What kind of recovery should I expect from ass surgery?

Drez

So long story short, I might need to get surgery on the um sort of surface of my butt. I basically need to get a cyst (?) that is "tracking" removed. I don't really know what is involved. I assume they don't have to give me anesthesia for it, they probably just numb my butt or whatever, go under the surface and remove it or drain it or whatever, sew me up, and send me on my way.

I start a job on Tuesday. Am I going to have problems sitting? I should have gotten this taken care of weeks ago but I didn't and now I really need to get it done. I just don't want to have to stand around all labor day weekend or look like a moron on my first day back to work.

Bionic Monkey

When are you getting the surgery?

I haven't had ass surgery yet, but I have had a couple others, and long story short, yes, you'll probably be sitting funny at least half way through next week.

dispatch.o

Depends on where it is and if it's infected. Local numbing agents do not work on infected tissue. It probably wont be too bad, you may sit differently and not want to sit for hours on end, but you should be fine. They'll relax you, flip you over, stab it and drain it (if it's infected) then cut it out and sew it up, they may just use dermabond for the final closure (skin glue) and you wont have stitches.

It'll be tender but I wouldn't worry about it. Now a Hemorrhoid? Shit is painful as fuck. So it could be worse.

Drez

Bionic Monkey wrote: »

When are you getting the surgery?

I haven't had ass surgery yet, but I have had a couple others, and long story short, yes, you'll probably be sitting funny at least half way through next week.

Probably at the hospital. Possibly the ER, I'm not sure. I shouldn't expect to be admitted for it, will I?

edit: Er, did you mean where in the world or where on my ass?

dispatch.o wrote: »

Depends on where it is and if it's infected. Local numbing agents do not work on infected tissue. It probably wont be too bad, you may sit differently and not want to sit for hours on end, but you should be fine. They'll relax you, flip you over, stab it and drain it (if it's infected) then cut it out and sew it up, they may just use dermabond for the final closure (skin glue) and you wont have stitches.

It'll be tender but I wouldn't worry about it. Now a Hemorrhoid? Shit is painful as fuck. So it could be worse.

It's definitely infected. I was told I would be put on IV antibiotics first, most likely.

Hopefully the surgery itself is not that serious.

Murphy

Not to share TOO much, but I have had a peri-rectal abscess twice (basically an abscess right near um, my anus), and had to have them dealt with in the ER. Both times involved numbing, then lancing and draining, and packing with material. No sewing up of the wound, so I had to go back in two days later for that to be removed. Copious amounts of anti-biotics and pain killers were involved.

If removing a cyst in the same general area is at all similar (and though I'm not in the medical profession, I imagine it probably is, kinda), then yeah, sitting is going to be rough for a week or so. If for whatever reason they do close the wound back up (depends on the size and severity of the situation, I would imagine), maybe it won't be so long.

Drez

Murphy wrote: »

Not to share TOO much, but I have had a peri-rectal abscess twice (basically an abscess right near um, my anus), and had to have them dealt with in the ER. Both times involved numbing, then lancing and draining, and packing with material. No sewing up of the wound, so I had to go back in two days later for that to be removed. Copious amounts of anti-biotics and pain killers were involved.

If removing a cyst in the same general area is at all similar (and though I'm not in the medical profession, I imagine it probably is, kinda), then yeah, sitting is going to be rough for a week or so. If for whatever reason they do close the wound back up (depends on the size and severity of the situation, I would imagine), maybe it won't be so long.

YESSS. That's the name. Peri-rectal abscess. I forgot what the fuck she called it when I saw her a month ago. It's an abscess, not a cyst. Or is it the same thing?

Maybe I should wait until next weekend. Get through this week and get it done next weekend.

dispatch.o

Yeah, the wont close an abscess, they'll pack it with iodoform or gauze depending on the size. You may not want to wait anyway because an infected abscess can only get worse.

ceres

Yeaaahh.. if you have an abscess you really don't want to wait on that longer than you have to.

From what I hear, the worst part of these surgeries are changing the bandages after, so hopefully you have a very, very, very close friend who can help you out if you end up with stitches.

Murphy

If you can make it that long, then that might work, but it's probably best not to. I am an idiot with no insurance, so I dragged it out as long as humanly possible (basically I couldn't sleep anymore because it hurt so much), which is probably not the wisest thing to do, but it's what I did.

The procedure is relatively simple and short, but the recovery time is frustrating. If you can explain the situation to your new employer, they will hopefully be understanding. I was lucky at the time and wasn't working (maybe that's not really the way to define "lucky" but whatev), so I could just lay on my side in bed for days watching TV on my laptop. If I had one happen now, when I spend 8 hours a day in a chair, that'd be rough.

I will say though, that once they take the packing out, the wound heals up fairly quickly. It's just going to be tender for some time. Expect to bleed a fair amount at first. Because as mentioned above: open wound.

Forbe!

If this is a pilonidal cyst, depending on the severity and the method of excision, expect anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.

I had one removed and had a gaping wound for nearly 6 weeks. I was under strict orders to be housebound due to my insurance. I don't understand where all this 'expect to bleed' stuff is coming from. If you take care of yourself and avoid anything that will cause strain on your back, you should not bleed that much. I had mine packed with an algae based gauss with silver in it. The wound healed up nicely, and even while it was still open, the pain subsided after about 2 weeks. The wound was constantly packed, except twice a day when fresh bandages were applied.

Drez

Forbe! wrote: »

If this is a pilonidal cyst, depending on the severity and the method of excision, expect anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.

I had one removed and had a gaping wound for nearly 6 weeks. I was under strict orders to be housebound due to my insurance. I don't understand where all this 'expect to bleed' stuff is coming from. If you take care of yourself and avoid anything that will cause strain on your back, you should not bleed that much. I had mine packed with an algae based gauss with silver in it. The wound healed up nicely, and even while it was still open, the pain subsided after about 2 weeks. The wound was constantly packed, except twice a day when fresh bandages were applied.

It's not a pilonidal cyst. I misrepresented my ailment in the OP. I actually asked the NP I saw "is this a pilonidal cyst" and the answer was no. I have what Murphy had: an infected peri-rectal abscess.

Thank you for the info, though.

Slider

I had surgery on my kidney and was in the hospital for a few days. Surprisingly, the body heals rather quickly. If you have an out-patient surgery, my assumption is that you'll be fine within 3 days. Within 6-7 days, you'll probably be at about 80-100% healed.

Bionic Monkey

dispatch.o wrote: »

Yeah, the wont close an abscess, they'll pack it with iodoform or gauze depending on the size. You may not want to wait anyway because an infected abscess can only get worse.

God yes. That shit is fucking nasty. On my ED rotation for my EMT class, I got to see a junkie get his abscess drained, and that is a sight (and smell) I will never forget.