Incision infection

Well, I’m having a port installed in my chest on this Friday…and starting chemo soon after…probably early next week, though I haven’t been told yet. The local oncologist wants to move forward since this is week 8 post surgery and for the chemo to have a chance to kill off any stray cells, he said we need to start between 6 and 8 weeks post surgery (which I knew and was getting nervous with the delay due to incisions not healing completely).

I had considered going back to Mayo to have the port installed…mainly because of IV issues here locally…they just aren’t good at putting them in for me. But, I’ve agreed to go to the oncologist’s office first on Friday to have their chemo person put in the IV and then I will go down to the hospital to have the port done.

No, the incisions are not healed yet. But, I have done some research on the web and it seems that chemo is done under these conditions…first things first….or rather…the more important things first. And, the wound nurse I’m in contact with says that the incisions are doing better…one, a lap hole, looks ready for the 2nd type of bandaging that has to stay dry and the longer incision has more red now and she thinks that it may start healing. She said that if we do chemo, she thinks that these incisions will now continue to heal, but much slower. What a pain in the rear. In the great scheme of things…this is a minor inconvenience, but irritating. Nonetheless, I am either continuing with this wound nurse specialist, or finding an MD who specializes in wound care to have someone watching these incisions really closely while I’m on chemo. I’m not much of a gambler….don’t like taking chances. I should have been under the care of a wound specialist a month ago when I started having problems, but kept being told it was normal healing.

As for the tape issues I was having…..I’m apparently allergic to a lot of the adhesives on tape and bandaids…AND…..my skin is fairly delicate and the sticking power of the bandages I’ve tried thus far, seem to pull off a thin layer of my skin when I take off the bandages, which then takes up to a week to heal…maybe longer….with intense burning and itching as it heals. The first of the adhesive burns are just peeling off now. I’m rubbing Udder Balm into them to keep them hydrated.
Okay…that’s my rant for tonight.

Julie T

Update on the incision healing problems: Last Friday, I saw a wound specialist nurse who assessed the two incisions from liver surgery tell me that the healing had stalled, due to some infection still lingering, dead tissue and dried drainage. So, she changed the bandages with a silver impregnated bandage cloth. We were to change it daily, wet it with 0.9% saline solution and cover it, after first washing them very well with a wash cloth to remove the dead tissue. This will apparently speed up healing. Once we have achieved healthy tissue in the wound again, then we are to swtich to a different dressing which is to be kept dry and changed every third day. To keep it dry during a shower, the nurse suggested using, “Press and Seal,” food wrap on my abdomen to keep out the water. Go figure that one.

My GP had seen this incision, though never without the wicking tape. My surgeon saw it, cut away dead tissue and said it would heal in a week to week and a half. That was never going to happen…..and probably would have taken months to heal otherwise. I don’t have that kind of time if I am to start chemo as close to the 6-8 weeks post op as possible. On Friday, I was 7 weeks post op.

So, even for far less circumstances as CC, it still pays to get another opinion or two. Head’s up to anyone with post surgical incisions that don’t seem to be closing and healing as you’d expect them to do.

Julie T.