A Wee Bit of Snow, But Some Yucky Stuff Too

More snow photos on my Flickr page.

Hello! How’s everybody tonight then? I hope all you British Isle-anders are enjoying this unexpected winter wonderland. And to think just last week I was explaining to an American blog buddy that we never get snow at this time of year. In my face! It’s the best blanketing we’ve had for ages too; because we’re on the coast the salty air usually prevents us from getting more than an inch or two but at the minute there’s a good half foot of fluffy white powder out there. Just lovely!

It’s not so great if you have to go anywhere, though.  Yesterday I’d a hospital appointment for 11 o’clock and I had to leave at nine to make the normally 35 minute journey. Nightmare. I wasn’t too pleased with what my doctor had to say either. I was expecting to be told I needed another operation for  an ongoing complaint which was fine- the sooner I get ‘the thing’ sorted out once and for all the better. I remarked as such to my surgeon who just smiled pleasantly, however, and informed me not to get my hopes up as there’s a high probability I’ll need another two or three after the next one! It’s really rather depressing to be honest.

You’re probably wondering what ‘the thing’ is. I suppose it’s about time I did offer some sort of explanation, but I must warn the squeamish among you to look away now. This is a tale only for those with a morbid fascination for yucky medical things.  It’s also pretty boring, with lots of self pitying moaning, so feel free to stop reading now unless you need some help falling asleep.

*****

Anyway, it all started last June when I got this sudden, excruciating pain in my lower back. When I say lower back, I mean my lower, lower back. As in the region which makes this a worthy case for that‘Embarrassing Bodies’ show on Channel 4. I’d absolutely no idea what it could be and when I went to my GP he told me that it was a form of muscle strain common in young women and to see a physio once the pain subsided. Fair enough?

Not exactly. As the week went on the pain became worse and worse rather than improving. By the weekend I was in so much agony I was actually screaming. I went back to my doctor who told me that was expected with the type of injury he thought I had and he gave me a painkilling injection. The relief lasted for about 15 minutes. That night I started throwing up and by the time Sunday morning came I had a fever so bad I was seeing things. I couldn’t even keep a sip of water down. Himself was away that week for his brother’s stag do,  he was the best man, and I really didn’t want to ring and worry him so I tried to ride it out. By the time he got home the next night, though, I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

It turns out I didn’t have muscle strain at all, it was something called an ‘ischiorectal abscess’. It’s similar to pilonidal disease, which I hear is quite common, though it’s occurs in a slightly different place and while pilonidal abscesses are caused by ingrowing hairs mine was caused by a normally unproblematic defect I have with my tail bone (technically I don’t have one).  Apparently these things these things are torturously painful though not too serious if treated, but because my one had been left to develop for so long the poison in the infected area had spread into my bloodstream and given me sepsis.

I had emergency surgery that night and spent over a week in hospital being pumped full of so many antibiotics and pain relief some of the veins in my arm packed in. The wound from the operation was so large and they’d cut away so much flesh that it couldn’t be stitched up so I was left with a huge gaping hole, inches wide and deep. Getting it dressed was almost as painful as the abscess itself had been and I was even given a can of Entonox (gas they give women in labour) for when they were working on it. I’ve actually been told that it’s worse than childbirth, and had this verified by one of my nurses who’d had the same thing herself as well as having two children.

After that I had twice then once daily home visits from the district nurse for several months. When I went back to the hospital for a check up I was told it was healing well, and for a while it all seemed grand. It never really went away though and I’ve since developed a ‘sinus’ which is basically a tunnel from the original source of the infection onto the surface of the skin. It carries all the badness away, from what I gather. In reality what it means is that I get a mini-episode of the agony from the first abscess about twice a month. It sort of swells up and gets sorer and sorer for a few days until it bursts, which releases the pressure and relieves the pain. It’s never quite as bad as the initial uber abscess, but it still hurts. A lot.  So much so that when it flares up it makes sitting/walking/lying/doing-anything-except-standing-completely-still very, very sore and uncomfortable.

This has been going on for over a year now, so you can see why I’m anxious to get it sorted. I knew the operation that I’m due to have in the new year would involve much of the same as last time- open wound,  regular agonising dressings, months of recuperation- but I was taking solace in the fact that once that was all over and done with I’d never have to think of it again. But nooooo. I’ve that bloody surgeon yesterday stuck in my head, sitting smiling that smile of pity and knowing: “I’m sorry to tell you, but it can often take several operations to completly excise the infection. Until then it’s just going to keep coming back.’ Thanks doc, you’ve cheered me right up.  You never know, he’s probably wrong anyway. Doctors get it wrong all the time, sure that’s how I ended up in this situation in the first place!

Well folks, sorry to any of you who actually made it this far. I really didn’t mean to write so much, once I started it just sorted of all came out. Do you know I’ve never actually explained any of this to most of the people I know? It’s quite embarrassing, not your run-of-the-mill appendicitis or what not. I usually just say I’ve a back injury or something, rather than explain the pain in the ass it actually is! It’s been rather therapudic letting it all out though. Thanks for listening and I hope I didn’t put any of you off your tea!