So how about a very patient, yet threatening bully, waiting for the time he’ll attack you. You don’t know when, you don’t know what the extent of the damage that will be done, but you strongly anticipate and fear that it’s imminent.

This is the best way I can describe my experience and the flare/developing flare on my stomach for the past FOUR MONTHS! Yes, four months.😕

About mid June, I began to notice a hardening next to and extending below an older flare site that leaks constantly and that I have to drain when it gets backed up throughout the day to avoid discomfort. Up to this point I hadn’t had any problem draining the site, but now, to press this area felt like a hard mini panel of plastic or something had been slipped under my skin and noticeable sensitivity. 🥴

I soldiered on, praying that it wouldn’t develop into anything crazy, but still anxious that this wouldn’t be the full extent of it.

July comes and goes, and while the sensitivity has changed the way I have to drain the former site, the area still is pretty flat. Around the end of August, I noticed that the “hard panel” now has a puffiness over it. OY VEY!🫣 The bully is just about done taunting me and is now ready to make his move.

I proceed with draw out salve, tee tree oil and hot showers in order to coax it to a head. By the end of September I had a full grown egg shaped flare on my lower right abdomen…yeah.

Despite the anxiety that this causes, I proceed on and try to go about my days. I continue to pray that it doesn’t become like flares I’ve had in the past, and I also remind myself to be thankful that I hadn’t had any pain accompanying my bowel movements at this point or pain in response to gravity etc.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I spent a few nights with my sister Lori.🥰 I feel and realize her connection to, concern for and awareness of my situation. It’s for this and other obvious reasons that I was very unhappy to awaken at her place Monday morning with pain upon standing in the flare site.😥 I didn’t want HS to interrupt the time we had together.

I didn’t tell her immediately about this development, but I didn’t have to. Her awareness caused her to hear the slight sound of my pillbox.(She’s amazing.lol) She said, “what’s going on with your body Loni?” I hesitantly told her. She made me a concoction of tea that included fresh parsley, thyme, garlic and ginger that I drank that night and Tuesday morning before returning home.❤️❤️

That brings me to today. I’ve continued to treat the site and take pics for my reference, to see if I saw any signs of skin breaking. I’m happy to say that after showering, the cyst is open and slowly oozing. PRAISE JAH!🙏🏾