A brief history of my recovery from surgery:
8/11 - Surgery
Intermittent fevers, elevated heart rate, and occasional lower blood pressure
8/16 - Infection found in the incision
8/17 - Wound vacuum applied to the wound (negative pressure therapy), wound size about 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm
8/22 - Home health care starts and the wound dimensions are down to 2 cm x 2 cm x 1 cm
8/26 - Wound shows signs of infection (warm to touch and purulent exudate)
8/26 - Wound vacuum removed and wet/dry dressing applied to the wound
8/29 - Surgeon examines the wound and finds the healing satisfactory. He debrides the wound to aid in healing. He expands my diet to a "full diet."
Today (9/2) the home health care wound nurse changed my dressings and found some "sero-purulent" exudate (not necessarily infected but a cause for mild concern). Furthermore, the wound nurse measured the dimensions of the wound and it is now 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm (back to its original size :( ).
Some good news is that a small hole in the wound "pit" has closed up a bit. She could "see" the hole but when she attempted to probe into the hole with a medical applicator, she was unable to insert the applicator into the hole (previously she had been able to insert the applicator into the hole).
The net result is that the home health care nurses will ask the surgeon's office whether they should resume wound vacuum therapy. I'll update this post later with the results of that request (I should discover that later today or early tomorrow).
8/11 - Surgery
Intermittent fevers, elevated heart rate, and occasional lower blood pressure
8/16 - Infection found in the incision
8/17 - Wound vacuum applied to the wound (negative pressure therapy), wound size about 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm
8/22 - Home health care starts and the wound dimensions are down to 2 cm x 2 cm x 1 cm
8/26 - Wound shows signs of infection (warm to touch and purulent exudate)
8/26 - Wound vacuum removed and wet/dry dressing applied to the wound
8/29 - Surgeon examines the wound and finds the healing satisfactory. He debrides the wound to aid in healing. He expands my diet to a "full diet."
Today (9/2) the home health care wound nurse changed my dressings and found some "sero-purulent" exudate (not necessarily infected but a cause for mild concern). Furthermore, the wound nurse measured the dimensions of the wound and it is now 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm x 1.5 cm (back to its original size :( ).
Some good news is that a small hole in the wound "pit" has closed up a bit. She could "see" the hole but when she attempted to probe into the hole with a medical applicator, she was unable to insert the applicator into the hole (previously she had been able to insert the applicator into the hole).
The net result is that the home health care nurses will ask the surgeon's office whether they should resume wound vacuum therapy. I'll update this post later with the results of that request (I should discover that later today or early tomorrow).
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