12 October 2020
Last last night Dr. Brenman emailed Joyce to tell her the sonogram was negative for a blood clot. Meaning the sonogram didn't show a blood clot. Dr. Brenman said she'd be happy to look at the swelling if Dr. Tong doesn't think it's related to the wound.
The Wound VAC was busy all night, pumping away. Which was odd because it's been quiet, doing its five minute intermittent pumping with two minutes off (more or less). But last night it just kept pumping.
Joyce wanted to turn it off, but I reminded her you can't do that. Two hours without it and you have to change the dressing. Besides, if you stop the pump, it complains in a few minutes that it's been turned off.
So we listened to the industrial hip hop of Wound VAC music all night.
I got a couple of texts late yesterday afternoon from Salwa and Tyler who told me Tyler would do the dressing change today at Salwa's customary time. They communicate. And that's something Joyce and I both really appreciate.
A few minutes ago, Tyler came, did the change and left.
He mentioned that Dr. Tong was not too concerned about the wound odor. She was going to order whitefoam with silver as a precaution. We haven't heard anything about that yet, though.
When she looks at the wound on Thursday, she'll have to change the dressing. On Joyce's normal schedule that would mean a dressing change Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Tyler suggested asking her if we should skip Friday for either Saturday or Monday.
Otherwise, he thought the wound looked good with no sign of infection. The swelling is worse but Joyce wears compression stockings that keep her lower leg from swelling. The swelling is consequently all below the wound and above the knee.
Joyce did take a walk around the neighborhood yesterday afternoon. We'll go out for another one today if she's up for it. Maybe that will help.