trying out different tapes to find out which one irritates the skin the least – there were about 4 kinds then, and probably more now. (cloth, paper, plastic, etc.)
So, cheer up! I don’t think it will be all that bad, and I wish you the best of luck (and future health).
(I’m curious, though – is the probability really that low? I know all kinds of people that have had that surgery. And do you know the statistics by gender, by any chance? I’ve heard that men get it twice as often as women.)
MisterThyristor, the dye your doctor used is called Dilute Methylene Blue, and it does indeed highlight all of the infected tissue he/she might normally miss during the surgery. I haven’t had the consultation with my surgeon yet, but I have a list of questions I’m going to ask him, and that will be one of them…whether or not he’s familiar with that.
The other ones will be how many PC surgeries he’s performed, how well they went, what his post-op advice is, what his feelings are on open vs. closed, etc…I’ve had less-than-stellar experiences with state-funded healthcare, so I want to make sure I get the right guy or gal to do this. Most doctors I’ve dealt with have an “I’m God so stop asking me questions” attitude that really chaps my ass. No pun intended. It’s one of those times when you wish you had private insurance and could afford private practice. :shrug: (In fact, part of the reason I’m in this situation is that the first Doc who saw me for this a year ago lanced it and packed it for three days, and never told me it was just the infection he was solving, not the cyst itself. I had to find that out on my own, this week. I saw a total of four doctors for this at various times, and it wasn’t until the fourth one that it was all explained to me! I found out more in an hour on the internet than from any of them. Talk about pissed! I would’ve taken care of this the first time if I’d known it would keep coming back.)
Anyway, I got the stat on probability off one of the sites I visited; I don’t remember which one…at www.Pilonidal.org, which was the most informative user-friendly site I’ve found, it states that 75,000 people get these per year. I don’t know where she got that stat from, but she’s got links to all kinds of medical sites/journals so I’d assume it’s fairly accurate?
She also states that it’s not gender-specific to the extent that a lot of people think, but a lot of the info we have on it comes from WWII, when they called it “Jeep Rider’s Disease.” Apparently lots of soldiers were stricken with it, costing the government millions of dollars.
And now I’m stricken with it, and will be costing the government several thousand. I’m so grateful for that, though; if I weren’t eligible for some kind of help with this, there’s no way I could afford it. Ever. It’s bad enough having something like this occur without having to worry about how you’re going to pay for its cure…and I’ve always worked in restaurants, very few of which offer any kind of insurance.
MisterThyristor, the dye your doctor used is called Dilute Methylene Blue, and it does indeed highlight all of the infected tissue he/she might normally miss during the surgery. I haven’t had the consultation with my surgeon yet, but I have a list of questions I’m going to ask him, and that will be one of them…whether or not he’s familiar with that.
The other ones will be how many PC surgeries he’s performed, how well they went, what his post-op advice is, what his feelings are on open vs. closed, etc…I’ve had less-than-stellar experiences with state-funded healthcare, so I want to make sure I get the right guy or gal to do this. Most doctors I’ve dealt with have an “I’m God so stop asking me questions” attitude that really chaps my ass. No pun intended. It’s one of those times when you wish you had private insurance and could afford private practice. :shrug: (In fact, part of the reason I’m in this situation is that the first Doc who saw me for this a year ago lanced it and packed it for three days, and never told me it was just the infection he was solving, not the cyst itself. I had to find that out on my own, this week. I saw a total of four doctors for this at various times, and it wasn’t until the fourth one that it was all explained to me! I found out more in an hour on the internet than from any of them. Talk about pissed! I would’ve taken care of this the first time if I’d known it would keep coming back.)
Anyway, I got the stat on probability off one of the sites I visited; I don’t remember which one…at www.Pilonidal.org, which was the most informative user-friendly site I’ve found, it states that 75,000 people get these per year. I don’t know where she got that stat from, but she’s got links to all kinds of medical sites/journals so I’d assume it’s fairly accurate?
She also states that it’s not gender-specific to the extent that a lot of people think, but a lot of the info we have on it comes from WWII, when they called it “Jeep Rider’s Disease.” Apparently lots of soldiers were stricken with it, costing the government millions of dollars.
And now I’m stricken with it, and will be costing the government several thousand. I’m so grateful for that, though; if I weren’t eligible for some kind of help with this, there’s no way I could afford it. Ever. It’s bad enough having something like this occur without having to worry about how you’re going to pay for its cure…and I’ve always worked in restaurants, very few of which offer any kind of insurance.
Yes, the way you explained it is what I meant. I read up about it on the internet as well, and read that for some people, having the surgery once, twice…even three or four times doesn’t guarentee it’s gone for good.
I was wondering how long it lasted because I am going on 3 years now. It hasn’t flaired back up, but I can still feel a small bump back there which frightens me :eek: and I always worry about it coming back.
Regarding #2…OMG I was terrified too!
~J
The gauze should be moistened with sterile saline. From there, being packed in your body will keep it moist.
Good friend of mine once mentioned having one of these when she was younger.
This whole thread is making me think I should express remorse for not displaying nearly enough sympathy at the sharing. Crikey.
Good luck.
I sorta had one. My wife called it a “pilonidal cyst” and “operated” on it and cleaned it out before it got too big (she’s the queen of half-assed–no pun intended–amateur surgery). No biggie, but you definitely have my empathy.
It’s a shame you have this Audrey - I have never had it, but I know a couple of people who have.
Both of them have indicated that the “leave the wound open” method is best for healing, and that after the surgery, you’ll be much happier and more comfortable when everything heals up.
The boys and I are sending positive, healing vibes your way.
And may I humbly suggest that you treat yourself to something nice?
Wow, this surgery sounds like a real pain in the ass
Ok, bad joke, I’m sorry.
You have my sympathies, Audrey, I hope you recover quickly, and hey, at least you get painkillers.