My skin graft feels like Frankenstein

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    • March 23, 2012 at 3:24 am
    somnamblst
    Participant

      I don't know what is going on with my skin graft and wound. I wasn't expecting such a long postoperative experience and I am wondering should I be worried about how I have progressed. I am 54 years old, and the doctor told me I would do fine because I am young.

      I don't know what is going on with my skin graft and wound. I wasn't expecting such a long postoperative experience and I am wondering should I be worried about how I have progressed. I am 54 years old, and the doctor told me I would do fine because I am young.

      On Feb. 7 I had a wide area excision of a .4m melanoma on my shin. A full thickness skin graft was taken from my arm. I was scheduled for surgery the same day as the biopsy result. I had taken 4 ibuprofen, 15 hours before, the doctor said I might bleed more. My stitches were removed at 20 days. The nurse called the doctor in before she removed my stitches, and the doctor described the entire area being a very dark color as bruising. I began daily bandage changes. All seemed OK for about a week, when I detected a yeasty odor and exudate. Went in and my doctor told me that the center of my graft had sloughed off, but the edges were holding, and that I would heal by granulation. She said it did not look infected, but prescribed gentimicin.

      I am doing 2X daily vinegar and water soaks, and using gentimicin topically for 2X daily dressing changes. The yeasty odor went away fairly quickly (pseudomonas?) Though my surgical pain had subsided the granulation phase has reintroduced pain. I have been doing this for 15 days now. I don't know what to expect, and don't know how to evaluate my experience. My exudate is a light amber color and can be almost nonexistent if I do nothing but lay around with my leg elevated. The pain has lessened, but  sometimes I feel a sharper pain, and worry about worst case scenarios with wounds that won't heal. I am not even sure if granulation healing is supposed to hurt. I don't go back to the doctor until next Wednesday.

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        • March 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm
        somnamblst
        Participant

          I feel better today about my progress and less apprehensive about wound symptoms I don't have the medical knowledge to understand. I have a neighbor whose training was as an RN who is an administrator at a nursing home, who changed my bandage this morning, and described my wound to me from her knowledge and experience with dicubitous ulcers.

          My skin graft is still intact  around the perimeter. It is pink at the incision line. The center that sloughed off is between the size of a dime and a nickel. It is a very deep wound, but it is healing. She reassured me that I am not on the edge of the worst case scenarios I read about with wounds that won't heal, like sepsis or gangrene. I guess it is normal to feel something going on down there as such a deep wound heals. I also read that some women with slow healing wounds are zinc deficient. Though I have been taking a multivitamin, I am going to stsrt taking some additional C, and eat sardines every day for the Omega 3

          • March 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm
          somnamblst
          Participant

            I feel better today about my progress and less apprehensive about wound symptoms I don't have the medical knowledge to understand. I have a neighbor whose training was as an RN who is an administrator at a nursing home, who changed my bandage this morning, and described my wound to me from her knowledge and experience with dicubitous ulcers.

            My skin graft is still intact  around the perimeter. It is pink at the incision line. The center that sloughed off is between the size of a dime and a nickel. It is a very deep wound, but it is healing. She reassured me that I am not on the edge of the worst case scenarios I read about with wounds that won't heal, like sepsis or gangrene. I guess it is normal to feel something going on down there as such a deep wound heals. I also read that some women with slow healing wounds are zinc deficient. Though I have been taking a multivitamin, I am going to stsrt taking some additional C, and eat sardines every day for the Omega 3

            • March 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm
            somnamblst
            Participant

              I feel better today about my progress and less apprehensive about wound symptoms I don't have the medical knowledge to understand. I have a neighbor whose training was as an RN who is an administrator at a nursing home, who changed my bandage this morning, and described my wound to me from her knowledge and experience with dicubitous ulcers.

              My skin graft is still intact  around the perimeter. It is pink at the incision line. The center that sloughed off is between the size of a dime and a nickel. It is a very deep wound, but it is healing. She reassured me that I am not on the edge of the worst case scenarios I read about with wounds that won't heal, like sepsis or gangrene. I guess it is normal to feel something going on down there as such a deep wound heals. I also read that some women with slow healing wounds are zinc deficient. Though I have been taking a multivitamin, I am going to stsrt taking some additional C, and eat sardines every day for the Omega 3

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