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
