Gone: Wound Vac, 7 Sutures

June 20, 2022: TERRIFIC NEWS !!!

* no more wound vacuum
* no more sutures (seven removed)

This morning, I was transported from a health care & rehabilitation facility to a nearby wound-care facility on a stretcher via ambulance to tend to the 8-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest from open-heart surgery in March, and two chest surgeries in May. (See below for details.)

I no longer require the wound vacuum that was sucking discharge and infected blood from within my chest. Also, all seven sutures in my chest were removed. I still basically have seven holes in my chest, but they are healing quite well. My six-week-long regimen of daily intravenous antibiotic for a staph infection within my chest, a blood infection, and lingering osteomyelitis (a bone infection) within my left foot ends on July 1, 2022.

This morning, my plastic reconstructive surgeon's associate removed the wound-vacuum dressing from within and on my chest, and then removed the seven sutures in my chest. I experienced severe pain while she was doing all of that, but now my pain is less severe.

The associate took photos of my chest to show to my surgeon. The nurse also took photos for her records. I requested that the nurse take photos using my camera, before and after bandaging. Below is a photo of my newly bandaged chest.

My next appointment is in one week: 8:45 a.m., June 27, 2022. I hope that I will have enough strength to go in a wheelchair instead of a stretcher.

DETAILS: I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two plastic reconstructive surgeries on my chest last month. For my surgery on May 19, 2022, my plastic reconstructive surgeon removed metal sternal plates from within my chest due to an infection. For my surgery on May 25, 2022, 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. He used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision initiated by my open-heart surgery in March, leaving me with seven holes in my chest to heal.