After a quick stop at the pharmacy to pick up the prescription for pain meds, I went home to rest and await my visiting nurse who was scheduled for the next day. When my nurse came she asked how my pain level was and I explained that while I was sometimes uncomfortable, it was easily controlled with my prescription. She also, asked what exactly had been done in the operating room and what the orders were as far as the wound care itself was concerned. I explained to her that during the surgery the wound had been cleaned up back to healthy bone and then filled with antibiotic seeds and then a type of Prisma collagen was placed inside the wound. The collagen that was inside the wound and the antibiotic seeds would all start to be absorbed by my body as such the only thing that my nurse would need to do for the next few visits, would be to change the outer dressing and monitor the amount of drainage.
I saw my surgeon at the wound care center about a week later. During which time he added Promogran (another collagen) to the wound and explained to me that he still only wanted my visiting nurses to change the outer dressing and that he wanted to see me weekly. He needed to see me weekly so that he himself could add the collagen after it had been given a chance to be absorbed. That way not everyone was poking around inside the wound, therefore hopefully giving it the best chance to heal.
Following those instructions was going very well and my surgeon seemed pleased with the progress of the wound. A few weeks later, my surgeon explained that he needed me to skip a week with him so as I was leaving a made an appointment for two weeks later. When I next saw my visiting nurse I explained to her that I was skipping a week at the wound care center but that I had completely forgotten to ask what should be done about the collagen that was to be replenished weekly. My nurse told me that at that point it was fine because it had only been a couple days and we had time to get in touch with the wound care center before it would need to be changed anyway.
I called the wound care center and spoke with the nurse that had last been in the room during a visit with the surgeon to ask her what she thought we should do during the time I would not be seen by my surgeon. The nurse that I spoke with was one that although I do not have a problem with her per say, I do not feel like her and I communicate very well. When I asked her what I should do after the collagen was in for a week all she really said was that it “dissolves into the wound” I explained that I knew that already and then asked in what I thought was a different way that would maybe get me an answer. I even pulled out the big guns and used the word “replenish” in the sense of “what should we use to replenish the amount of collagen once this has been in all week”. The nurse continued to just tell me that my body absorbs the collagen but never really told me what to add once it had been in for the week.
When my visiting nurse came I explained to her that I had tried to get us an answer but hadn’t been very successful. She was frustrated by the lack of information but was mostly just amused that I had asked several different ways and still the nurse was unable to at the least reply with “I do not know, let me speak with the doctor and get back to you”. I was also amused so I laughed about it, with the intention of calling my surgeon a few days later for a straight answer. A few days later I found myself calling my surgeon directly so that I could get further instructions. I had no problem calling being that this was a completely legitimate question, however, I did sort of feel like a fool for not having asked him before I had left. When I spoke with my surgeon and asked my question he then asked me what supplies I had in my wound supplies box so that hopefully he could just pick something I already had. He was able to suggest using another kind of collagen and told me that kind should be changed a few times a week so the nurses could start filling the wound with that and he would see me the following week.
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