Axis wound taken on September 29th, 2010

The picture pretty much sums up the progress of the wound as of today. Less pain now. I am now finally on the upswing of my recovery. You can still see the squares from the skin graph on the inside of the wound. The depth has decreased from 3 and 1/2 centimeters. to now .5 centimeters.
The nurses and surgeon are amazed at the rate of healing and recovery. I have to admit that when I originally saw my wound, I was sure it would take months to recover to this extent. The graph wound is getting better but has been more painful that the axis wound. The adaptix bandage is finally gone. the wound is now scabbed, itchy and peeling. I still cannot wear anything except skirts and dresses. Finally yesterday I made it to half of my sons football game. I overdid it. I thought I was recovered enough to make the attempt and the nurses gave me the thumbs up as they understood for weeks now that it was my only goal. I have missed every game since this process began. The car drive and maybe two hours away took a serious toll on me. I even said on the way home that I just wanted to cry. It really gave me a reality check. The nurse and therapist who came to see me today was not surprised that I am paying a price for the decision to go to that game. Even just half of the game. I am proud that I made it. I feel defeated that I was wrong about my own progress.

Removal of the Vac machine from the wound

Here is the wound after wound vac removal. I believe this was done on Monday, September 20th. I am not sure now. I have been in so much pain. My arm and leg prevents me from doing much of anything. I still have not been out of my house except for surgeries and appointments and didnt care to even really even make it to the bathroom. Which was another intense task in itself! I cannot stand, be seated, walk, change clothes, reach anything, or even get into or out of bed without help. Lori gives me sponge baths and shampoos my hair every few days. You can see clearly the graph from my leg, inside of axis wound. The vac machine has done an amazing job of speeding up my healing process. So many things would have gone wrong without the help of my Home health care nurses. I would not have survived without my family. I would not recommend this surgery without Insurance, home health care nurses, vac machine, family support, and lots of money in the bank. I have spent a lot of money on wound care supplies that I didnt even know existed!
Also, plan on being off work and completely unproductive for atleast a month.
No matter what your surgeon tells you!

This is a photo of what I look like daily.
I have not left my house since the surgery on 9/13/2010. I have a hard time just managing going to the bathroom, getting sponge baths, shampoo every other day and making it to bed.
I must admit when I am in pain I do manage to get to my computer in the kitchen. This blog has occupied my mind and helped me focus on other than the pain.
The outfit that I wear is a swimsuit cover as the tape from the graph wound on my leg tends to stick to shorts. Also the swimsuit cover is forgiving to my underarm area where the Vac is.
You can notice the swelling of my feet, hands and legs. My blood pressure has been high due to pain and I did have to take blood pressure meds and water pills again. My diet is high in fiber and I am taking stool softeners to avoid constipation.
Constipation is common with pain medictions.

The wound Vac machine.

This is the wound Vac machine.

It has a permanent place of residence with me now.

I am thinking of naming it, but there are no names that I can think of for it that young ears can hear!

The cord is attatched to my would vac sealed under my left arm.

I watch my blood go through the line across the floor and into a cannister that is attatched to the right side of the machine itself.

I carry the machine in the black pouch around my neck or hang near me when I am not mobile.

The machine has alarms that warn you if the "seal" to the vac on the wound has been broken. I have been careful and successful at avoiding an alarm thus far.

 I have been through one canister of blood from the wound. It has been five days since the vac was placed.

It comes with a charger.

Therefore I now have limited mobility by the charger cord and by the tubing that transfers blood from my wound to the machines canister.

The Wound Vac

This wound Vac was put on overtop of the skin graft on my last date of surgery.
It is supposed to make the healing process faster and with minimal risks of infection.
The skin graft and the wound Vac was done all in the same day 9/13/2010.
The range of motion of my left arm is now minimal and I apologize that I could not lift it entirely to show you the entire wound and wound Vac.

The "Donor" site.

I call this skin graft the "donor" site. It is where the surgeon removed layers of skin to be placed in the axis. (armpit) to close the open wound. It is a much larger skin graft than I ever anticipated and the pain of the graft site is about as painful as the open wound itself. There is much to be said about the healing of this portion of my experience as well.. for now I will just upload the picture and get into the gory details later.
This is on my left leg thigh from near the groin area to almost the knee. I will take measurements as my home health care nurse arrives again tomorrow.

Graphic video. Third day nurse visit.

This is video of the nurse actually unpacking and repacking my wound. 

Yes! Ouch!

 The home health care nurse does this daily. This was my most painful day as of yet, due to going to my Uncle's funeral. I overdid it. Lesson learned!  

Click on the the next line below to see the video.

Youtube video of nurse unpacking and repacking wound

WARNING:

Do not watch this if you are squeamish!

This video is very graphic!