Pilonidal Cyst

About three years ago, I noticed a blood blister on one side of my tailbone, just above the crack of my butt, that would sometimes get inflamed and enlarged. This usually happened in the warm seasons, when I would sweat more and be a bit more active. It seemed to occur more often when I biked more often. It was about the size of a pencil eraser. When it got infected, it would fill with blood and pus and become painful. The sac would grow to about the size of a pea. Eventually, it would break and a smelly pus-like substance would leak out. I'd treat it with triple antibiotic cream and wait for it to scab over.

Not too terribly painful, really. More annoying than anything. Over time though, it got to be more than annoying and I finally went to the doctor about it. He immediately diagnosed it as a pilonidal cyst. I had no idea what that was, but he said that if it didn't bug me too much, I could live with it and treat it like I had been. I went home and looked it up on the internet. Most of the pages I hit didn't say much. They talked about a "sinus" and "drainage". I didn't worry too much.

Two years pass. The blood blister thing seems to have grown a bit. I also noticed two smaller holes about 2 inches lower, right in my crack. The whole area seems to feel tender pretty often. If I slouch in my chair (as I usually do - I have horrible posture) for long periods of time, it aches. In May of this year, the blood blister got huge. Apparently, this thing really got infected. The blister grew to the size of a grape. Very painful. Lisa lanced with a pin and it drained for a few days. Not having a doctor, I went to Lisa's primary care physician. He immediately diagnosed it correctly and recommeded that it be removed. He referred my to Dr. Rosenbloom.

On May 17, I meet Dr. Rosenbloom for the first time. He explains everything to me. He draws me a picture, explaining what would be cut out. He explains that this is most common in individuals when they are about 20, and it's fairly uncommon to have it get to this point when I am 34. He says he never schedules these for the Spring or Summer, since I will not be able to swim or be active until it is healed. And then the kicker. It takes between 2 - 6 months to fully heal. Apparently, these need to heal from the "inside out". This means that the wound is packed and not allowed to scab over. He says that they will try to procure a "wound vac" for recovery. This is a sponge cut to the size of the wound with a vacuum hose attached to the sponge and leading to the vacuum device that I will wear on my belt. He says this will cut the recovery time in half.

I get home and that night Lisa looks it up on the internet. She finds the excellent site, pilonidal.org, and shows me some of the blogs. "You HAVE to blog this!" she tells me. After checking out the site and getting a little sick to my stomach, I realize she's right. I do.