8 February 2021
Just talked to Dr. Tong after she finished Joyce's dressing change. But that's not all she did. She's working on multiple fronts to get good tissue growing quicker and manage Joyce's pain.
On Friday, Joyce did have the epidural catheter placed for pain management. It can't stay in very long*, she said, but it meanwhile gives them a more immediate way to handle her pain.
And she is in pain.
Today, Dr. Tong cleaned up more of the wound. And she had an orthopedic surgeon attend to make sure she was not endangering any nerves or muscles. He confirmed she was well clear of any of those problems.
Dr. Tong found Joyce in good spirits this morning, she said. But she doesn't think she can handle the pain of two-a-day wet-to-dry dressing changes yet. So they'll keep doing the black foam dressings for now.
Joyce needed a lot of medication to get through the procedure today, she added.
She doesn't want to put her under three times a week for dressing changes in surgery. So the next one will be Thursday or Friday. They can keep the black foam in that long.
This time Dr. Tong used the Adaptic*, too, to see if that helps with the pain when they do the next dressing change. And she used the Vashe to clean around the muscle where the radiation was targeted and thinks Joyce will need it at home, too, to promote healing.
Dr. Tong expects her to remain in the hospital one or two weeks, she said today. It will give them a chance to jump start the healing, although it will still be a long haul when she gets home.