Debra's Posts

I have visited the Heard Surgeon and he gave me the OK to go and start life again. Still no heavy lifting but, the sternum should be 90% healed. He said to expect the wound to heal in 2 months but, if not, I should contact him and we will discuss a plastic surgeon at that point. Pat is changing the bandages every 2 days and I am still going for wound dressing changes at Seton Main every Monday. They anticipate another 2 months wound to heal also. No one has mentioned Heart Rehab; just do walking and cardiovascular stuff. I am still addressing nodules/lumps that no one seems to want "to be in their job description". Very frustrating!! and they hurt, too. It looks like no swimming this summer. Some days are just days that I am very tired and do not seem to feel good. I still need to lose lots of weight to fit into my new heart valve. There is still a murmur and I will need to downsize into it. Thank you all for your prayers and keeping up with my saga. It means a lot to me and I KNOW that it really made a difference. I am so blessed!! Thank you.

Well, things are moving pretty fast now. The Wound Rehab Technician gave me the OK to NOT put the wound vac device back on (no longer needed); a standard bandage is working just fine. Pat is now changing it once a day and doing a fine job. The bandage that we are now using is soft, very flexible and rarely causes any pain. I am planning to go back to work tomorrow and full time also. I have an appointment on Thursday of this week and one next Thursday also. Dressing changes and a checkup from the Wound Rehab technician will continue every Monday. We shall see how work and the boss adjust to my schedule.

We have decided that we are done with the Wound Vac; I will be sending it back to the company. Today, we met with the Plastic Surgeon that has spoken to the Heart Surgeon. They have decided that removal of the bottom sternum wire is probably not necessary; they believe that it has not been compromised. The Plastic Surgeon feels that the wound is healing GREAT!!!!! So, his plan is to simply graft some skin from the thigh to the wound and close it up. This way it will ALL be healed in about a week. HOWEVER>>>>>> I seem to have some lumps/bumps/nodules (??) floating around area of the wound. The doctors feel that this is from the surgery; where the blood source was severed and the dead tissue remains. I am making an appointment to have all of this checked out. Assuming that all of this is just dead tissue, the plan is to allow them to simply go away. The Plastic Surgeon is researching the $$$$ options; plastic surgery versus continued dressing change for another month or so. We shall see.