What do VACUUMS and HONEYBEES have in common?

ME!

Well, thank God for honey bees. Specifically bees from New Zealand and Australia who feed on Manuka and Jellybush. It seems their honey has special properties that aid in healing stubborn or deep wounds.


You'll remember that I originally had surgery to remove Herschel (the rat bastard) on 6/28.  A week later, I had another surgery to remove more tissue to ensure that we had "clean margins".  And then on 9/9 a massive infection sent me to the hospital for five days.  That infection wasn't cleared and resurfaced on 10/9.  The surgeon said the best method of cleaning it up was aggressive.  And I went back into surgery on 10/14 to reopen and flush the wound.  I was sent home with a wound vac and home care nursing three times a week.

Yesterday was my surgical followup visit and a dressing change from an MDA wound care nurse. The day of surgery, the surgeon said she removed a lot of damaged tissue and scar tissue but we really didn't talk about the dimensions of my wound or go into great length on the process of the wound vac. It didn't matter .. it had to be done. Now I know it was wise not to disclose all the gory details as I might just run for the hills!

My home care nurses measure my wound each visit but every Monday, Wednesday and Friday it seemed things were enlarging, not shrinking, as is the plan. But yesterday I found out that my surgeon had created the "tunnel" to remove scar tissue to the depth of 11 centimeters. (That's nearly 4.5 inches for those of us stuck with the ruler we grew up with.)  Yesterday, the nurse measured this tunnel at 8.2 centimeters so are ARE making progress.

My wound measurements yesterday were 2.5" long x 1' wide x 1.75" deep. This is the wound that runs from 1 o'clock to 4 o'clock on the outer perimeter and, within this, the "tunnel" runs behind the nipple for 3.25 inches. All of these openings are stuffed with sponges and dressed with a clear bandage that is perforated and then attached to a vacuum (small ouch) which not only pulls the tissues together and increases circulation, it removes excess fluids that might inhibit clean healing. Been THERE, done THAT .. don't want to go there again.

Three times a week a nurse comes to remove the dressing, detaches the vacuum and goes in after the sponges. I won't lie to you, it is the most painful thing I have ever experienced. Even pre-medicating with pain meds doesn't do much. But yesterday, the wound nurse put lidocaine on a swab and inserted it in the deepest part of the wound for 30 minutes before attempting to re-dress. And she used a different packing material - softer, more pliable and moist. And (and this is the really cool part), she added "Medihoney" to the sponges. I remember reading about the healing properties of honey but the idea of bees in New Zealand and Australia aiding in MY healing process really turns me on. 

Not much else does these days, I admit. I'm so tired of being tired and the idea of going through all this pain with no real evidence of healing was extremely discouraging. Finding out yesterday that the "tunnel" had actually been deeper only two weeks ago changed my attitude significantly. I can do this .. I CAN do this.

Would I be going through all this if there hadn't been a MRSA infection? No. Should I have been more forceful in discussing the initial swelling and inflammation with my surgeon? Possibly. Does everything happen for a reason. Yep. 

I am as sick of talking about this as you are of hearing about it. I'm supposed to be WELL by now (my time frame - no one elses!) I completed all my cancer treatments and followed every doctor's order. But it is what it is and if this little blog helps someone else here on Planet Earth, then I have accomplished my goal in sharing my experience. I guess it's not over till the fat lady sings. Stay tuned ..