I’ve written about having surgery for an umbilical hernia four times over the past fifty-two days. I’ve discussed the bizarre reason an operation was necessary in the first place, the surgery itself, the unexpected tenacity of my belly button, and -finally- some much-needed good news. Here’s another update.
Hernia repair is supposed to be a pretty minor operation. It was, but healing turned out to be another story altogether. My mom and I didn’t get great post-op instructions, but we religiously followed what we did receive. Unfortunately, the lack of information we got led to some complications.
Proper aftercare procedures were eventually clarified, and my body’s done some real work! My last update summarized my first appointment at a clinic that cares for chronic wounds. The doctor and nurse found a big void that needed to heal next to the part of my incision that opened up, and the doctor -a retired surgeon- took a scalpel to it. Instead of an acorn-sized hole full of slough, I left the office with a tennis-ball-sized hole that was clean.
The healing commenced.
My fourth appointment at the St. Vincent Anderson Wound Care Center was on Friday. Through a combination of special gauze, a bleach dilution known as Dakin’s solution, and the recent addition of a new Hydrofera Blue dressing for its deepest part, the wound has gotten a lot smaller. It measured about 6 centimeters deep and five centimeters wide during my first appointment. Now it’s 4×4. I’m ready to take it to the Baja Rally!
The head-to-toe measurement has also decreased, but charting it isn’t reliable: much of its statistics depend on the angle my doctor and nurse have me propped up in a chair, and it’s never the same. The wound is filling in from the sides and also retracting as it’s getting better.
My mom has gone above and beyond for me this whole time. So has my stepdad! Ground zero for our routine is their guest bedroom, and our new procedure started Friday. It consists of removing the dressing and gauze, then plucking out the strip of Hydrofera Blue that draws up the slough from a deep tunnel that emerged early on. We clean the hole with saline, then cut another strip of Hydrofera Blue with sterile scissors to stuff down into the bottom.
As of now, we’ve moved past the Dakin’s solution. Instead, we’re placing about a third of a Promogran Prisma matrix collagen dressing inside to encourage new growth. I’ve seen some encouraging signs of new life so far down there, and so has my mom. We pack the rest of it with a special gauze.
The gauze is crucial to this new stage in the healing process: last week, we were given the go-ahead to clean and repack the wound daily instead of twice a day. If we see the gauze is dry when we pull it out, we can begin cleaning it every two days. If it’s wet, we can continue to do it daily. If it’s sopping, well, I have to call the doctor.
Unfortunately, the gauze is problematic. In the beginning, it took about twenty-four inches to pack the wound. We’re using about six now, but it keeps falling out no matter how we tape the dressing to my stomach! Hopefully, we’ve solved the issue by deploying some creativity.
In addition to visual confirmation that the wound has healed and gotten smaller, I’ve noticed some other things that point in a positive direction. For starters, it doesn’t feel as weird walking around stuffed with gauze! On another hand, it’s beginning to hurt. The pain is manageable, and it means that new nerves are beginning to grow. I’ve acclimated myself to the weird feeling of poking around in there. It’s still uncomfortable, but it’s no longer toe-curling. My skin has reacted pretty poorly to every tape we’ve tried, but Mom’s coconut oil and Uni-Solve help a lot.
These are all good things! My doctor and nurses remain happy with my progress, and they’ve been incredibly kind and supportive as I’ve turned the corner under their care. That said, I can’t wait until I don’t have to see them anymore!
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Take care of yourself!