Another Medical Update

Thursday, June 16, 2022

Thank you for your prayers, support, and well-wishes in regard to my recent medical "adventures."

This morning, a wound-care specialist/registered nurse changed the wound vacuum dressing (black strip) within and on my chest while I was lying in my bed here at the physical rehabilitation facility. The white patch covers a wound from a recently removed chest drain. (See photo below.)

More than my usual pain ensued.

The dressing is now being changed every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday instead of every three days as in recent weeks. He missed yesterday, but he will be back to change the dressing tomorrow. He also changed the bandage on my left foot, which is changed every day, either by him or by a nurse here at the facility. I have a lingering diabetic ulcer/surgical wound in the ball of my left foot.

I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two plastic reconstructive surgeries on my chest last month. For the first surgery last month, my plastic reconstructive surgeon removed metal sternal plates within my chest due to an infection. For the second surgery, he cleaned out the remaining infection from within my chest, and he closed my chest by clipping off the tips of my ribs and reattaching my chest muscle flaps to my body. At that time, he installed a drain in my chest and affixed seven sutures to hold my chest together in certain areas. The drain was removed a short while ago.

My seven wounds are the result of an eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest (from my open-heart surgery) which is being held together with those seven spaced-out sutures. So, I basically have seven holes in my chest that are healing quite well.

I certainly have been busy early today. Before 1 p.m., I swallowed my morning medication as pills (narcotic pain reliever, diuretic, muscle relaxer, aspirin); sniffed steroidal nasal spray to prevent polyps from returning following my sinus surgery several years ago; inhaled steroidal/bronchodilator powder into my lungs via my mouth; engaged in both occupational therapy and physical therapy (exercises while lying, sitting, and standing); and received my daily intravenous infusion of antibiotic as part of a six-week-long regimen for a staph infection within my chest, a blood infection, and lingering osteomyelitis (a bone infection) within my left foot. Last year, I had three surgeries on my left foot: two to remove bone fragments within my foot and one to remove a benign tumor growing within a diabetic ulcer. I also had surgery on my left foot several years ago to remove part of a decayed bone.

(As long as I am explaining my recent medical condition: Last year, I experienced kidney failure followed by six weeks of daily dialysis (four straight hours each day) and a thoracentesis procedure that drained 22 ounces of fluid surrounding my right lung through a catheter inserted in my back and into my chest cavity.)

FOR THE FUTURE: My physical therapist (a nice, but tough woman named Krishna) told me today that we are going to the gym tomorrow so that I can ride the stationary bicycle. (We are both Hindus.) I was also told that during my upcoming appointment at the wound-care facility on Monday, June 20, 2022, where I will arrive on a stretcher, I may be taken off of the wound vacuum and switched to regular bandages. It seems like I no longer require the wound vacuum because it now extracts very little discharge and infected blood compared to recent weeks.

HOW THE WOUND VACUUM WORKS: Pieces of foam are stuffed into the wounds within my chest. I have seven sutures within my chest which leave seven open wounds. A long piece of thin foam padding covers my wounds. Medical tape placed on and around the foam forms a vacuum seal. One end of a hose is then snapped onto the foam on my chest with the other end attached to an electric-powered wound vacuum. The vacuum continuously sucks out discharge and infected blood from within my chest. It also helps to heal my many wounds faster by pulling and holding the skin around my wounds closer together.

DISCLAIMER: I am a journalist by trade, so I tend to include in my Facebook posts specific information and overexplanation. I am not looking for sympathy. I just like to write, and I just want to tell my friends and my family members what is going on in my life, the focus of which right now are my medical issues.