While my boyfriend and I were waiting for authorization from his insurance company, he and to a lesser extent, I were continuing to treat his wounds with the Iodosorb and a foam dressing. Although, I want to be more involved than I have been, his schedule has required him to take more of the responsibility for his usual dressing changes. At his recent wound care appointment, his doctor explained that she felt the wound on the lateral (outside) part of his foot was doing so well and had become so superficial that she felt she would be able to glue it closed and then apply steri-strips to secure the edges of it. My boyfriend and I were pleased that at least one of his wounds was beginning to come along so the doctor applied medical grade superglue. His medial (inside) wound was also looking very good and the doctor told us to continue using the Iodosorb and the foam dressing. She then asked how the progress was with his new braces, which he then explained that he had received authorization and was just waiting to make the appointment. Although, I did not say anything at that point, I did feel somewhat blindsided by the information because I had repeatedly asked him if he had heard anything and was consistently told, “no”. To say that I was peeved, is an understatement, but I tried to take a step back and understand that all of this really was his responsibility and I should perhaps try to take more of a hands-off approach, especially because I had a lot of my own stuff to deal with as far as my shoulder was concerned.
By this point, I have seen three; orthopedists for my shoulder injury. The first orthopedist disagreed with the MRI report, based on her viewing the images personally, and also on the physical exam she performed on my arm. She said that in her opinion, I had not torn anything and what I had was a case of bursitis, and some early arthritis in the top of my shoulder but that ultimately, one of my muscles was just not as built up as she would have liked. She then recommended a cortisone shot to try to help my pain. I had had one previously, in my hip and I knew that cortisone shots were painful but that it had helped my hip so I agreed. I also agreed, because I had done some prior research and knew that getting one shot in my shoulder would be okay but that getting too many, could lead to any surgical repair being more difficult. I had originally, gone into the appointment, thinking that I would just hear her out and wouldn’t make any actual decisions but all of that seemed to go out the window. I think what happened was, I was thrown for a loop when she said that I did not have tendon damage and so I may have somewhat let my guard down. My initial thought was that I of course would not have gone ahead and scheduled any type of repair of the shoulder until I had at least gotten a second orthopedic opinion but maybe I felt that, that wouldn’t be needed so I went ahead with the shot. After I got the shot I went home and applied ice to my shoulder to try to minimize the pain and swelling and took it easy for the rest of the day.
I decided to get a second orthopedic opinion on my shoulder situation prior to beginning any physical therapy as a “tie-breaker” of sorts because the MRI report had said one thing and the orthopedist’s opinion was different. I went to the second orthopedist with copies of all the imaging that I had done of my shoulder and also the patient portal app that I had on my phone that documented everything from my initial orthopedist appointment. That orthopedist viewed the images and also agreed that it didn’t look like I had torn anything. He then did an exam of my shoulder, during which he asked me to move in all sorts of painful positions. At the end of all of this he explained the diagnoses he had come up with. According to him, I had Bursitis, a contusion of the shoulder, impingement syndrome and a neck strain. After hearing all of this I asked what my options are and was told that he could give me another cortisone shot but that at this time all he would recommend would be physical therapy. I accepted the cortisone shot because by that point I was more confident that I would not need surgery. I received the shot and left with the instruction to start physical therapy in about a week.
Of course while I was trying to handle all of the pain and inconvenience of having a shoulder injury, I was also continuing to assist my boyfriend with his wound care. His wounds in my opinion were beginning to stall in the healing process which somewhat bothered me but they weren’t really looking worse at that point so we continued to treat his wounds as directed, until I noticed something different. All of a sudden, when I was changing the dressings on his wounds, I noticed that some undermining was developing on one of them. I looked into the small opening as closely as I could, with the flashlight of my cell-phone and I realized that the undermining area looked to be very dry. Of course, I had learned all about moist wound healing so my first instinct was that something should be done so that the area could gain a bit more moisture. I explained to my boyfriend what I saw and what my thought process was and asked him if it would be okay if I called the wound care center and got some input on the situation.
When I called I spoke with the nurse that I communicate with very well and explained to her what I felt was going on. She then asked me what I wanted to do based on the supplies I had available. I told her that I would like to use Hydrogel in the new area and she said that if I felt it was too dry to go ahead and stop using the Iodosorb and to apply the Hydrogel. When I hung-up with the nurse I explained to my boyfriend what she had said and he said to go ahead with the new plan. I then had to figure out a way to apply the Hydrogel, which comes in a tube similar to a toothpaste tube, into a very small opening. After thinking it over for a minute, I decided that I could probably put some of the gel into a syringe and push it in that way. I was unsure if it would work completely as the diameter of the syringe was slightly larger than the opening I needed to squirt the gel into. I gave it a try and although I wasn’t sure if the gel went down as far as was necessary I knew that what I was able to get into it, would most likely help. Afterward, my boyfriend went home and I wasn’t going to see him or his wounds for a few more days. It ended up that I didn’t even get to see his wounds until the following wound care appointment. When we got there I was happy that we got the nurse that I had spoken to on the phone so I wouldn’t have to explain to a different nurse why we weren’t following the written orders. The doctor came in and told me that she had heard all about what was going on and what I had done. When she examined him she saw the part I was talking about and because the Hydrogel that I applied had done it’s job she told us to discontinue that and to go back to the Iodosorb, she also took a culture of his wounds because it had been awhile since one had been taken and she wanted to make sure that the new undermining area wasn’t caused by an infection.
The doctor called me a couple of days later and told me that some infection had shown up in the culture and she was considering putting my boyfriend on a topical antibiotic ointment. I said that it was probably a good idea based on what I had been seeing and gave the information for the pharmacy my boyfriend uses. I then called my boyfriend and explained to him what the doctor and I had discussed. He then told me that if we needed to do daily dressing changes while using the antibiotic, new supplies would need to be ordered because as it was he barely had enough to get him through until his scheduled visit to the wound care center. I was slightly peeved that he had forgotten to mention it at the appointment and though I voiced this annoyance to him, I also called the wound care center and asked that new supplies be ordered. It took several days for the pharmacy to get his antibiotic in stock so while we waited we stuck to the dressings schedule that we had been using.
By this point I had been going to physical therapy to try to decrease my neck and shoulder pain and to increase my range of motion. After a few sessions that consisted mostly of stretching, my physical therapist determined that in her opinion my first rib was slightly out of whack and she wanted to adjust it. Without entirely thinking it through, I allowed her to manipulate me so that my rib would go back into place. I went home afterward and actually felt somewhat better, almost like she had loosened something and although moving was still painful, I felt like I was able to move slightly farther. All of this continued for several weeks when I noticed that I wasn’t really getting any more improvement or pain relief. I had a follow-up appointment with the orthopedist after seeing my therapist for approximately seven weeks. During the appointment, we discussed that my shoulder pain was improved slightly but that my neck was still really bothering me, I also asked him if he thought my rib had been out of place and explained that my physical therapist had been doing some adjustments to it. He said that he didn’t feel that my rib was out of place at all but he recommended that we take a neck x-ray to determine a cause of my neck pain. When my orthopedist pulled-up the x-ray images on the computer, I myself was able to see that something didn’t look quite right. The orthopedist explained that I had a slipped disc in my neck. I was somewhat relieved that I had a real reason for being in so much pain and yet I was concerned because a slipped disc didn’t sound like a minor diagnosis. When I asked what should be done about it, I was told to continue therapy and that he would see me again if I felt I was still not improving after awhile. I continued physical therapy for about another week when I decided perhaps it was time for yet a third opinion. I called the orthopedist that my wound care surgeon had recommended and was able to get an appointment relatively quickly.
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