What a relief! I came to Dr. Sternberg 10 years after my first pilonidal abscess. At first, my case was a mild one and more manageable than some of the stories I’ve seen on reddit and other forums. It would reoccur every 3-4 years and I would just use a donut pillow for comfort until it went away. Then, with this last episode, the abscess just persisted and didn’t go away for six months, during which I was unable to do most of the things I love: surf, scuba dive, swim, for fear it would make the infection and pain worse. I finally decided to call up Dr. Sternberg; I had been hesitant to get surgery after my pilonidal excision in 2017 with a different surgeon left me with a MRSA skin infection. Dr. Sternberg listened to my concerns and understood why I was anxious about the surgery, but reassured me that I wouldn’t be put through the same thing as my last surgery where I would go with an untreated infection. He did warn me that my history put me at higher risk of post-op infection this time around, and that he would be mindful of that when prescribing me the right antibiotics. Most importantly, he said, I would actually be cured.

So, I went for it. I had my cleft lift procedure on Oct 30. There was no pain afterwards, and I took it easy for a few weeks. Dr. Sternberg was super attentive and tailored my antibiotics to cover the infection I had had before. He called and texted me throughout the recovery process, and he and Amaya were invaluable support systems for me as I healed. By Thanksgiving, I was playing with my nieces and nephews; still taking it easy, but back to normal. Today, Dec 12, I got cleared to for everything, and plan to go skiing this weekend. Simply put, Dr. Sternberg’s the best, and he truly cares. If you’re like me and have dealt with the limitations of this stupid condition, you really can’t have anyone better than Dr. Sternberg in your corner. I’m eternally grateful — and plan to send him all my scuba pictures from here on out!