Bandage/Dressing Change

Sunday, July 3, 2022

This afternoon, a nurse changed the bandage on my left foot (lingering diabetic ulcer) and the dressing on my chest (an incision from three recent surgeries), while I reclined in my bed here at my physical rehabilitation facility. My wound-care specialist changes my bandage and dressing on weekdays.

Why I Am In Physical Rehab

Prior to arriving at my rehab facility on June 3, 2022, I was in the hospital since May 13, 2022, enduring and recovering from two (more) surgeries last month.

I had quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and two plastic reconstructive surgeries in/on my chest in May 2022. 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 partially closed my chest by first clipping off the tips of my ribs and then by reattaching my chest muscle flaps to my body.

My surgeon used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest initiated by my open-heart surgery in March 2022 and made worse by my two subsequent surgeries in May 2022, leaving me with seven deep holes in my chest to heal. My sutures (and wound vacuum) were removed on June 20, 2022.

Intravenous Antibiotic

July 1, 2022 was my last day of receiving intravenous antibiotic infusions every day for six weeks for a staph infection within my chest, a blood infection, and lingering osteomyelitis (a bone infection) within my left foot. I received the antibiotic through one of two ports in my PICC line, which is about 53 centimeters long (about 21 inches long). It runs from the upper part of my left arm through my veins close to my heart. The other port is supposedly to be for extracting blood for testing, but it is not being used. Blood continues to be extracted using a needle stuck in either one of my arms or in the back of one of my hands.

(In recent years, I have endured many of these six-week-long regimens for many cases of cellulitis in both of my legs individually and for the lingering osteomyelitis in my left foot.)

The Future:

I have no idea when I will be permitted to go home. My wounds are healing well, and I am experiencing less pain. I am engaging in both physical therapy and occupational therapy, but my strength is slow to return. I will not be permitted to leave until I can perform basic skills like sitting, standing, walking, dressing myself, putting on my shoes, using the toilet, brushing my teeth, etc. I am mostly unable to do these activities now due to weakness, lightheadedness, nausea, and profuse sweating.

Also, my bladder has been draining through a Foley catheter for about a month. I will probably need to be able to urinate normally before I can go home.