Over a year since jpouch removal and now I am faced with another "biggie". My surgeon is at the end of trying things to get this chronic wound to heal. No more I&D EUA surgeries. Yeah! But he is ready for flap repair surgery. Boo!
In the interim, I signed up for a few more of Dr. Shen's "pooh bear" (honey, dextrose, doxy,..) experimental injections. And we will then be doing more imaging to compare pre-first injection to post several injections to see if any fibrous tissue has actually started to form in the wound as signs that it may be healing.
If there are no results.. then its off with a gracilis muscle. (For those of you who are as uneducated as I was one week ago.. its in the inner thigh- from the knee up to your groin.) I met the plastic surgeon and I am blessed that he was as lovely, knowledgeable, and experienced as my other doctors at CC. But he showed me detailed pictures and explained the gory details. My surgeon would have to core out the sinus tract and wound making it much larger. Then the gracilis muscle (hopefully only from one of my legs) would be used to fill in the sinus and wound. Big big scary, terrifying surgery with two surgeons involved, lengthy hospital stay, and of course lots of complication potential.
And just tell me.. how the heck does someone with UC end up having to have a leg muscle cut. Seriously.
So please everyone. Do the pooh bear injection dance for me. Cross fingers, cross toes. I have to hope that these experimental treatments might get my wound to heal so I can avoid another huge surgery and an 8-10"scar down my leg.
In the interim, I signed up for a few more of Dr. Shen's "pooh bear" (honey, dextrose, doxy,..) experimental injections. And we will then be doing more imaging to compare pre-first injection to post several injections to see if any fibrous tissue has actually started to form in the wound as signs that it may be healing.
If there are no results.. then its off with a gracilis muscle. (For those of you who are as uneducated as I was one week ago.. its in the inner thigh- from the knee up to your groin.) I met the plastic surgeon and I am blessed that he was as lovely, knowledgeable, and experienced as my other doctors at CC. But he showed me detailed pictures and explained the gory details. My surgeon would have to core out the sinus tract and wound making it much larger. Then the gracilis muscle (hopefully only from one of my legs) would be used to fill in the sinus and wound. Big big scary, terrifying surgery with two surgeons involved, lengthy hospital stay, and of course lots of complication potential.
And just tell me.. how the heck does someone with UC end up having to have a leg muscle cut. Seriously.
So please everyone. Do the pooh bear injection dance for me. Cross fingers, cross toes. I have to hope that these experimental treatments might get my wound to heal so I can avoid another huge surgery and an 8-10"scar down my leg.
