It’s been a while since my last wound update but it’s something that hasn’t gone away and looks like it’s not going anywhere fast.
Back in mid-April I made a return to the nurse due to the troublesome Ken Butt wound due to it not healing and reopening a bit. We tried a treatment of silver nitrate but unexpectedly opened it further and over the course of the next 6 weeks I continued to have weekly visits (yet more chocolate deliveries) to monitor it.
The wound would occasionally improve slightly only to worse and this cycle would continue on a daily basis. Regular monitoring by taking photos has allowed me to keep an eye on it but over the course of the 6 weeks it hasn’t really improved much.
How The Wound Looks Today
The wound is not as large as it has been but it’s still very fragile and can bleed easily.
So What’s Stopping It From Healing?
A couple of weeks after visiting my nurses, and with approval, I started running again. I had held off for months due to concern about whether I running would make the wound worse but missing out on something that I enjoy was affecting me more than the wound was so decided I should start again. Surprisingly, running didn’t make it worse. There’s a chance that it may be preventing it from healing but I’m not sure. Instead, I’m wondering if there’s something else slowing it down.
Is The Way I’m Irrigating An Issue?
Every morning I spend around 15 or so minutes sat on the toilet performing a colostomy irrigation and during that process my butt (and wound) are hanging through the seat and due to the way things are fitting through the hole in the seat, the wound is being stretched. Only recently I’ve noticed that on occasions the wound opens up when sitting on the toilet seat and as a result starts to bleed.
I’m so used to irrigating this way but if it’s causing an issue to the wound it’s something I need to look at to see if it helps with the healing process. I can make very easy changes (such as sitting on the toilet lid) so should be able to test if it has been causing an issue.
Silver Nitrate
Even though the last application of silver nitrate didn’t have the desired effects last time, it’s worth trying again to try and help encourage the wound to heal so during my latest visit the nurse and I both decided it was worth trying again. Up until this point we had been reluctant to try it again but we’d reached a point where we felt that it was worth trying again. It’s good being included in the decision making process and if I felt as though I wasn’t ready to try it again we would have continued with the regular dressing.
Like the last time, a return visit is required to check how it has affected the wound and if it goes better than last time, have another application.
What’s Next?
A follow-up appointment is scheduled with the nurse on Monday and I’m hoping that the silver nitrate does it’s job this time and if it has we’ll apply some more with another follow up a few days after.
