Sunday, April 5, 2009

His "Holey-ness"

WARNING -- This post contains photos of the holes in Master's belly where wound infections occured. They are NOT pretty. If you are prone to be squeamish, this might be a post that you simply want to skip...

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There are two open wounds on His belly. The central one is along the main surgical incision. It was the first to show up with signs of infection and was opened the first day we took Him back to the hospital. The smaller opening, off to the side, is a second infection site in one of the trocar incisions. Both exhibit "tunneling," which means that the actual wounds continue under the surface for some distance.

Right now, we are packing and dressing these openings twice a day. We are hopeful that Master will have a wound vac by Wednesday. From what we understand, the wound vac exerts negative pressure on the wounds and circulates pure oxygen into them. Both of these things help to promote much faster healing. From what the home-health nurse told us yesterday morning, it could be that, with a wound vac, these could be healed in 2-6 weeks.

Anyway, if you are into some wicked looking post-surgical complication pictures, here's the post you've been waiting for.


swan

10 comments:

selkie said...

OMG - that looks SO sore...poor Tom!

Anonymous said...

I'm very happy for your family to finally all be home under one roof. I hope that everyone is resting comfortably and healing.

Hugs,
kitten

Tapestry said...

Ditto what Selkie and Kitten said. I do hope the wound vac arrives soon as it does sound like a lovely tool to speed healing.

Hermione said...

Tom really needs some heavy-duty band-aids. And I have just the thing!

Hugs,
Hermione

morningstar said...

Well noooooo i can't say i was looking for some yucky post-op pics.. but i did enjoy seeing His face.. He has good colour which is a good thing !!!

hugs to one and all

morningstar (owned by Warren)

morningstar said...

ummmmmm i just took a second look.. and i couldn't help but get a cheeky grin...

They shaved Ratheretic didn't they??

wait till the hair starts to grow in.. (wicked giggle) it is sooooo gonna itch !!!

morningstar (owned by Warren)

Anonymous said...

All,

Pretty evil and painful looking...however did that happen....one of the reasons that they want you OUT of the hospital ASAP..all is safer at home...good wishes for a speedy recovery....a question ...why didn't Tom and T have the same procedure?

You guys are the best!

Karen

Impish1 said...

Hope you get the wound vac soon. I'm sure the dressing changes are an ordeal for everyone. Still sending happy healing wishes your way.

A said...

Ya got some good drugs, I hope? :)

Hey, let's look at the good side of it. ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure he will heal better at home. Hopefully the wound vac will arrive soon, my sister has used one before (she is bed ridden and is proned to pressure sores) and it does seem to help quite a bit.

Take care
Sharon