The longer I sat, the more miserable I was

Posted 2023-08-02

I started having discomfort when sitting for prolonged periods of time toward the beginning of 2020. For the longest time, I thought I had pulled something or bruised my tailbone, but over the months the pain increased rapidly. My pain was never tender to the touch, but it was a dull, deep and achy pain that was caused by sitting. The longer I sat, the more miserable I was throughout the day. As my pain progressed, I became very stiff.

I finally decided to see a doctor in the Fall of 2020. This put me on a long windy path of being misdiagnosed several times. Many doctors thought something was wrong with my SI Joint. Some doctors thought I was making my pain up. I had MRIs and X-Rays (even a sitting and standing X-Ray ordered by a doctor who knew a bit more about the tailbone), but the X-Ray technician didn't understand how to read a sitting and standing X-Ray and misread it and every subsequent doctor relied only on the interpretation of that X-Ray technician.

I began to receive steroid injections. Some in my spine (some docs were convinced it was nerve pain stemming from some degenerative discs on the left and right side of my spine between the L5 and S1), some believed I needed SI Joint injections, some attempted Caudal Steroid Injection, and some attempted to get as close as possible to the tailbone. The one doctor that sought to get close to my tailbone, in the middle of the procedure saw there was a break in my tailbone. Later the doctor said, "You've been vindicated". Those words were good to hear, but it made me realize how many doctors looked at me skeptically.

However, the tailbone steroid injections did not work for me.

After close to 30 injections over the years, a doctor told me that I should resign myself to be in pain and that there was nothing else that could be done. Honestly, I was beginning to accept that. My wife, however was not willing to accept that, and that is when we discovered this particular website.

It is on this website that we learned of an doctor named Patrick Foye who practices medicine in New Jersey (see Doctors and specialists in the USA, New Jersey). He wrote a book called "Tailbone Pain Relief Now!". The book was extremely helpful and it felt like it was written for me. After reading the book, I consulted with Dr. Foye (who is a very compassionate, warm man) and decided to travel to New Jersey to see him and have him do a steroid injection on me. My in-laws were gracious to drive me as I laid on a mattress in the back of their vehicle. At that point, I hadn't travelled more than 1 hr in years due to the immense pain I'd be in from sitting.

It was Foye that taught me how most doctors know very little about the anatomy around the tailbone. Most doctors only know "ice and ibuprofen". Foye had me do a sitting and standing X-Ray with a technician very familiar with broken tailbones. From that X-Ray that confirmed that my tailbone was (a) longer than most peoples (b) 100% dislocated and (c) mobile. In other words, my tailbone wasn't going to fix itself. After that diagnosis, Foye did a steroid injection procedure. When he administered the numbing medication, I was instantly pain free. I knew he hit the right spot. However, after the procedure I experience no pain relief - very disappointing.

It was after that, that my wife and I decided to have the tailbone removed. We decided to go with a name we saw on this site and a doctor recommended by Dr. Foye named Scott Katzman (see Doctors and specialists in the USA, New Jersey). Scott Katzman says he has a 99% success rate with coccygectomies - I am not sure how that is calculated exactly, but I know he is highly sought after. He also has an office in New Jersey, so after my wife and I consulted with him a few times (and he is very confident by the way) we decided to take another trip up to New Jersey for the procedure this past February (2023).

On February 4th I had my surgery. It took 3x longer than it was supposed to take. When I woke up, I was told that out of the 1000+ patients they've seen, I was one of their worst. There was evidence of years of inflammation. I think that my body had been messed up for a long time, but I only began noticing the pain 4 years ago.

The first couple of days, I didn't take pain medicine at all. I ate the night of the surgery and was even able to walk around some.

It was two days later that I began to realize experience pain around the clock and began to take pain medicine. This coincided with my first bowel movement. The trip home from New Jersey (I live in VA) was a challenge. My in-laws drove me again and if it weren't for the pain meds and frequent stops, it would have been much more difficult.

The two weeks that followed were a struggle. It was a struggle to go to the bathroom. It was a struggle to sit for any length of time and when I would stand, it felt like I was carrying something really heavy. So, overall it was hard to get comfortable. However, with that said, I was back at work by week 4 (though still struggling).

I didn't experience any infections, the surgery from the surgeons standpoint was a success. As I am writing this, it is July 24th 2023—almost 6 months since my surgery. I can honestly say that I am better because of the surgery than I was prior to the surgery. In other words, I would recommend the surgery to the chronic sufferer. I still cannot sit without a special cushion and I still do have some dull achy pain. The doctors say my body may never remember how to not have inflammation. However, the intensity of the pain has decreased exponentially for me. I can sit for hours at a time without being in excruciating pain. I can drive a bit further (I still haven't taken a long trip, but I've been in the car for 2 hrs without a problem). I am swimming now 2-3 times a week to strengthen my core. In other words, my quality of life is better, although I suspect I'll always have some pain.

It has been a journey. Many people on this site have experienced much worse, for a lot longer. God was very gracious to me to allow my wife and I to find this particular website and I pray that my experience and testimonial can be helpful to someone else out there struggling.