back to the hospital

[petey]

Hey, all!  I've been gone for a few days.  I had to take Marvin BACK to the hospital on Wednesday -- he was having a low grade fever again and a lot of tenderness in the open wound area.  We got the hospital around 6 p.m. and then had to spend the night in the ER (no beds in the hospital because so many people in our area have the flu).  Thursday morning, he finally got a room.  Had dialysis and then back to surgery to open up the incision (which hadn't even healed yet).  The surgeon said the wound vac wasn't doing its job -- it let the middle of the wound heal when the bottom hadn't healed yet, thus leaving a pocket of fluid (with some infection) deep in the incision.  The surgeon "cleaned" it out and decided to abandon the wound vac.  He left the incision open again, but this time, we're packing it with dry gauze.  We finally got home today (Fri.).  Whew!  My Marvin has had a time with this thing.  Cross your fingers that the wound will heal now with no more problems.

[xtrememoosetrax]

Man, it never ends, does it??  Well, hopefully it will for you guys, soon; you've been wrestling with this for so long already.  I'll be keeping my fingers crossed, hoping for quick and clean healing this time around.  In the meantime, hang in there, both of you.

[Ohio Buckeye]

Wow, I'm sorry Marvin had to go back to the hospital and have surgery again.
I pray this will heal up this time.
Hope things improve real soon for you and Marvin.

[paris]

Oh Petey, poor Marvin. I hope this time it heals right. He certainly has had a rough time.  How is he feeling today?  You all deserve a break.  Sending lots of good thoughts and hugs your way

[MyssAnne]

OH man. This is not your month, is it? 

Well, tomorrow is MARCH!!! So Marvin had better start healing now!!!  I'll certainly be
thinking and praying for the two of you, and in the meantime, sending you hugs your way!

 

[Sluff]

   hang in there marvin it will get better. 

[Deanne]

I'm sorry! You & Marvin have been trhough a lot. And to think you just got to start sleeping with again before this all started again. I'd blame the dog. She (?) started it because she wanted her side of the bed back. Lucky for Marvin you're really on top of things with watching his temperature!

[Joe Paul]

Hope it heals up quickly and OK this time 

[willieandwinnie]

petey, I am so sorry to hear about Marvin.   I wish I lived near you to help you out. God bless him, he has had a bunch of crap thrown at him (and you as well). Please give him a big old   from me. I wondered where you had been. You have my number if you just want to talk. Okay? I want to tell you a little bit about Len's wound. He had an open abdominal wound for 4 1/2 years and I had to change the bandages 2 times a day. We did wet to dry and then covered it with a 8 x 10 gauze pad. He skin is so sensitive to tape that I made some 1/2" straps out of sensitive skin tape and punched holes in the end of them, I put 3 per side, then I used 1/2 of a shoe lace per hole and laced it up like tying shoes. Len could get a couple of showers out of a set before I had to change them. They kept Len open because he had mesh holding his inside in place and the mesh kept working it's way out and the surgeon would carefully cut it away. The plastic surgeon (Dr. Ruff) that finally closed him up didn't even charge us because he wanted to help Len get on the transplant list. He is actually one of the top plastic surgeons in the country. petey, Len's wound was the size of a dinner plate and about 1 1/2" deep. It was gross. We had a home nurse for quite a few months and she gave me all kinds of little tips. One time Len had some green looking stuff (sorry to be so graphic), in the incision area and the nurse told me to mix up some saline and vinegar, soak some gauze and ring out excess and lay it against his skin and continue dressing as normal. I'll be, in a couple of days the wound looked better. The trauma surgeon also gave me a prescription for Saf-Gel, it's suppose to help the wound heal. They didn't want his to dry out because they wanted it to heal from the inside out. Marsha, no shit, I could see everything moving through Len's intestines (sorry again, gross I know). Len has no feeling on either side of the incision, nor at the top and bottom of it. The plastic surgeon said he didn't know if the nerves would ever be there again.

I'll say an extra prayer for Marvin (and you) tonight and I hope you both can at least get some rest. How much longer does he have to go to the clinic for antibiotics? How are Marvin spirits, still good I hop, how about yours? God, I am just so sorry. If you need me, just yell.

[okarol]

awww I hope Marvin improves and you can rest petey! 

[Psim]

Oh no, Marvin's been through so much already! Hope it heals right this time.

[kidney4traci]

That sounds so painful!  I am so sorry to hear but glad you are at home.  I think that the best healing takes place at home with you watching over him.  Praying for you and complete healing. 

[petey]

Thank you all!  It's so good to be home (again).

w&w -- I really appreciate all the tips, and I'll keep them in mind.  Marvin's incision is about six inches long and about two inches deep.  His surgeon wants the packing dry (which is something I had never heard of before -- we've done the wet-to-dry but never dry to start with), so we'll try it like he wants it.  He is the expert, and we love and trust him.  Marvin's incision is not too bad to look at -- I can see the vessels, etc., but I can't see anything else in there (thank goodness -- don't know if I could handle seeing much more).  It's so good to have people to "talk" to who have been where we've been and know what it might take to get us through.  That's the great thing about this site -- that along with the support and encouragement we get from all of you.

We have to continue in-center hemo for his antibiotics until March 11 -- hey, that's not that far off, so we can hang in there.  After that, we're going back to home hemo -- yeah!  We both want to get back to that!

He feels pretty good tonight -- sore but okay.  He had lost his appetite when all this started in Dec. (and lost almost 35 pounds in the meantime), but today, he has started eating like a little piglet.  I stopped twice on the way home to get him something to eat (that's two meals in three hours).  We got home around 4 this afternoon, and he's had ice cream (I know it's a "no no," but, hey, if he says he wants it, I'm going to get it for him  -- that's today only; tomorrow he goes back on his renal diet) for a snack and a friend brought a big plate of chicken and rice for his supper -- and he ate ALL of that!

[KT0930]

You two just can't get a break, can you?? I'm so sorry Marvin's going through this, and you are having to worry about him even more than normal. Glad to hear he's back home and eating (don't worry about the ice cream...we all need comfort food now and then!). Hope things continue to improve, and like Anne said, tomorrow is March - a new month, a new beginning!

[Slywalker]

Petey - Sorry to hear about Marvin's set back with the wound.  You guys need to catch a break soon.  Keeping all fingers and toes crossed that the dry packing will help the healing process. 

Take care

Sandyb

[thegrammalady]

glad to hear he has found his appetite. i lost mine in january when i had my surgery and know how much fun it isn't. hopefully all will continue to get better and you can get out of center and back home.