Dear stacy,
Doctors say my advice is crazy but it works for me. Don't use wet to
drys. these cause the wound to get too wet and then become too dry. Both are
exactly what you do not want. use very small amount of mild anti bacterial
salve. (if you can get regranex, it is great, but it is so hard to get people
that can use it and not introduce a new infection, esp. nurses. The only
sterile thing you ask of them and they will ruin a $400 tube on the second
shot.) Get some thin paper. Not gause and not typing paper but like
bakery wrapping paper to cover the woumnd when you must sit on it. Any
ointment, even vaseline will holl hold it in place. (it breathes and it
keeps out debris). Never pack the wound. As often as u can use a small fan to
circulate air by the wound. i wrap my fan with cheesecloth to catch any dust.
You don't want it to dry out completely but you want it to be comfortably dry
and eventually form a scab. You don't need a nurse but an intelligent person
helps alot. My ades do it in spite of state laws. When u get up, take a foam
pad and place it in ur chair seat. After a few hours get out and have your ade
cut away the area that has drainage on it and a little extra. This way you
will have the cut out where you need it.
If your drainage is really excessive, make up 1/4 strength dakin's
solution. 21 parts water to 1 part clorox with a pinch of baking powder. Wet
some very thin gause and place it against the tissue then use the fan to
dry it. after an hour get rid of it and let the fan do its thing for another
hour if you can stand it. this can be done 3 times a day for a week. A lot
depends on how much you can take. Remember, your mental health is as important
as the wound. Get out of the bed and go out!
If you can take being off that wound, and the doctor considers it a
candidate for a surgery, just remove any dead or at risk tissue and
transplant tissue from the front of your leg. You can even get skin from
there if you need it. Talk to more than one doctor. The skin on ur butt is not
what it use to be It is thin, not as elestic and heals poorly. I buy
cheap pillows to put in my bed when I must spend time on my side. I'm just
afraid that if I don't get out of bed, one day, I won't ever get up
again.
Love and Peace,
john
In a message dated 6/23/2006 10:16:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
My nightmare came true.
There was a lot of drainage to the flap where
the incision was made so the doctor takes out a staple to allow that
drainage to come out. It gets worse. I now have a larger hole in
my butt than I had before. It's a different one because it pulled
apart. I'm now dealing with a 5cm long and 5cm deep wound in the back
of my leg that is putting in more pain than the other sore ever did.
So what do I have to do? Wet to dry and wait for it to fill in.
Nursing will only come a few times a week now and less each week. It
hurts too bad to touch it myself so I guess back to the hospital I go.
A nursing home most likely and God knows for how long. I'm at a
loss and don't know what to do.
Has this happened to anyone else? If so how
did you get the care for the dressing changes if you stayed home.
Medicare won't pay for daily nursing care. I'm concerned about the
healing time and my check being taken away after I am there awhile.
This will not be a quick healing process at all. If I am in a facility more
than a couple/few months, they take the check to offset the costs, leaving
me to fend for myself.
I am pissed off as hell that I got this flap
surgery to only have it be replaced by a larger and more painful
wound. I didn't think there could be more pain involved but I was
wrong. There is no flap to fix this flap. I just have to wait
and hope it heals sometime soon otherwise more time off of school, more
depression, and who knows what else this new wound will bring with
it.
Stacy
