If you look carefully at the second picture you can see holes from the pilonidal sinus, I never got noticeable drainage though.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Before and after pictures
If you look carefully at the second picture you can see holes from the pilonidal sinus, I never got noticeable drainage though.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The day after
Well my biggest worry is my throat is still sore so I'm hoping I dont get flu. Apart from that everything seems to be going smoothly, although I bled a bit in the night. Pulling out the plugs was one of the weirdest things I have ever felt. The nurse who was supposed to fit the VAC unit didn't arrive today although the VAC unit did, looks expensive.
I would be posting pre and post op pictures but Windows is misbehaving so those will just have to wait.
I would be posting pre and post op pictures but Windows is misbehaving so those will just have to wait.
Monday, July 9, 2007
After the operation
Well that really wasn't so bad. I do not have a gaping wound like I thought I would have, its just 2 holes about 2cm wide, 2.5cm and 3cm deep and lengths of 2.5cm and 3cm I think. The surgeon said that we had caught it early so he didnt have to remove as much flesh as he originally thought. I just hope he got it all. Currently they are packed with gauze, although the surgeon said it would not be necessary to pack them with gauze again.
The first pair of underpants they gave me were too small and the next size they gave me were HUGE, I could have fitted 2 of me in there. The premed was great, relaxed me, although I wasn't stressed much anymore, and I took a nice nap before waking up to go into theatre. The feeling of going under when I was given the anaesthetic was awesome, you feel your whole body become heavy and your eyes close and then your gone, next thing I knew I was back in the ward. Apparently when they were trying to wake me up I tried to punch a nurse, sometimes when people try to wake me up I get agro, which I felt quite bad for. My trhoat is a bit sore so they must have put a pipe down my throat.
I will be getting the vacuum tomorrow when the lady who fits it comes to my house, she had to take photo's of the wound today to send to the medical aid for motivation for the vacuum. I am hoping to get those photo's emailed to me for personal interest.
As for pain, my arm where the drip was in hurt more than my rear end, and even know as I sit here writing this I do not feel any discomfort. The wounds just seem to be leaking quite a bit but I'm not worried about it.
The first pair of underpants they gave me were too small and the next size they gave me were HUGE, I could have fitted 2 of me in there. The premed was great, relaxed me, although I wasn't stressed much anymore, and I took a nice nap before waking up to go into theatre. The feeling of going under when I was given the anaesthetic was awesome, you feel your whole body become heavy and your eyes close and then your gone, next thing I knew I was back in the ward. Apparently when they were trying to wake me up I tried to punch a nurse, sometimes when people try to wake me up I get agro, which I felt quite bad for. My trhoat is a bit sore so they must have put a pipe down my throat.
I will be getting the vacuum tomorrow when the lady who fits it comes to my house, she had to take photo's of the wound today to send to the medical aid for motivation for the vacuum. I am hoping to get those photo's emailed to me for personal interest.
As for pain, my arm where the drip was in hurt more than my rear end, and even know as I sit here writing this I do not feel any discomfort. The wounds just seem to be leaking quite a bit but I'm not worried about it.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
The beginning
I am a 21 year old male meeting most of the requirements for the formation of a pilonidal abscess, I am hairy (apparently kids could get lost in the hair between my cheeks), obese (BMI of 35) and sweat alot (when most people feel comfortable with the temperature I've got a damp brow). I also have a family history of pilonidal abscesses with an uncle and a cousin who have had the abscesses.
The first signs of infection showed up 10 months ago (around halfway through September 2006), at first I thought I had somehow managed to bump my coccyx without knowing it. Gradually it got more painful in the following 2 weeks but not much so, then I went away for a weekend when it got much worse, it was swollen (it seemed as if there was a very large grape deep under my skin) and painful to walk, sit or lie on my back. I would have gone to the doctor earlier had I not been away, by the time I got back it needed to be lanced. The injections of local anaesthetic were the most pain I have ever experienced in my life, I was loudly cursing while the injections were being done, I felt sorry for the the young child who had to go in after me, it's bad enough going to the doctor when you are young, hearing a large man cursing loudly while in the doctors rooms must have terrified the kid (his mom wasn't too pleased either, giving me the evil stare as I walked past). The lancing was instant relief from the painful swelling.
Forward 9 months and I got that same bruised coccyx feeling again, as soon as I was certain of the feeling I returned to the doctor. He gave me a course of antibiotics and referred me to a specialist surgeon. When the surgeon told me he would be doing an excision with open healing I was a bit shocked as this seemed a very drastic measure for something so seemingly small. After doing some reading on pilonidal abscess's this no longer seems so extreme, yes, there is a more conservative approach, being pit picking, but I have no wish to be a surgeons first trial with a new technique, especially when I'll be going off medical aid soon and a flare up after a few months would leave me in a dire situation, this is why I am going for the option that seems to have the lowest reoccurence rate.
I will be going in for an excision with open healing on Monday, the 9th of July. I should also be provided with a vacuum unit to aid in the healing process if it gets passed by the medical aid. The major upside of the vacuum unit for me is that a nurse will be coming in every second day to clean and reapply the vacuum, apparently she will also be sending periodic photo's to the surgeon. I will be doing daily updates (well updates on wednesdays and weekends due to dialup, but there will be entries for every day), hopefully with a photograph each time the vacuum unit is removed, which should be every second day if the camera is still working. I will also be keeping a record of the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, possibly past ten if needs be. 10 will be the pain of the anaesthetic injections for the lancing I had done, 8 is the pain of getting a heavy cartilage piercing, such as a snug or an industrial, 6 being the pain I was in before the abscess was lanced and 1 being an injection with a large needle in the behind.
I have to admit I am a bit nervous as the idea of having a roughly 7 cm diametre chunk of flesh removed from my body, it just sounds painful, actually I'm more dreading the healing time and the fact that I'm going to have a machine constantly sucking on me just seems barbaric.
The first signs of infection showed up 10 months ago (around halfway through September 2006), at first I thought I had somehow managed to bump my coccyx without knowing it. Gradually it got more painful in the following 2 weeks but not much so, then I went away for a weekend when it got much worse, it was swollen (it seemed as if there was a very large grape deep under my skin) and painful to walk, sit or lie on my back. I would have gone to the doctor earlier had I not been away, by the time I got back it needed to be lanced. The injections of local anaesthetic were the most pain I have ever experienced in my life, I was loudly cursing while the injections were being done, I felt sorry for the the young child who had to go in after me, it's bad enough going to the doctor when you are young, hearing a large man cursing loudly while in the doctors rooms must have terrified the kid (his mom wasn't too pleased either, giving me the evil stare as I walked past). The lancing was instant relief from the painful swelling.
Forward 9 months and I got that same bruised coccyx feeling again, as soon as I was certain of the feeling I returned to the doctor. He gave me a course of antibiotics and referred me to a specialist surgeon. When the surgeon told me he would be doing an excision with open healing I was a bit shocked as this seemed a very drastic measure for something so seemingly small. After doing some reading on pilonidal abscess's this no longer seems so extreme, yes, there is a more conservative approach, being pit picking, but I have no wish to be a surgeons first trial with a new technique, especially when I'll be going off medical aid soon and a flare up after a few months would leave me in a dire situation, this is why I am going for the option that seems to have the lowest reoccurence rate.
I will be going in for an excision with open healing on Monday, the 9th of July. I should also be provided with a vacuum unit to aid in the healing process if it gets passed by the medical aid. The major upside of the vacuum unit for me is that a nurse will be coming in every second day to clean and reapply the vacuum, apparently she will also be sending periodic photo's to the surgeon. I will be doing daily updates (well updates on wednesdays and weekends due to dialup, but there will be entries for every day), hopefully with a photograph each time the vacuum unit is removed, which should be every second day if the camera is still working. I will also be keeping a record of the pain on a scale of 1 to 10, possibly past ten if needs be. 10 will be the pain of the anaesthetic injections for the lancing I had done, 8 is the pain of getting a heavy cartilage piercing, such as a snug or an industrial, 6 being the pain I was in before the abscess was lanced and 1 being an injection with a large needle in the behind.
I have to admit I am a bit nervous as the idea of having a roughly 7 cm diametre chunk of flesh removed from my body, it just sounds painful, actually I'm more dreading the healing time and the fact that I'm going to have a machine constantly sucking on me just seems barbaric.
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