I went to the doctor on Tuesday because I had some redness that may have indicated an infection. I was not that concerned really, but when doc called me on Monday night and said he wanted me to come in the next morning, I got a little concerned.
So I went. And it is a good thing I did, because the dead tissue was starting to separate from the good stuff. Doc was concerned that the weight of the breast was going to cause it to break free and fall slap out on the floor. I thought he was kidding, but he was not. He immediately admitted me and put us on the standby calendar for Wednesday (he has since told me he was worried enough that he considered cancelling the rest of his Tuesday appointments and doing it right then).
In the Wednesday surgery, he removed all of the fat that had died, and the part if the skin flap that had died.. he estimated 20% of the fat was bad, and 10% of the skin was dead. He also decided to clean up the belly incision.
When I woke up, all of the dead stuff was gone. Where the open area had been under my left breast is now a black sponge with a tube attached to a wound vac. It is still open, as Doc was afraid to close it up in case there is a kernel of infection in there. He did not find any, but is sure there is some weird bacteria in there. The sponge will be changed every 2 or 3 days, and each time, it will have healed enough that the sponge will be smaller. Meanwhile, because it is all covered with a surgical plastic, I dont have to do dressing changes and home health will do the sponge changes.
Right now, I am scheduled for another clean up operation at 7:30 tomorrow. I am finally starting to be encouraged by what I am seeing, which is a long way from where I was just 5 days ago.
So I went. And it is a good thing I did, because the dead tissue was starting to separate from the good stuff. Doc was concerned that the weight of the breast was going to cause it to break free and fall slap out on the floor. I thought he was kidding, but he was not. He immediately admitted me and put us on the standby calendar for Wednesday (he has since told me he was worried enough that he considered cancelling the rest of his Tuesday appointments and doing it right then).
In the Wednesday surgery, he removed all of the fat that had died, and the part if the skin flap that had died.. he estimated 20% of the fat was bad, and 10% of the skin was dead. He also decided to clean up the belly incision.
When I woke up, all of the dead stuff was gone. Where the open area had been under my left breast is now a black sponge with a tube attached to a wound vac. It is still open, as Doc was afraid to close it up in case there is a kernel of infection in there. He did not find any, but is sure there is some weird bacteria in there. The sponge will be changed every 2 or 3 days, and each time, it will have healed enough that the sponge will be smaller. Meanwhile, because it is all covered with a surgical plastic, I dont have to do dressing changes and home health will do the sponge changes.
Right now, I am scheduled for another clean up operation at 7:30 tomorrow. I am finally starting to be encouraged by what I am seeing, which is a long way from where I was just 5 days ago.
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1 comments:
I cant wait to see you!!!!
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