"So, like the surgeon talked to you about, you need to be vigilant about the wound where they did your husband's toe amputation in order to avoid further problems. He could end up with a very real risk of losing his foot."
"Wait, wait, wait-- I thought we just had to watch for new wounds. I didn't realize this wound counted too."
"Excuse me?"
"I thought the amputation meant that this whole part was over, and that we were just worried about new wounds that could lead to problems, not old ones. I thought the amputation meant we got to restart fresh."
"Unfortunately, the foot doesn't know if something is an old wound or a new wound. Any wound can lead to problems, given the blood flow situation. We're going to have to monitor this very closely and with a great deal of care in order to minimize the chances of future problems."
"No one said there was going to be a wound where the toe was amputated."
"I'm sorry if the surgeon wasn't clear-- but anytime they're doing surgery, they're making a cut, there's always going to be a risk afterwards. There was a lot of dead tissue there, this is an open wound right now, the dressing has to be changed--"
"All the time?"
"All the time. Yes. This is a wound, and we need to try and provide the best possible conditions for it to heal, or else it's going to potentially lead to further problems."
"I just wish someone had told me this wound still counted, because I'm not sure I would have gone along with the amputation."
"Without the amputation, he had an infection that might have killed him."
"Might have. No one was ever able to tell me for sure."
"Let's just keep this wound clean and try to protect the foot as much as possible."
"Wounds on the other foot don't count, do they?"
"Count for what? For losing the foot they're not on? No. For developing into a life-threatening infection? Sure."
"Just tell me-- which parts of the body are we allowed not to worry about? Where is he allowed to have a wound that we don't have to watch?"
"Nowhere."
"Ugh. Forget it. We're leaving."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow...just wow
ReplyDeletePoor missing toe man! He married a person who is confused about a surgical site being a wound. I wonder if she will miss him when he dies of gangrene...Still you showed exemplary patience trying to explain it to her.
ReplyDeleteThis is why healthcare is where it's at.
ReplyDeleteWhich medications don't I have to worry about?
Those carbohydrates don't count because they come in a yellow box right?
My high BP doesn't count because it was after I was up and walking around.
If someone can't understand what a wound is how are they ever going to understand their own health.
UGH
Having faith leaves you with no worries.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't that be great to have wounds that you could just discount and not worry about? If you could just get a complete reset after surgery and not have to worry about anything current, just things that were new in the future?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how people think it is possible to not need to worry about wounds from surgery but if that were true it would be pretty awesome!
Wow.....wtf?????
ReplyDelete