Questions for anyone who's used a wound vac

Yayyyyyyyyyy!!! Hope it keeps up.

Well, I've been apprehensive about todays wound vac dressing change since 10 minutes after the last one.
I took a percoset an hour before the nurse got here.
Todays dressing change still hurt alot (and made me cry a little) but it wasn't as bad. I think it's because I took a percoset, this time there was a bridge, this time the foam was its full density (the nurse that put it on me at first cut the foam density in half), and because it'd only been 2 days since last change.
The nurse tried to tell me that it shouldn't be this painful for me and normally doesn't hurt. I told her she was full of crap, as well as telling her to go online and read about it, and about a study I found where 67% of wound vac patients found dressing changes painful.
Anyway, she said the wound is looking great and that she thinks at this rate the surgeon might take me off of it sooner than originally thought.

I'll bet your nurse has never actually had a wound vac attached to HER!!! Hopefully you are in the home stretch.

Well today is Friday which means I was scheduled for another wound vac dressing change. Again I took a percoset an hour before the nurse got here.
So the nurse arrives and she mentioned she'd been told I had pain with the dressing change and asked if I'd taken anything, to which I said yes. Then she asked me about the pain. So I gave her all the wonderful details on how dressing changes basically feel like someone is ripping the inside of my skin off. She asked alot about how the other nurses were caring for the wound and doing the dressing change. She was telling me the black foam shouldn't touch the skin and mine had been.
So she starts to try and get the tape off, which is quite a challenge. Once again I had to get the tape started with a fingernail because that was easier than her getting it started with gloves on. All she did was touch the sponge and I told her I knew it was stuck again. Sure enough, she tried lifting and I was crying again. After a minute, the dressing is out.
The nurse cleans the wound off and tells me, as the previous nurse had, there is no depth. She then tells me she cannot in good conscience put me back on the wound vac because the wound is healthy, completely granulated, and has no depth and virtually no drainage. She said she'd never seen anyone heal that fast. She called the surgeon's office and told them and as of today I have been discharged from the wound vac.
For now I'll have wet to dry packing once a day.
I see the surgeon again next Thursday and we'll see what he says then.

Good for you - I'm happy the pain is mostly over. It is kind of frustrating isn't it, when you have a different nurse at each dressing change? They each have their own way of doing things, some better than others. But I am happy that you are on the road to healing.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by kathyd It is kind of frustrating isn't it, when you have a different nurse at each dressing change? They each have their own way of doing things, some better than others.

Me and hubby have been discussing this and it is so true! Even with the wet to dry dressing changes the differences are so noticable.

2fan - I don't know how I've missed your thread, but I'm glad to hear that you are off the wound vac and healing well. I remember your story from one of my open wound posts because we had our surgery on the same day.
BTW, I can't believe that you have a different nurse for each dressing change! I have a nurse assigned to me and I much prefer that. She's only visiting once a week now as DH is changing packing but she knows as soon as she changes it each week how things have changed.

Anyway, best wishes for a speedy recovery!

Hi April.
It was 3 nurses in a week that handled the wound vac.
It was those 3 and another 2 that handled wet to dry for the week before that.
I just got a call from a nurse I've never seen that is coming out today.
Hubby is finally able to look at the wound now that it's not so deep. He changed the wet to dry yesterday with supervision. He was actually surprisingly gentle.
We're getting him ready so that they can start lessening nurse visits to every other day, than to every few days and so on until I'm discharged.

Hi 2fan,
I don't know how I'd afford to have the nurse visit everyday for a long period with my co-pay. Good thing my husband is seriously into the wound care. He could hardly wait to see it once the nurse had it all cleaned out and he could look down in. Shoulda' been an EMT, I guess. I'm waiting for a call from my first new nurse, today. My regular nurse is out for some reason.
Hope all continues to go well for you. Are they using the AG packing material for you? It is supposed to promote more rapid tissue growth but it sure does look yuckier when you remove it.

As far the cost of nursing, we can't afford it either. Thank God for insurance, it's in network and covered.

They had me on the black granufoam for the wound vac.

What's AG stand for?