My leg, that is. When they removed the dressing this afternoon to check the status of the wound, I took a couple of pictures but I've decided they might be a little too graphic. If you imagine what a leg would look like if a pit bull bit into it and pulled off a piece of leg 2 inches in diameter and 1/4 inch thick, you'd be pretty close. It's not that regular looking but it's just as ugly.
I've been referred to Kaiser's "wound care specialist" who's supposed to call me within the next 7 days. I think that is both positive and negative - positive in that if they thought it was flesh eating bacteria I'd be in the hospital right now and negative because they're needing to escalate the care already.
As you're probably aware, nurses don't tell you anything without clearing it with the doctor and mine wasn't available today. But I had three of the office nurses look at my leg with great concern written on their faces. And one of them muttered the word "hypergranulation". Granulation is a good thing. It promotes skin growth over large wounds. Hypergranulation (sometimes called proud flesh), on the other hand, retards skin growth. So you have to "wound the wound" until the hypergranulation is eliminated and the normal healing process can begin. I'm guessing that's what the wound specialist does.
In the meantime, it's back with the tightly wound dressing on my leg and showering with my leg in a garbage bag to keep it dry.
Arnold,
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is Veteran's Day--will regular doctor's offices be open at Kaiser? I would not be comfortable with a wound like that being covered up and not seen for up to a week! It sounds like it got worse, not better, after being covered up for just 3 days...
Marilyn
I think the main damage was done in the first 3 days before I started taking the antibiotics. I have an appointment with Kaiser's wound specialist next Monday which is the soonest we could get in. Thanks for your concern.
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