Hi Jackie,
Sorry to hear about your wound. My chemo wasn’t delayed due to my wound because at the time of starting chemo it was still a forming scar line, it opened up the day after my first chemo with a fluidy ucky suddenness!
The honey is being used because when the wound opened up there was a lot of yellow/white uck (which is dead tissue they call slough) covering the healthy tissue underneath. They cannot take this off and have to dissolve it in case it causes damage to tissue underneath.
In order to dissolve the slough and allow the tissue underneath to start healing and forming skin for the first 6 weeks I had a medical gel called purilon put on the wound and a dressing called biataine over it which had to be changed every 2 days (because if left longer it would leak). After 6 weeks they decided to change it to try and speed it up (having chemo obviously slows down any healing and the day after the 2nd FEC the wound ucked again but my nurse says amazingly its still healing really well) and order manuka medical grade honey for the wound as its now used in wound healing to dissolve slough.
Had someone at the GP surgery taken “ownership” of my wound earlier (I was being seen at my hospital every 2 weeks and at the GP surgery by a different nurse each time it needed dressing) they probably would have changed either to honey earlier or used the maggots which would have got rid of the slough earlier and started healing earlier.
I know maggots is a horrid thought but they are bred in a sterile environment, teeny tiny and about 10 - 15 put in a teabag type thing and placed in the wound and the bag is rotated every day - the maggots eat only the dead tissue and then are removed leaving a clean wound to heal so had I had the chance and with the benefit of hindsight I would have gone for it rather than be 13 weeks post op with still a large hole.
Anyhow, I am now on the honey and its working well, I only have two strips of slough left (at the top and bottom of my wound) and they should fall off in the next week. I will then be left with a clean wound to continue healing.
If you are lucky enough not to have any slough (ie there is no dead tissue and they say its clear and there is healthy granulating tissue there) then you could well heal in a couple of weeks. If the hole is big but clean they can look at taking you back in and giving it a clean under general and stitching it back up but that carries a risk that some bacteria or dead tissue will be enclosed in the wound which would lead to an abbcess and all sorts of problems.
Once my slough has gone the wound will apparently heal nicely by itself but its still about 2 inches across my back and an inch and a half the other way and about 2 cm deep so it is likely to be 6 or more weeks before I have skin there. Apparently the skin will grow on top of the granulating tissue rather than the edges working their way back together.
I feel I have become something of an expert on wounds! I am very lucky in that one of my friends is a tissue viability specialist nurse at our local BUPA ward and she comes over and dresses my wound for me once a week and I go to the practice the other time. She has really helped encouraging me and advising me (to push for the honey) and takes so much more time and “love” over my wound and caring for the skin there around it (where the practice nurses dont). She also gives me my injections after chemo so I would be lost without her.
My advice is get some real honest advice from a specialist - they should have tissue viability specialist nurses in NHS hospitals too and get someone to give it a good assessment and tell you your options/timescales for healing/chemo etc.
Having chemo with the wound has obviously not helped but they have not suggested stopping the chemo and despite the chemo it continues to heal. There is an obvious risk with having chemo and an open wound re infection and lowered WBC and my Onc prescribed an injection (G-CSF) which I have the day after chemo to boost my WBC and lower my risk. Given the fact that I’ve had 2 FEC and 3rd to go on the 30th I have only picked up one infection (two bugs tho) which was diagnosed this week and am now on antibiotics for its been ok.
Mind you I can’t now drink until xmas eve and the wound doesn’t smell too good and I haven’t been able to lie down in the bath for 3 months now!
I have suffered some real emotional trauma having the wound as its felt like I have been unable to move on from the surgery and be comfortable in my body before dealing with the effects of chemo so I do get really down and find it hard to be excited by improvements in my wound at times when I still face probably another 2 months (poss more) of this so had I had the wound prior to chemo and the benefit of where I am now I would have (if it had been a matter of a couple of weeks) delayed chemo to get it healed first.
Phew, can’t I talk?
Hopefully I have given you something useful. If you have any questions that my ramble hasn’t asked, fire away.
PS Manuka honey is good for healing applied to wounds but has to be medical grade - I got my first lot on prescription but its a tiny tube and found a chemist on line who supplied me the same (ie like buying it over the counter only most walk into chemists dont stock it) for half the price because I do sadly have to pay for the honey and dressings (which is a real bummer). Manuka honey you can buy in supermarkets etc is great for taking a teaspoon of daily to help your immune system and healing from the inside if you see what I mean.
xxx
