Thank God For Geese!!!

OK I promise this is my last re-post. This was right at the beginning of my medical trauma: The Dreaded Mangina. Originally posted on March 29, 2006....

Around Sunday, March 5th I started experiencing flu-like symptoms, marked by an especially high fever. I made it to school the next day to take a test, & went home still sweating. Sometime Monday night I started to notice a hard, painful lump on my backside. I went to school a bit early the next day to work on some homework, but found it was profoundly difficult to sit properly. I went to my 1st class, turned in my homework, explained my situation to my prof, & went home, still feeling feverish. Tuesday night, I felt as if my fever broke, but the mass in my ass was only getting bigger & more painful. I got dropped off at the ER the next day. It took the triage nurse approximately 10 mins to admit me, once she had a look at my vital signs (temp-104.3, BP 170/120, pulse 155) & the now much larger, red, painful mass in my right cheek.
I've had a pilonidal cyst for about 10 years now, & evidently the infection was tunnelling into my ass like crazy, leading to a staph infection. The doctors were very concerned & admitted me to a room upstairs almost at once. They operated on me the next night, slicing into my cheek & putting in a drain to try to get rid of the infection, but I guess that wasn't enough, bc Saturday they operated again, this time slicing a bit longer & deeper. My vital signs normalized & I was released on Tuesday.
However, they couldn't sew me back up without risking an ancillary infection so they gave me instructions to keep gauze packed in the wound until it heals, changing it twice a day. I can't do this on my own, so I've had to move back to Hahnville, & will be staying out here with my grandma for at least another 6-8 weeks. It doesn't hurt like it used to, but it's still not comfortable to sit down without my donut cushion.
The best part about being sick like this is that my baby sis, Diana, came from Virginia for a surprise visit, which did a lot to lift my flagging spirits.
The worst part about being sick like this is having to have this 18 cm long by 6cm deep by 6cm across wound packed with gauze & wearing Depends undergarments to keep it all in place. Well, that & having my grandmother pack the gauze into my butt cheek at least 3 times a day.

Oh, the Glamour!


This is current me again. I really do thank God every day for Geese. I have no idea what would have happened to me if she hadn't been there. It really doesn't bear thinking about.