The following day, when my boyfriend arrived he almost immediately checked to make sure that my wound was still doing well. We were both pleased when he told me that it was still closed and was beginning to look even better since we had started using the Zinc.
When my boyfriend and I went to the Wound Care Center for his appointment later that afternoon, the nurse was incredibly happy when she took the dressing off of his wound. She said that to her it looked closed and asked how long it had looked that good. My boyfriend said that it had looked that way for about a week and that it hadn’t been draining. I looked at his wound and was very pleased to see that it was in fact closed.
When the surgeon came in the room we spent a few minutes catching up because he had been away for a few weeks. He agreed that my boyfriend’s wound was healed and told him that he no longer had to keep it covered but that he should use moisturizer on it for at least the next several weeks. That sounded like an awesome plan. The surgeon then asked us what we were going to now with our lives being that neither of us needed to see him anymore.
At that point I spoke up and asked if he had heard that I was at the wound care center the previous week. I was surprised when he said that no he had not heard that and then asked me what had happened. I in turn was surprised because I thought that the nurses would have told him and also because I knew I had already blogged it and he previously told me that he was reading. I told him that the week before I was seen, my wound had opened and I had gotten really scared and wanted it checked. The surgeon then said that it was a very good idea to get it checked because it is always better to try to catch it at the beginning. I told him that that was exactly my thinking when I called to make the appointment. I also explained that it had closed by itself again before my appointment but that I went in because I was nervous.
The surgeon then told me that the nurse and doctor that had seen it the previous week must have been confident that it was actually doing well, or else they probably would have told him. I kind of assumed as much. The surgeon then proceeded to tell me that if it opens again I should definitely come get it checked because it “could be osteo”. I knew from previous experience that “osteo” relates to bone. I said that I would absolutely come back in if I were uncomfortable with how it looked. We left the Wound Care Center and began to live our lives again.
Things were going well for about a week when I suddenly got “that” feeling. The area was a little sore but it was mostly an emotional gut feeling that had me on edge. When my boyfriend came I asked him if he would please check and see if anything funky was going on. He looked and said that it didn’t look open to him but an area below the wound seemed to have formed a very small blister. I had no idea what to think of that news so I asked to see a picture. I saw something that may have been a very small blister but nothing was draining so I took the “wait an see” approach. On one hand I know that things need to be checked as soon as possible, yet I also didn’t have the horrible gut feeling that I usually get. We waited a few days and when my boyfriend next checked it he said that the blister seemed to have either popped or been absorbed by my body because it was gone but now that same area had a small piece tissue that had come off. We were unable to tell if it was just dead skin from a part of the blister or if somehow some of the scar tissue had sloughed off. We’re both rather confused by the situation but neither of us really feels like it absolutely needs to be seen. We are going to continue to monitor it to see if any other strange things happen, if so we will definitely get in touch with my surgeon.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
An Update and a Wound-iversary
Approximately nine days ago while my boyfriend was here I asked him to check my wound again, even though I knew I was going to the doctor in a couple of days. I wanted him to tell me what it looked like so that I was as mentally prepared for the appointment at the wound care center as I could be.
What he saw was somewhat of a surprise; the wound appeared to have closed again! Part of me thought he was joking I thought that it was crazy that it had closed after I had freaked out and made the appointment to get seen and began to think that maybe I really should try to calm down. I asked my boyfriend what he thought I should do about the upcoming appointment. I did not want to go to the appointment looking like a paranoid freak, with absolutely nothing wrong, yet I wanted to catch something before it turned into a bigger problem. While leaving the choice completely up to me, he encouraged me to go to the appointment regardless of the fact that it looked closed to us. At that point I began to relax and then came to the decision that I should definitely get the wound checked out because their was a chance that while it had closed on the surface but that it still had depth inside. I also realized that I would probably find it hard to calm down if it weren’t checked.
The next day I was surprised when my phone rang and displayed that my favorite visiting nurse was calling. I answered and she told me that she was calling because she wanted to know how I was doing, what I was up to and to tell me that she was kind of missing me because I had been discharged a full month from their service. I told her that I was okay but that I was a little unsure of how the wound was doing. I explained that it had opened the previous week so I made an appointment to go get it checked but then it suddenly closed so I was sort of unsure about what I should really do. After she told me that I could have called her and she would have come to check it when it was open, she said that I should get it checked at the Wound Care Center so that I would know that it had in fact closed from the bottom up. I explained to her that although I knew she would have come to my house without a problem, that I didn’t want her to because of my horrible timing of telling my family that I had been discharged. My visiting nurse said she understood my point because she remembered the look on my parents’ faces when she first started coming again after I had been discharged previously.
The next day was my appointment at the Wound Care Center and I went armed with the photo I had seen that caused me to make the appointment in the first place. When I went in the nurse that was there was one that I’ve always been comfortable with and so I explained to her that I may have freaked out for nothing but I would rather be safe and get it checked. I showed her the picture and she said that I was right; in the picture the wound was open and did warrant being looked at. When the doctor came in I then showed her the picture and told her that to me it looked so similar to the time she had seen it previously that I was nervous and so here I was. The doctor looked at the picture and completely understood my concerns. When she went to look at the wound she said that it looked completely different than my week old photo and that she felt like it was closed again. She asked what I had been doing to take care of it the past week and I told her that I was just keeping it covered. She suggested that I begin to use some Zinc ointment on the area to prevent it from becoming moist and potentially macerated. She also did some re-education on the strength of tissue after a wound heals. Although I knew all of what she was saying, I knew that hearing it again was probably not a bad thing so I listened while she talked and the nurse gathered the supplies so that she could apply the zinc.
When I left the appointment I told my boyfriend exactly what everyone had told me and what I would need to do. He was relieved that I again seemed to be okay. I have pretty much been taking care of it myself, save for the few times my boyfriend has been with me and things seemed to be going well. Suddenly, I realized that April 1st was rapidly approaching. Longtime readers may remember that April 1,2009 was when this nightmare started. I found it somewhat hard to believe that finally April was approaching and I was no longer a wound care patient. Part of me wanted to be excited by this but a more jaded part of me was still somewhat unsure that I was actually done with this part of my journey.
My boyfriend happened to be with me that day and as requested he checked and the wound still seemed to be doing well. We went on with our day and tried to move forward. I can’t speak for him but I was somewhat hesitant to mention what the date was because of the previous setbacks. Last night (Tuesday) I thought that I may have again noticed some drainage but I am not entirely sure. My boyfriend is coming over in the morning and he has promised that he will check to make sure that I am okay, prior to us going to his appointment at the Wound Care Center. He says that his wound is doing well and that he is only covering it to protect it but that he expects that his wound care journey is coming to an end. I honestly, hope that it is, but then where will we go from here? I wish that I were as confident in my own wound as he is in his but I’m still only remaining cautiously optimistic due to the many setbacks that this wound has caused me.
What he saw was somewhat of a surprise; the wound appeared to have closed again! Part of me thought he was joking I thought that it was crazy that it had closed after I had freaked out and made the appointment to get seen and began to think that maybe I really should try to calm down. I asked my boyfriend what he thought I should do about the upcoming appointment. I did not want to go to the appointment looking like a paranoid freak, with absolutely nothing wrong, yet I wanted to catch something before it turned into a bigger problem. While leaving the choice completely up to me, he encouraged me to go to the appointment regardless of the fact that it looked closed to us. At that point I began to relax and then came to the decision that I should definitely get the wound checked out because their was a chance that while it had closed on the surface but that it still had depth inside. I also realized that I would probably find it hard to calm down if it weren’t checked.
The next day I was surprised when my phone rang and displayed that my favorite visiting nurse was calling. I answered and she told me that she was calling because she wanted to know how I was doing, what I was up to and to tell me that she was kind of missing me because I had been discharged a full month from their service. I told her that I was okay but that I was a little unsure of how the wound was doing. I explained that it had opened the previous week so I made an appointment to go get it checked but then it suddenly closed so I was sort of unsure about what I should really do. After she told me that I could have called her and she would have come to check it when it was open, she said that I should get it checked at the Wound Care Center so that I would know that it had in fact closed from the bottom up. I explained to her that although I knew she would have come to my house without a problem, that I didn’t want her to because of my horrible timing of telling my family that I had been discharged. My visiting nurse said she understood my point because she remembered the look on my parents’ faces when she first started coming again after I had been discharged previously.
The next day was my appointment at the Wound Care Center and I went armed with the photo I had seen that caused me to make the appointment in the first place. When I went in the nurse that was there was one that I’ve always been comfortable with and so I explained to her that I may have freaked out for nothing but I would rather be safe and get it checked. I showed her the picture and she said that I was right; in the picture the wound was open and did warrant being looked at. When the doctor came in I then showed her the picture and told her that to me it looked so similar to the time she had seen it previously that I was nervous and so here I was. The doctor looked at the picture and completely understood my concerns. When she went to look at the wound she said that it looked completely different than my week old photo and that she felt like it was closed again. She asked what I had been doing to take care of it the past week and I told her that I was just keeping it covered. She suggested that I begin to use some Zinc ointment on the area to prevent it from becoming moist and potentially macerated. She also did some re-education on the strength of tissue after a wound heals. Although I knew all of what she was saying, I knew that hearing it again was probably not a bad thing so I listened while she talked and the nurse gathered the supplies so that she could apply the zinc.
When I left the appointment I told my boyfriend exactly what everyone had told me and what I would need to do. He was relieved that I again seemed to be okay. I have pretty much been taking care of it myself, save for the few times my boyfriend has been with me and things seemed to be going well. Suddenly, I realized that April 1st was rapidly approaching. Longtime readers may remember that April 1,2009 was when this nightmare started. I found it somewhat hard to believe that finally April was approaching and I was no longer a wound care patient. Part of me wanted to be excited by this but a more jaded part of me was still somewhat unsure that I was actually done with this part of my journey.
My boyfriend happened to be with me that day and as requested he checked and the wound still seemed to be doing well. We went on with our day and tried to move forward. I can’t speak for him but I was somewhat hesitant to mention what the date was because of the previous setbacks. Last night (Tuesday) I thought that I may have again noticed some drainage but I am not entirely sure. My boyfriend is coming over in the morning and he has promised that he will check to make sure that I am okay, prior to us going to his appointment at the Wound Care Center. He says that his wound is doing well and that he is only covering it to protect it but that he expects that his wound care journey is coming to an end. I honestly, hope that it is, but then where will we go from here? I wish that I were as confident in my own wound as he is in his but I’m still only remaining cautiously optimistic due to the many setbacks that this wound has caused me.
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