Dressing Change #2

Josiah went to the dressing change on Monday - I actually feel like wound closure is finally in our sights! I wanted to write down the measurements but didn't...Anyway, it's made a huge improvement over a week ago. One very small place has skin over all of it. At the way it is going, I'd say it might be two weeks or... less before the skin might be covering it.

The other piece of good news is that I called the doc the next day to ask if he could at least put his foot down without the boot when getting dressed or going to the bathroom - amazingly Josiah has been VERY disciplined about this. He said not only yes, but around the house, he could walk on the foot!

When I first told him he could, he said it hurt too much...but it wasn't 15 minutes later that he walked up to me without the boot! The wound care nurse also gave me some dressing to put over the sponge if we wanted to dry swimming! But, Josiah thinks it looks too much like the wound vac plastic and he is too fearful, so maybe that will have to wait for complete healing of the skin.

This was a good visit..I am so grateful.

Weekly Dressing Change Report

We had Josiah's weekly dressing change Monday. It was uneventful I guess. The removed the mephalax grey sponge, cleaned and measured the wound, then put it back on plus all the other layers. It is still largely an open wound...I didn't catch how wide it was, but at least 5-6 inches at the widest point I'd say.

This is a slow process with lots of waiting. But, the walking boot allows him to be very mobile and that is nice for everyone. He had a hard time at a family get-together this week not being able to swim in the back yard pool, but otherwise he is handling things pretty well, adjusting easily to his restrictions.

He has occasional pain after walking or being on the leg too long and we are still doing daily dressing changes at home, down to the sponge but not removing it.

Life feels more normal than it has in a while...we are all settling into our routines of living life with "our" (Josiah's) restrictions. Steve is in a very busy phase with the part time job he has, so we have all been kind of scattered. Korrin is down to just a little over a month until she leaves for college 39 days to be exact, but who's counting :)_

Thanks for praying.

NO MORE WOUND VAC!!!

Josiah is free! Wahoo! No wound vac, no cords. He has a mephalax sponge (which they use for burns) on his heel, then white dressing, a white wrap, an ace bandage and finally a walking boot, with 6 velcro sponges.

The doc said he was hoping the wound was more closed than it is. And we are looking at 6-8 weeks of weekly changes and pictures which will be forwarded to the him. Still no getting it wet and all his walking has to be with the boot. But, it is GREAT progress.

The boot is to keep his foot from flexing for the sake of the healing skin. The white dressing has to be examined and changed maybe every other day (by me), then we will go weekly to the local wound care center to have the mephalax changed and photographed.

We went miniature golfing last night (something he REALLY has wanted to do) and down to the Sandusky River which flows right near our house so he could throw rocks! It was a big moment, more for me than him, I think...feeling like he was doing "normal" kid stuff, for the first time in months. It certainly gives me a lot of empathy for those who have permanent injuries or handicaps that they will never heal from. That could have been us, except for God's mercy.

I am so grateful, even looking at the lengthy road we still must travel.

Tuesday Dressing Change

Josiah had his dressing change on Tuesday this week...it didn't go quite as well as last time, as he spit out some of the medicine they tried to give. But Steve was with me and we got through it together, both of us hand-holding and trying to comfort him. His biggest issue is still anxiety I think. You can still see the tendon, but only a very tiny place. Everyone seems pleased with the way the wound looks...me, I don't know. It still has no skin covering it. Great patience and trust in the Lord's process is all we can exercise at this point. He has made an amazing body in all of us...and it's given me new appreciation for what a unique Designer He is.

We see the doctor on Monday where I will be asking questions about what our goal is with the wound...as in are we preparing it for a graft, or will it grow new skin over top of what's there. The nurses tell me it's forming granulation tissue, but it is still a pretty large wound. The doctor has never said the words "graft" to me...so maybe it's still a wait and see game. I know many of the decisions depend on how Josiah's body responds.

He was given the go to put weight on the foot, so he has been walk-hopping a little bit. He seems pleased to be in charge of his own movement some. The cast on the back of the leg keeps him from bending the foot, so he can't hurt the healing skin. He carrys the wound vac around with him - it's amazing how well he has adapted to all of the restraints they've put him under.

A great praise - while they had his dressing off, he bent his foot completely up and down, which means the tendon is working and he shouldn't have any problem with movement!!!

Another praise, my eldest daughter, Korrin turned 18 yesterday! We had a nice time buying her clothes for college, eating out at a nice restaurant and eating strawberry pie (one of her favorites). Children are indeed a blessing from the Lord - at ALL stages.

Long term thoughts

Well, it's been good since the last dressing change...sleeping good, etc. He still doesn't have much appetite overall, probably pretty normal for a 5 year old. I've noticed lately that he seems very uncomfortable sitting on the left side of his bottom. It's very uneven and his skin is very tight there.

This is concerning to me as this was the surgeon who did the very first stitching's concern. She felt this would be a long term issue for him and thus he would need plastic surgery to even him out. The surgeon who took over after she left the country for a visit somewhere, felt it wasn't a long term concern that the body would redeposit fat. I can't imagine him depositing enough fat there to make him comfortable. So, maybe we have to look into some kind of customized "donut" for him to sit on... He also doesn't like to sit up for a long periods of time...I'm sure for the same reasons. He said yesterday it feels "strange".

The Best Dressing Change yet...

This dressing change was MUCH MUCH better - like night and day from the last change. No crying, no stress, just a loopy boy (after the meds) who handled the dressing change super! The nurses were great, as non-invasive as possible...it felt like all of the doctors involved with him were in sync - very nice. One of the nurses taking us back said something like "the whole town is pulling for him". Funny, to think so many people are concerned about our little boy.

One area of the heal is already looking very good...the largest area remains and they only measure the wound once a week, so since we don't go back until Tuesday, we won't have a number to measure the success. You can still see the tendon.

We had a little mishap Wednesday afternoon where the drainage tube from the wound vac pulled loose from the wound. We went to the wound care center and the decision was made to leave it off for the afternoon, since we were coming back the next day to do the whole change thing. That was nice for him to have the afternoon off from the tube...

Another piece of good news is that the doctor said he can bear half his weight on the broken leg, which amounts to being able to put his toes down - but hey we'll take anything! We had a couple of days with my brother and my nieces and nephews - Josiah played and was outside doing a version of "chariot racing"!