Crow71 update

krf
krf Member Posts: 98
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi all. I have been reading and following and sharing news with Roger. I hope he will be back on the board soon.
He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. He did develop an infection in the wound at the hospital and the whole thing was opened on Tuesday night. We went back yesterday afternoon because the wound looked so different to me. (I am packing and dressing it). When I described the changes to the home health nurse she suggested going back to have it checked. The infection has damaged the muscle and he will probably end up with a hernia. He is in a lot of pain, mostly from his lower back from having to lay around so much. Stuey is gone and was replaced by a new ileostomy. All is working well in that area, although the ileo is so close to the open wound that it is hard for me to place the bag without having adhesive onthe wound- not to mention worrying that any leakage from Rog's new stoma would get into the wound.
It is great to be home, but it is also scary. I am glad the home health nurse will be coming everyday so someone else will be looking for changes to the wound. It is HUGE- probably 14-16 inches long and over an inch in the widest areas. The area below his navel is healing well, but the area above is the area where the underlying muscle has pulled apart and it is not looking very good. Very deep, and the Doc said probably right at liver or intestine- so that area of a wet to dry gauze packing has to be handled a bit differently- extra moisture to make sure the underlying area does not get dry.
I am hoping we are at the worst point. I hope this is as bad as it will be. The pain is intense and the wound is awful, but he is strong and I am trying to force feed him as much protein as he can stand.
If any of you have some thoughts and/or recovery stories, I will share them with him tomorrow.
The members of this board are always in our thoughts.

Love, Kim

Comments

  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    Goodness
    I haven't been through all that,so I really can't offer advice. I just want y'all to know that I'm praying it gets better soon.

    *hugs*
    Gail
  • AnneCan
    AnneCan Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    Hi Kim,
    Thanks for this

    Hi Kim,

    Thanks for this update. It sounds like Roger has done well + you are taking good care of him. I am glad you have the nurse visiting daily; I, like you, would want a second pair of eyes to ensure everything is going tickety-boo. I hope the pain subsides soon. Please give Roger my best wishes + know that both of you are in my thoughts. Take good care!
  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    Hi Kim
    Sorry for the wound set back but from reading your site, all in all, sounds like the surgery was successful. Hopefully his recovery will be a little easier as the days go by. Being home will help and of course your wonderful nursing skills.

    Tell Roger hi and hope to see him posting soon.

    Tina and George
  • Shayenne
    Shayenne Member Posts: 2,342
    geotina said:

    Hi Kim
    Sorry for the wound set back but from reading your site, all in all, sounds like the surgery was successful. Hopefully his recovery will be a little easier as the days go by. Being home will help and of course your wonderful nursing skills.

    Tell Roger hi and hope to see him posting soon.

    Tina and George

    Hey Kim!
    Ouch! I know that wound healing all too freshly. My hospital used a wound vac though, instead of the wet/dry dressing as it cuts down on healing time and infections. I never did get an infection, but had the home health nurses over every other day changing it from cutting the sponges to go into the wound, and my incision was abit close to where my ostomy hole was, so we had to be careful not to have any leakage from my stoma going into the incision. The pain of a wound is horrible, I would be screaming and crying and putting a pillow over my face each time the nurses had to get those sponges out, because they'd stick, and especially over the little skin parts, yowch!

    But it got better, the wound vac worked excellent, sucking out all dirt, blood, germs anything that went into a little cannister that I would empty when it said too. It was 5 weeks of healing, but it was worth it, the pain would get better everyday, it got to by the 3rd and 4th weeks that I was able to take off the tape and take the sponges out before the nurses even got there, to make it easier for them.

    I would suggest even walking with a nice soft pillow against your belly, and especially when you laugh, that pillow can come in handy by keeping it on your belly. Alot of walking did help heal it faster as well. Roger will be fine in no time. It will get better as time goes by, don't worry :)

    Make sure he takes some pain pills before they come change the dressing, and maybe something to calm his nerves, it always helped me take the pain better.

    Best of luck to you! he'll be fine and dandy once he gets through this wound. Those incisions are VERY painful!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna
  • krf
    krf Member Posts: 98
    Shayenne said:

    Hey Kim!
    Ouch! I know that wound healing all too freshly. My hospital used a wound vac though, instead of the wet/dry dressing as it cuts down on healing time and infections. I never did get an infection, but had the home health nurses over every other day changing it from cutting the sponges to go into the wound, and my incision was abit close to where my ostomy hole was, so we had to be careful not to have any leakage from my stoma going into the incision. The pain of a wound is horrible, I would be screaming and crying and putting a pillow over my face each time the nurses had to get those sponges out, because they'd stick, and especially over the little skin parts, yowch!

    But it got better, the wound vac worked excellent, sucking out all dirt, blood, germs anything that went into a little cannister that I would empty when it said too. It was 5 weeks of healing, but it was worth it, the pain would get better everyday, it got to by the 3rd and 4th weeks that I was able to take off the tape and take the sponges out before the nurses even got there, to make it easier for them.

    I would suggest even walking with a nice soft pillow against your belly, and especially when you laugh, that pillow can come in handy by keeping it on your belly. Alot of walking did help heal it faster as well. Roger will be fine in no time. It will get better as time goes by, don't worry :)

    Make sure he takes some pain pills before they come change the dressing, and maybe something to calm his nerves, it always helped me take the pain better.

    Best of luck to you! he'll be fine and dandy once he gets through this wound. Those incisions are VERY painful!

    Hugsss!
    ~Donna

    Thanks for all the messages.
    Thanks for all the messages. Donna, he did have a wound vac for 4 days, but Dr. Shen uses it more like a food vac- covers wound with gauze, sponges, then a kind of fly paper thing and puts it on to hold all in place- air comes out just like food vac. Nothing to empty.
    I will him about using a pillow for walking, etc. I am ready to see forward progress on deep wound. Instead it feels like inching backwards.
    Thanks-

    Kim
  • Kerry S
    Kerry S Member Posts: 606 Member
    krf said:

    Thanks for all the messages.
    Thanks for all the messages. Donna, he did have a wound vac for 4 days, but Dr. Shen uses it more like a food vac- covers wound with gauze, sponges, then a kind of fly paper thing and puts it on to hold all in place- air comes out just like food vac. Nothing to empty.
    I will him about using a pillow for walking, etc. I am ready to see forward progress on deep wound. Instead it feels like inching backwards.
    Thanks-

    Kim

    Sending sparks
    Kim,
    Tell him to keep moving and walking. Sending sparks.

    Kerry
  • Devasted
    Devasted Member Posts: 185
    Kerry S said:

    Sending sparks
    Kim,
    Tell him to keep moving and walking. Sending sparks.

    Kerry

    Sending sparks, too
    We are thinking of you! Hopefully, Roger will be feeling better soon and all this will be a distant memory.

    My hubby just completed PVE and is scheduled for resection early June in Chapel Hill. You guys were at Duke, right? Just down the street. We will be thinking of you and hope each day gets easier. I would look forward to the nurses coming out to check..

    Take care
  • sfmarie
    sfmarie Member Posts: 602
    Kim
    Tell Roger I have been praying for him daily. I cannot wait for him to post his success story here. I cannot imagine his pain and suffering but I know it will get better soon. Perhaps he can speak with Pain Management at the Hospital. My sister has severe back pain. Icing her back helped and she did use a variety of pain medication to manage the pain. Take care of yourself and your beautiful family.
    Marie
  • Sundanceh
    Sundanceh Member Posts: 4,392 Member
    Ouch!
    Hi Kim

    Wow, it sounds like Roger has been through the mill with his surgery alright! That's a big incision - glad the surgery went well, the recovery always seems to be much harder and take the longest.

    Roger is tough as nails though and time will be helpful to him. Thank goodness for Home Health Care, huh? My wife wanted no part of changing any bandages out, so the nurses coming over were really a great comfort to me - I missed them when they stopped coming.

    You're a good caregiver and give Roger our best!

    -Craig
  • Jaylo969
    Jaylo969 Member Posts: 824 Member
    Please tell Roger
    Kim, Please tell Roger that another batch of sparks are on their way and I hope they cheer him up.

    The healing process might take awhile for such a biggie. One day at a time, slow & easy and it WILL happen.

    Take care. I'll be thinking of you guys and sending more batches of sparks :)

    -Pat
  • amyb15
    amyb15 Member Posts: 109 Member
    Hi Kim,
    I have been waiting

    Hi Kim,
    I have been waiting for you to post about Roger. Sounds like everything is moving in the right direction. Please continue to update us. I will say a prayer you and your famly tonight. Sound like things a tough right now but Roger is young and strong and will come through this just fine. I'm hoping soon it will be a distant memory and all will be well
    Amy
  • just4Brooks
    just4Brooks Member Posts: 980 Member
    krf said:

    Thanks for all the messages.
    Thanks for all the messages. Donna, he did have a wound vac for 4 days, but Dr. Shen uses it more like a food vac- covers wound with gauze, sponges, then a kind of fly paper thing and puts it on to hold all in place- air comes out just like food vac. Nothing to empty.
    I will him about using a pillow for walking, etc. I am ready to see forward progress on deep wound. Instead it feels like inching backwards.
    Thanks-

    Kim

    What's his name
    I'm sorry Roger is having such a bad time with everything. But tell him getting things working again is sure a pain. What's the name of the new Stoma?


    Brooks