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the horror! not that I did it anyway. Ever. But at least for a while, Suzanne Somer's miracle thigh thingie and I will not be formally acquainted.
So I went to see Dr. Polynice today. And, it's not an if, it's officially a when. I will be needing surgery. It will involve one, or possibly both of my thighs. And the research that I did, though competent for healing other more shallow types of wounds, would not in fact work on my tush. The GOOD thing is, I will not be getting my butt cheek peeled off and stitched back on like I had found in my research of the gracilis muscle surgery for the perineal sinus region. At least my cheeks stay intact, and I'm sooooo happy about that.
So this is what's going on. Essentially, I'm "almost" healing from below, but there is granular tissue inside that has formed a pocket of non-healing area. It's like the tissue is too saturated by itself to fully knit together. What happens, what I presumed to be pus, is actually sloughing of the granular tissue to the outside. Had the hole completely closed off like it was supposed to, it would have formed a large and nasty abscess. So, in this case, not completely healing was a blessing.
Surgery, again at Albany Med, will go something like this: a 5ish hour surgery during which both Dr. Lee and Dr. Polynice will scrub in. My tush will once again be excised by Dr. Lee, clearing out any of the nasty non-healing tissue. Dr. Polynice will cut into one (or both) of my thighs. There will be an incision made from the inner thigh/groin area down about 1/3 of the way, and another one down by my knee. The one by my knee will disconnect the gracilis muscle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracilis_muscle) from its attachment at the bottom, and the upper incision will allow Dr. Polynice to thread the muscle (one of the less necessary adductor muscles) through the pelvis and into the pocket of non healing area in the perineal sinus area. Because the muscle is still connected at the upper end of the leg, it will have its own blood supply, thus stimulating proper healing and tissue growth in the sinus and healing this issue up once and for all. He may need to cut into both thighs if the muscle from just one isn't sufficient enough to fill up however big the hole is internally.
I asked about success rate, and though this isn't a common surgery to be performed, Dr. Polynice has had complete success with it. Let's hope my body allows that track record to continue. Healing/recovery time is looking like a few days in the hospital, a few weeks at home with drains in the leg and probably the sinus area, and hopefully total healing within a month. Hopefully. That's if my body decides to fully accept the surgery this time. But at least Dr. Polynice has been forewarned about my lack of healing prowess :)
There is no surgery date set yet. I go back to see Dr. Lee and Jody on Thurs (May 5) and I'm assuming we'll go from there for scheduling.
That is all for now, folks. In the meantime, I'm starting training (walking) this Sunday for the dash. I've gotten myself a kickin' set of ankle weights with adjustable weight pockets, so they can range from nothing to 2.5 lbs per leg. As I get more into training, those things will whip my legs into shape really quickly. And I got a 5lb kettle bell, since I have a love affair with them, and I fully intend to start using that to strengthen core and upper body.
Will post after Sunday, and again on Thursday.
Much love,
B
Oh, and with this being my 4th surgery at AMC, do I get my free vacation now? I really think they owe me one after 4 surgeries in a year and a half. Maybe they should send me on one just to keep me away from it, like a bribe to heal. "If you promise to heal and NOT come back, we'll send you away for a week to some place tropical, where no one cares if you're already missing organs." Sweet. I'd buy into that club any day.
Oh, and extra added bonus. There's not much of me left that anyone could sell on the black market, so I never have to worry about the urban legend of the ice in the bathtub. Extra added bonus :)
So I went to see Dr. Polynice today. And, it's not an if, it's officially a when. I will be needing surgery. It will involve one, or possibly both of my thighs. And the research that I did, though competent for healing other more shallow types of wounds, would not in fact work on my tush. The GOOD thing is, I will not be getting my butt cheek peeled off and stitched back on like I had found in my research of the gracilis muscle surgery for the perineal sinus region. At least my cheeks stay intact, and I'm sooooo happy about that.
So this is what's going on. Essentially, I'm "almost" healing from below, but there is granular tissue inside that has formed a pocket of non-healing area. It's like the tissue is too saturated by itself to fully knit together. What happens, what I presumed to be pus, is actually sloughing of the granular tissue to the outside. Had the hole completely closed off like it was supposed to, it would have formed a large and nasty abscess. So, in this case, not completely healing was a blessing.
Surgery, again at Albany Med, will go something like this: a 5ish hour surgery during which both Dr. Lee and Dr. Polynice will scrub in. My tush will once again be excised by Dr. Lee, clearing out any of the nasty non-healing tissue. Dr. Polynice will cut into one (or both) of my thighs. There will be an incision made from the inner thigh/groin area down about 1/3 of the way, and another one down by my knee. The one by my knee will disconnect the gracilis muscle ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracilis_muscle) from its attachment at the bottom, and the upper incision will allow Dr. Polynice to thread the muscle (one of the less necessary adductor muscles) through the pelvis and into the pocket of non healing area in the perineal sinus area. Because the muscle is still connected at the upper end of the leg, it will have its own blood supply, thus stimulating proper healing and tissue growth in the sinus and healing this issue up once and for all. He may need to cut into both thighs if the muscle from just one isn't sufficient enough to fill up however big the hole is internally.
I asked about success rate, and though this isn't a common surgery to be performed, Dr. Polynice has had complete success with it. Let's hope my body allows that track record to continue. Healing/recovery time is looking like a few days in the hospital, a few weeks at home with drains in the leg and probably the sinus area, and hopefully total healing within a month. Hopefully. That's if my body decides to fully accept the surgery this time. But at least Dr. Polynice has been forewarned about my lack of healing prowess :)
There is no surgery date set yet. I go back to see Dr. Lee and Jody on Thurs (May 5) and I'm assuming we'll go from there for scheduling.
That is all for now, folks. In the meantime, I'm starting training (walking) this Sunday for the dash. I've gotten myself a kickin' set of ankle weights with adjustable weight pockets, so they can range from nothing to 2.5 lbs per leg. As I get more into training, those things will whip my legs into shape really quickly. And I got a 5lb kettle bell, since I have a love affair with them, and I fully intend to start using that to strengthen core and upper body.
Will post after Sunday, and again on Thursday.
Much love,
B
Oh, and with this being my 4th surgery at AMC, do I get my free vacation now? I really think they owe me one after 4 surgeries in a year and a half. Maybe they should send me on one just to keep me away from it, like a bribe to heal. "If you promise to heal and NOT come back, we'll send you away for a week to some place tropical, where no one cares if you're already missing organs." Sweet. I'd buy into that club any day.
Oh, and extra added bonus. There's not much of me left that anyone could sell on the black market, so I never have to worry about the urban legend of the ice in the bathtub. Extra added bonus :)
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