I went to the hospital today, only to be told after an hour of waiting around that the oncologist had not received my results yet, so the appt was cancelled.
I had my dressing changed this morning, and there is a ruddy great big hole in my breast… pic to follow only for those with a strong stomach.
<li-spoiler>At least there doesn’t seem to be any pus any more.<img src=“/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/4727iED5207E2C98846E9/image-size/original?v=1.0&px=-1” alt=“breast hole.jpg” title=“breast hole.jpg” border=“0”></li-spoiler>
So it feels to me as if this whole roller coaster is never going to end. I wish I knew enough about wound management, as it seems to me this should have been cleaned and stitched. Every time they remove the stuffing, and stuff more Aquacel into it, to KEEP the hole OPEN!!! And that’s the district nurse who does that. Today the antibiotics are supposed to finish. So I brought it up with the BCN and she got another surgeon to prescribe me more, at a lower dose, but nobody can actually take the time out to have a proper look. When the DN measured the depth of the wound at 7.5cms, and reported back to the hospital, she was told “I find that hard to believe.”
You’re really glowing through this at the mo & sorry to hear how you’re feeling, but hardly surprising.
Many years ago I had to have a cyst removed & for it to heal, the wound had to granulate from the inside out so to speak. It wasn’t really suitable to suture as it would not have healed underneath. It was not big, but it probably took a month or so heal, so although it’s difficult for you, it may well take some time to heal if there’s a cavity there. Modern wound dressing solutions are very good now & can deal with this successfully.
District nurses are more expert in wound dressings as they deal with it all the time, so if you haven’t already, she maybe the best person to ask on the reasoning behind your wound management. Drs are not necessarily very expert about this - even surgeons!
The healing of a deep wound especially where there has been infection is best done from the inside out so that bacteria don’t get trapped inside. My husband has a large abscess drained a couple of years ago and that took about a month to close. I had to pack it daily with aqua Gel. It healed really well and wasn’t dressed on the outside at all and he was encouraged to have warm baths to keep it clean. I hope that you get some answers soon x
Hi Cathy glad you have had a good day x Russian food sounds good
I got codeine and laxative lol x I am taking paracetamol and ibuprofen during day (just 4 paracetamol) and saving paracetamol and codeine for bed arm is painful have started exercise but only managed shoulder shrugs and rounds today.
I drove after last op for a couple of weeks but must admit I was s little scared and my sister came in case I struggled do she could take over. I only drove once on my own but of course got to wait again now.
Hi Pecan. Am so sorry to hear about your wound. I had issues with mine healing and ended up with a pico. Two at one point cobbled together in the middle. They kept losing pressure. In the end they left the smaller end of the wound out. I can’t begin to describe the ridiculous ways they had to dress it and stop it beeping. I even started back to work in a reception class with it tucked inside my bra as thete was plenty of room for it after my op. Eventually my hubby was taught to dress it at home as the ward had no idea how to deal with it if it went wrong at weekends. It took 8 months to heal completely but that’s because as soon as it was small enough they started chemo. Fortunately this didn’t set it back but just halted the healing. Stick in there, it will suddenly start making massive progress xx
Cathy It was probably nothing to do with anything you did but human nature means we often look for a reason and self blame is so easy have a great day and enjoy your drive x