Yep, afraid so, and that is getting Husband down, as it is awfully uncomfortable and painful for him. Can't sleep, can't sit, can't get comfortable. But, there IS progress. Let me tell you what happened.
To start with, Husband did not sleep at all last night. AT ALL! He just could not get comfortable even trying to sleep on his side, and sleeping on his back was impossible as the pressure of the vacuum pack under him felt like red hot skewers in his spine!! So you can imagine how exhausted and shaky he was this morning (still is, even now). Yes, he had a good breakfast - one mug of Enercal milk, 2 soft-boiled eggs, 2 slices of toast - and he did finish it all. But the lack of sleep and the exhaustion from that pretty much wiped out the energy-giving food/drink he consumed.
Anyway, went to the hospital this morning, getting there around 10.15am, for the plastic surgeon to remove the vacuum pack dressing on the cavity and evaluate the status. They got the anaesthetist in as well, as it would have been too painful for Husband if they had done the dressing change AND cleansing while he was awake. I DID get to see the cavity which, after one week of vacuum pack dressing, has already shrunk (the nurse says about 20% smaller), and is considerably cleaner and healthier looking than it was last week. And, No, I cant get my fist in there now - it IS smaller, even to my un-tutored eye.
So, they knocked him out, then kicked me out of the room so they could 'do their thing'. They cleaned the cavity, and put in a fresh new foam/vacuum dressing. He has to keep this on for another 5 days - we have an appointment to go back again for Tuesday next week (ie, 7th April). We got home by around 12.30pm, so the whole process did not take too long.
The plastic surgeon has told me that by the time we go see him next week, if the cavity has shrunk further (ie, another 20-30% smaller), they will then schedule plastic surgery on Thursday 9th April to fill the remaining space in the cavity. If the cavity still needs to shrink further, then he will have to suffer the vacuum dressing for ANOTHER 6 days, and the surgery will be the FOLLOWING Tuesday (ie, 14th April).
So, everyone, please keep praying for him, with the specific prayer that the cavity should heal and close up sufficiently by next Tuesday that he can have the surgery to close it up by Thursday. The longer the surgery is delayed, the more delay there is in commencement of chemotherapy!
In the meantime, he has to suffer the lack of sleep, the pain and the discomfort, and, the worst part, I can't do anything to take away that pain and discomfort from him and give him sleep :-(.
That's it for now folks... till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!! (and watch out for those bed-sores/pressure-sores IF you are bed-ridden for any reason!).
PS: For those of you who are wondering how this vacuum therapy works, go check out http://www.kci1.com/MOA_NoDisclaimer.swf.
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