I had been suffering with Pilonidal Disease for three years. Not knowing much about the disease and how difficult it is to treat, I immediately went into my first operation after spending a few visits with my normal practitioner. They directed me to a local surgeon and told me they would fix the issue and I wouldn’t have to worry about it ever again. In December 2017, my first surgery took place and that is when things went downhill. My incision was very loosely sewn up after the operation, and no drain tube was inserted. I dealt with the incision for five months that popped open on its own and continued to drain and bleed daily, until I was rushed into an emergency surgery in May 2018.

During my second surgery, a Wound Specialist at a highly reputable hospital in Colorado operated on me and claimed that he would take better care of me. After waking up from this surgery, I had a much larger incision with several layers of stitches and a drain tube. My surgeon promised me I would never deal with this again. I believed him until two days later I ended up in the Emergency Room with a fever of 102 degrees and a large infection in the surgical area. My incision had opened up AGAIN. Even with all of the layers of stitches. This resulted in me driving over an hour round trip every week to go visit the wound care center to have my wound flushed, cleaned and drained properly. I did this for months and things kept getting worse and worse.

By the end of summer, I was back where I started, but things were even worse than before I ever got operated on. I started to wish I never went through with any operation and just dealt with the pain from the cyst. With undergoing two major operations, I had tons of scar tissue that ached when I sat down, and I couldn’t even lay on my back or sleep through a full night without tossing and turning or waking up due to pain. I became extremely depressed due to these circumstances and was under the impression I was going to deal with this disease for the rest of my life and never see a cure.

Towards the end of summer, I came across Dr. Sternberg and his clinic in San Francisco. I used to read a blog post consisting of members that all had Pilonidal Disease, and one person swore by the Sternberg Clinic and claimed that they were 100% cured after trying everything else possible. I started to do more research and got to the point where I figured, why not? The least I can do is give them a try. I contacted the clinic, sent in my background with my cysts, and heard back very shortly. By September 2018, I was traveling to California with plans to undergo my third, and final surgery. This ended up being the best decision I have ever made in my life. Words can’t even express how thankful I am to have come across the Sternberg Clinic and to have taken a chance with Dr. Sternberg when I had my hopes let down twice by previous doctors. Dr. Sternberg is extremely intelligent regarding this topic, and I wish I had come across him years ago. If you are on the edge with this operation because you live out of state, I HIGHLY recommend that you take the time and the money to visit this clinic; they are the only people who will be able to treat you of this terrible disease. When Dr. Sternberg conducted my surgery, he came across a giant, infected mass that was caused by my two previous surgeries and he safely removed it and closed up my incision beautifully.

Four months later, I am completely healed, can sleep on my back, can sit with no pain and can even work out with no issues whatsoever. My incision is fully closed, doesn’t drain or leak and it will never open back up. I even had one of the more severe cases, and I am 100% healed up thanks to Dr. Sternberg and I will never have to deal with this again. It doesn’t even seem real to me and I feel extremely lucky to even say this. Yes, the surgery was intense, and the recovery wasn’t a breeze, but I would do it all over again just to feel the way I do now. I am forever grateful for Dr. Sternberg and his employees because I am now able to live a normal, pain free life and put my past behind me. Everyone was super kind, extremely informative and you can tell they care about your well-being and just want you to be healed. He has conducted thousands of these surgeries and they have all been successful.

Anyone out there that is dealing with this terrible disease should avoid the same mistakes I made and go see Dr. Sternberg the first time around because he is an expert in this field and he will take amazing care of you. The entire process was extremely easy even though I was traveling from out of town. Most of his patients are people traveling and they keep that in mind with scheduling and will make it a breeze for you. Within three days, I had my pre-op, surgery, and post-op and was on my way home a few days later. Do not make my mistake and do the right thing the first time around! Doctor Sternberg will take AMAZING care of anyone who has to deal with this terrible disease. I will forever be grateful for him.

– Raina M.