Incision Wound Issues ....

We are back from Chicago! We met w/Dr. Howard (plastic surgeon) on Friday afternoon & it was good that we went.

He cleaned scar tissue & other yellow “junk” out of the wound in his office (thank goodness for Darvacet & mom driving). Glad I have a strong stomach. He did get the tissue area to bleed, which was a good sign. The area is probably the size of a small lima bean, although it is deep. He cleaned down to the bone & thought several things …

- he guessed it has not healed because of the scar tissue in the area.
- the edema was less yesterday (have had it up)
- the circulation in that area is probably compromised and thus it
affects healing. He compared it to a type of “crush injury.”
- there is a possibility that the bone there is infected or has bacteria
around it; don’t really know unless we’d biopsy it.

THE PLAN:
The plastic surgeon prescribed cream called silver sulfadiazine & wants me to put this on the wound and keep it packed w/gauze, keep it moist, continue w/antibiotic. If it is going to start to heal on its own, he said I should see some improvement in a week (could take a long time to fully heal). He suggested that I elevate most of the time and try to be non-weight bearing for the next week, to see if this aids in healing.

If it isn’t responding in a week, then he’d likely clean it out surgically and re-stitch and see if we could get it to hold together. Skin grafting isn’t an option because of the bone involved in the area. We didn’t totally rule out the oxygen treatment suggestion. Insurance, time & practicality are big issues here.

We are going to talk or e-mail w/the plastic surgeon toward the end of next week and see where we are headed. Best case would be for it to start to heal on its own, but sounded like it could go either way. I will be blessed if this happens.

I think that between holiday stuff and the hive issues, that I’ve just been bandaging longer than I realized … I kept thinking that the drainage would stop. I’m usually on top of things more than I was this time. No issues w/snow – sloppy and rainy, but that was it.

It will work out .... God is still in control of it all. Thank you for praying on such quick notice. The visit went as well as could be expected. I'm very thankful that I could see the plastic surgeon so soon; this is a huge praise!

Happy New Year!
Jenny