Healing Kaitlyn
Donation protected
In mid May, Kaitlyn started feeling pain near her tailbone. She assumed she pulled something or maybe bumped it and not noticed. Over the course of one week, the pain escalated to not being able to walk or get out of bed. Her mother decided to inspect the area and quickly found a large, horribly discolored cyst-like bump on the base of her spine. It was so tender that she couldn't even stand for it to be touched. A doctor visit the next day confirmed that it was a Pilonidal Cyst and that it was badly infected.
The plan then was a minor procedure to remove the cyst and start her on antibiotics. Things turned for the worse less than 24 hours later. She was told by the surgery center that she would have to be hospitalized. She would need to be put under general anesthesia because the cyst grew into a large abscess.
On May 22 the abscess was surgically removed but her spine is still exposed. She now has months of recovery ahead of her. For the next 6 months she will need a wound vac to keep infection out and to bring the edges of the wound together. Driving back and forth to the hospital 3x a week is also part of the recovery process.
A routine procedure done at a surgery center turned into a 4 day stay in the hospital. Not only was she put under general anesthesia, she now has a wound vac to speed us the healing process. Without the wound vac it would take 12+ months of daily doctor visits to have the wound cleaned and repacked with gauze. Every doctor visit, the gas to and from, and a nutritional supplement to help regrow tissue may sound like a small financial burden, but when you add in the hospital stay, the surgery itself, and the wound vac (all uninsured) this becomes more than our family can financially undertake.
The plan then was a minor procedure to remove the cyst and start her on antibiotics. Things turned for the worse less than 24 hours later. She was told by the surgery center that she would have to be hospitalized. She would need to be put under general anesthesia because the cyst grew into a large abscess.
On May 22 the abscess was surgically removed but her spine is still exposed. She now has months of recovery ahead of her. For the next 6 months she will need a wound vac to keep infection out and to bring the edges of the wound together. Driving back and forth to the hospital 3x a week is also part of the recovery process.
A routine procedure done at a surgery center turned into a 4 day stay in the hospital. Not only was she put under general anesthesia, she now has a wound vac to speed us the healing process. Without the wound vac it would take 12+ months of daily doctor visits to have the wound cleaned and repacked with gauze. Every doctor visit, the gas to and from, and a nutritional supplement to help regrow tissue may sound like a small financial burden, but when you add in the hospital stay, the surgery itself, and the wound vac (all uninsured) this becomes more than our family can financially undertake.
Organizer
Kiara Hartney
Organizer
Cedar Park, TX
