wound from necrosis RE-OPENING?

For thsoe who do not remember, when I had my reverse TT at the end of January, mcuh of teh incision broke down and turned encrotic, and I have spent the last 4 months trying to get a giant cavern in the center of my ribcage, and a smaller wound under one breast, to regenerate and heal up. 

The main wound area continues to slowly heal.  It's still probably a montnf rom being completely healed still {sigh}, but the area under the breast, which was MCUH less deep, was all sealed up.  The skin over it was very thin, but it was no longer oozing.  I have continued to keep it covered and protected with an abdominal pad because I did not want the underwire form my bra to rip it open.  Well, over the past three days, it ahs slowly been opening up again!  First it was just a small circular area and now -- about 3 days later -- it is an oval area over an inch long and it is oozing again.

I'll call the surgeon;s office on Monday (although he is in surgeyr all day on Mondays), but I suspect he will just say that I shouldn;t worry about it unless it show signs of infection... which it doesn;t.  I just don;t undertsand why ti woudl start to suddenly deteriorate.  After fighting this massive wound  for over 4 months (cleaning and packing and bandaging every single day), I was FINALLY starting to see the ligt at the end of the tunnel.  Now it is going "backwards".  I cannot evee begin to explain how disheartening this is.  I am still getting in the same amount of protein and am still taking the extra vitamins.

Anyone have any idea what is going on?!?

How long is it going to take before I don;t have to walk around with a %^$@! ABD pad taped to my belly?!?!?   (ok, I'm done whining now)

Lora

I had a necrotic area under my breast which closed up and then re-opened.   I think what happened was the surface healed up before the hole inside was entirely healed - for a while it had been getting smaller and harder to get the gauze into the hole.   If I missed a dressing (sometimes it fell out during the day for example), it would almost seal up from the top.   So anyway, I think it had to reopen so that it healed all the way from the inside eventually.    It was definitely frustrating to be down to two dressings and then have to start up with that one again, but it healed quickly after that.

Lora, I am so sorry to hear that your healing issues continue and are going"backwards". Has your surgeon done any blood work to see if you are specifically lacking a certain vitamin or mineral? Is your blood sugar levels normal? How about your thyroid function? There are so many things that can inhibit healing. How much protien are you taking in each day? Are you taking in at least 80gm a day?

It's ok to whine, I do hope things turn back around quickly for you, it has been long enough already.

 Keep us posted , wishing you all the best for faster healing.

Sher

sorry to hear about this, Lora.

I hope you can get it figured out and on the way to healing soon.

I know a Physical Therapist who does wound care in a nursing home. they often use whirlpool on chronic wounds. not sure that's any help but I thought I'd put it out there. it helps the circulation, I believe.

Jackie

Are you seeing your surgeon regularly?  This reversal sounds suspicious.  My own experience with a small wound separation took about 14 weeks to heal over.   After about 12 weeks I got real impatient (impatience is my worst shortcoming) and let the surgeon know that this "steady state" of nonprogress was starting to bother me a lot.  He decided to de-breed the wound and within two weeks it was healed completely.  I think we were both surprised.  

I'd go back to the surgeon and express the frustration (nicely, of course) that you've vented here and let him suggest a new approach.  If he doesn't inquire about debreeding. . . . .

Hang in there - it will eventually heal.  Donna

Thanks for all the input.  I'll see what the surgeon says when I call his office tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I will not be able to get in to see him before I leave on Wed for a trip.

I'm hoping thay maybe it IS just a case where the tissue had not completely healed below the skin first closed up.  At least it does not look infected and is not showing any signs of additional necrosis.  Still... I'm just SO tired of having gauze and ADB pads on my belly and under my breast!

On a positive note, however, the scarring from the lareg wound is not nearly as bad as I had feared it would be.

Lora

Are you getting in good protein and vitamins?  When all else fails, I just always think of going back to the basics.  It may help in the healing process more if your protein and vitamins were upped.  Just a thought.

I have been getting in 80g of protein every day (more occasionally) and doubled my multi-vitamin, E, and C before I had the surgery (and still continue to take those).

I called the surgeon;s office and he wants to see me tomorrow just to check it out.

Lora