Man had surgery nine times and was in bed for 14 months from disease caused by ingrown hair
Although most people moan that they don't get to spend enough time laying in bed, this bloke had the opposite problem.
Dylan Conway told how he spent a whopping 14 months on a mattress due to a debilitating skin condition which left him needing nine surgeries in total.
The lad, from Australia, explained that his life ground to a halt for more than a year as he was left bedridden by reoccurring pilonidal sinus disease.
He ended up contracting the notoriously painful condition - which one doctor has described as being 'worse than childbirth' - due to an ingrown hair, which 'implanted' itself into his skin.
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What is pilonidal sinus disease?
According to the NHS, a pilonidal sinus is a small hole or tunnel at the top of your bottom (between your buttocks) which can become inflamed and infected.
Most people don't realise there's a problem until they start experiencing symptoms, such as pain, discomfort when sitting, or a small, swollen red lump appearing in the area.
Experts say it's 'not clear' exactly what causes pilonidal sinus disease, although 'skin problems, pressure or friction may cause hair between the buttocks to be pushed inwards'.
The latter is exactly what happened to Dylan when he was just 19-years-old and living his dream of serving in the Australian Army.
"If you zoom in on a microscope with the hair, it looks similar to a screw," he told ABC Science in 2022. "And eventually, the friction from walking will end up embedding that hair follicle into your skin."
He went on to explain that his pilonidal sinus disease is 'reoccurring' and continues to torment him: "A lot of people will go through this and feel all the symptoms - tightness in their lower back, pain while sitting down - and they won't even realise or think to get it checked. And it can end up leading to an infection occurring in your lower back."
How Dylan dealt with his diagnosis
Dylan explained that while serving as an infantry officer, he woke up one morning and felt an 'immense pressure on his lower spine' - which ultimately spelled the end of his career and the start of his hellish health journey.
"It was sort of like getting hit by a car," Dylan said. "I just woke up one day and I had this disease. That's when I had my first surgery. I still had the mindset that I'd finish the surgery and then I'd get straight back into training, however, it's not how it played out at all. I was in bed for 14 months straight with this disease."
The Aussie shared some details of the graphic operations he has undergone, such as discussing how he was left stunned when he saw the 'huge chunk of flesh' which had been taken from his lower back during his fourth surgery.
Comparing it to the 'size of a small football', Dylan said he was then dealt a double blow when that 'particular surgery didn't work', meaning he had to have several more.
"I would go in to have another surgery not knowing what I'd wake up to and see," he said. "I went from being this really confident young man, to all of a sudden - you can't sit down, you can't walk. I couldn't socialise with my friends. I couldn't see my family. I couldn't live life, to be completely honest with you."
Booking his ideas up
In the depths of his despair, Dylan decided to pick up some books to read up about others who had overcame severe hardships, to 'put some perspective in his life'.
Reading quickly became his 'obsession', seeing him fly through plenty of pages before and after his hospital appointments.
"It meant that I can have some sort of continuation in my life when the physical aspects of it go," Dylan said, and he realised that other people might be in need of this too.
It led to him launching his own charity in 2020, BrothersNBooks, which 'encourages people to share their stories of adversity, coupled with books that have helped them'.
Dylan has created a series of community libraries in spots such as hospitals or veterans centres that boast shelves of the 'life-changing books that people recommend'.
He hopes that like him, other people going through the ringer will pick up an inspiring book which could completely transform their perspective.
"I think if I was to get told that I was having this surgery again, I think now I'm equipped to deal with it," Dylan said, explaining how literature has helped boost his mental health.
"Most recently, I've had the top of my butt completely cut off, and I have a large scar that runs from my lower back all the way down. I'm uncaring about what it looks like.
"I'm just happy that I can get outside again and start walking and seeing my friends. I hope that speaking about this publicly, when someone's going through this in the future, when they Google the disease, it actually comes up with something where they can see someone else that's been through it.
"Just to let people know that they're not alone."
Topics:Ā Health, Weird, Australia, Hair, Mental Health
Olivia Burke