I finally kissed my sweet ass goodbye!! Part of it anyhoo...

Hey everyone, I know, long time no see, yet again.  Long story short, this has been one heck of a year, full of all kinds of fun, twists and turns and just a few too many surgeries.  I had my 6^th and final surgery of 2008 on Christmas Eve day, 12/24/08 and it felt like the best Xmas gift I ever received, truly. 

As some of you know I’ve had some serious health issues this year, non-DS related, starting with a colon/pelvic abscess which left me with a chronic fistula that just wouldn’t heal.  Well after a year of meds, continuous sickness and pain and finally four surgeries to “fix” that, I was blessedly allowed to deal with my REAL issue that has been plaguing me for almost 3 years now. 

At about 5 months post DS I started having tailbone pain, horrid, screaming, life altering tailbone pain.  I sought treatment as soooooooooo many of us have with absolutely no relief.  From physical therapy, anti-inflammatories, pain meds, oral steroids,  pain patches, multiple doctors and finally I heard about Cortizone injections in the tailbone.  I had one injection which was a NIGHTMARE but after a few days calmed down and did give some relief for a few months, then back to square one for even more months.  A second shot lasted maybe 6 weeks, then nada and I lived with it again for months until the fourth shot, which lasted all of about a week and then poof.  I was literally at wits end, I couldn’t sit down anymore, even laying down was painful and after reading SO many WLS patients complaining of the same thing, I thought it was just going to be my lot in life.  Now let me step back a bit and tell you, that at the first injection, my ortho was SO shocked at how projected my tailbone was, he suggested I have it removed if the shots didn’t fix it.  REMOVED????  Are you INSANE??  That’s the craziest, sickest thing I’ve ever heard of, removing part of the spine, are you mad?  I would NEVER do that… 

In late 2007 I was in so much constant pain that I began asking questions about the tailbone surgery.  Then my other health issues took over and with all that was going on, the tailbone had to take a back seat… no pun intended.  But it was agony, every single day…  sometimes a 6 and sometimes a 10+ on the pain scale, but always there and always in my plans to fix.  I began hard core researching and interviewing patients and surgeons mid. 2008 and found THE doctor to do the surgery.  He is miraculous, so experienced, so very much the Dr. Gagner of the ****ygectomy world.  I love Dr. Gagner and my surgeon, Dr. Kane, is THE man for tailbone surgery, way ahead of the curve. 

In Sept. 2008, I had reached my threshold for the pain and told my colo-rectal surgeon that if the final fistula surgery didn’t work, I was probably going to move forward with my tailbone surgery no matter what, I just can’t take it any more.  Luckily, we had excellent results on Nov. 4^th, and by  the end of the month, he gave me the green light to go ahead.  Unfortunately Dr. Kane had no openings until Feb. and I literally begged them to find a way to see me sooner.  So the angelic, wonderful Dr. Kane said he would come in on Xmas Eve day and so a single surgery for me, giving me the chance to be normal, the BEST xmas gift ever. 

So, LONG story shortened, I had surgery on 12/24 and it was a VERY painful recovery.  Surgery was a breeze, same say surgery, in and out, the hospital was ridiculously fantastic and I never want to go anywhere else for surgery again.  Anyway, you can’t sit or lay on your back at all, which leaves standing or laying and standing much isn’t an option at ALL for a while so it’s a long, painful, frustrating time.  They say 6-8 weeks minimum for any semblance of normalcy and they ain’t lyin.  I’d be happy to share details if anyone needs info but I’ll just say this.  It’s been 5+ weeks now and I’m starting to see the light.  I can sit now for about 20 minutes at a time and that’s getting better every day.  I am SO excited at the possibility of life without that pain I cannot tell you.

OH, the really freaky thing is this.  My entire ****yx was mobile and no, it’s not supposed to be hehe.  It was separated from my sacrum and was just grinding away in there all these years, so much so that it damaged the bottom of the sacrum which needed repair as well.  He was able to remove the whole thing and it’s just a miracle.  I would NEVER have seen this in my future but now, the future is ALL I see!  YAYAYAY!  Thank God, there is hope!! 

Feel free to PM me if you want to ask questions, I KNOW so many of us deal with ****ydenia (tailbone pain) and I’d be happy to share.   Be safe!!  I miss you guys and I read when I can get to a computer, hoping to post more in the near future.  Congrats on all your amazing successes!!  We all deserve it!!!

Well, I'm glad to hear you've turned the corner.

I sure hope 2009 is a good one for you.

I know one other person who had the tailbone operation (an RNYer) and she says her life has changed incredibly, too.

I'm really happy for you.