Hi there,
I'm looking for any advice & sharing of similar experiences (ESPECIALLY if you suffer/have suffered with a cyst in the same area). Here's my situation:
In summer last year a noticed a pea shaped red bump beside my clitoris on the right-side of my labia minora. Over the course of a few days it grew to the size of a tangerine - was red, swollen and extremely painful. Doctor sent me straight to ER, they drained it under GA. A month later it recurred, they marsupirlized under GA.
It was diagnosed as a peri-clitoral cyst which I am told is very rare.
Then I had nothing (though a tiny unnoticable symptomless cyst remained under skin) for months until Christmas when it became inflamed/swollen/infected again. Amazingly I managed to stay out of hospital this time by being religious with sitz baths, using a homemade ointment of castor oil, tea tree and witch hazel and doing hot compresses.
A month later of course it returned again and despite keeping up these methods, it continued getting more swollen and very painful to the point where I had to return to hospital. They drained again, this time we me under local anaesthetic - which I don't recommend to anyone - the needle is very painful.
After the 4th recurrence my gynaecology clinic finally took the matter seriously and advised surgery for the excision of the cyst when it's not inflamed. They warned of potential tissue and nerve damage given the area it's in... but I didn't see any other option. From the two drainages and marsupilization I already have scar tissue anyway and am so tired of the disruption and pain, trauma etc.
So I'm booked in to the OR.. I wake up "post-surgery" and the surgeon says she couldn't find the cyst. She was confused because she had felt it herself two weeks previous, and I too had checked and felt it the night before. (Just to reiterate, when it's not infected, it's a tiny and visibly unnoticable little bump). But it had in fact disappeared & no surgery could be done because they didnt want to cut me open if they couldn't feel anything (which makes sense).
I was discharged & not given a follow up appointment or anything. This was about 3 weeks ago. On Tuesday night I felt a bruising feeling and of course, the cyst was starting to swell again. I'm sitting here now with it gradually getting more swollen & am also getting waves of fever (which I've experienced before with this - I guess it's the infection?). It's not unbearable though, just uncomfortable at the minute. Keeping up with the usual epsom salts sitz baths, my ointment, hot compresses...
I went to see the gyno who tried to do the surgery this morning. She gave me a Doctors note and told me to show it to the gynos in ER if it got to the point again where I needed to go to hospital for drainage/marsup. The note requests excision surgery under general anaesthetic. This concerned me because she had previously told me she would not under any circumstances perform the exicision if the cyst was swollen/infected, because the surface area is expanded and it's hard to tell the actual perimeter of the cyst meaning there are wider margins for damage.
What are my options here? Is there such a thing as a vaginal cyst specialist? How do I see one?! Finding doctors and gynaecologists I've experienced so far to be less than accommodating. I understand that the area the cyst exists in is rare and thus they are unsure how to proceed - but the element of 'care' has been less than desirable for this whole experience.
I'm in Canada by the way - Toronto specifically.
Thanks in advance ladies