Facing Tough Choices: Surgery or Lifelong Wound?

Well, as some of you know, I had to see a plastic surgeon because my wound will not heal. At the consult, he told me that I had two choices: leave the wound open for the rest of my life or he could do some funky surgery with a mesh that goes into the middle of your abdomen that is made out of cadavers (dead people), and then he would pull the muscles from the side of my stomach and bring them to the front of the stomach. I was not thrilled with either choice. I was expecting to get a skin graft and was prepared for that. Well, I go for my (yeah, another chance to glow in the dark) CT scan this coming Wednesday. It ought to be a joy-filled experience for everyone involved as I have chronic diarrhea and liquid just flies right through me. LOL, at least I get an afternoon off of work. YEAH - I get the results on March the 8th and another afternoon off work. DOUBLE YEAH - At this point, I'm not sure what I'm hoping for, so I won't ask anybody to say a prayer for me. LOL

Maybe I won't be a candidate for the surgery, so I won't have to decide - I mean, who really elects to have another major operation? I know the morphine and hydromorph and all the rest are great drugs (Look at the pretty colors), and I might leave the decision up to Stefan the Stoma, but we're not talking right now and not seeing eye to eye, so to speak...

Thanks for listening

Tess45, please tell me that the skin is really from dead people? I have had 36 surgeries and 31 of them were hernias. I have had 7 meshes removed because they all decayed and had to come out. They put pig skin in, that is what I was told.

Yep, it is made from deceased people - it's not the standard mesh that they use for hernia operations - this mesh is still experimental, and there are only three surgeons in either Canada or North America who can use it, according to my plastic surgeon, and he is one of the three (I'm assuming he did not mean three surgeons in the whole world). So, another reason for my hesitation to have the surgery if I can. Thirty-six surgeries, my God, woman, I feel so bad for you - you really have been through the wringer - how is the pig mesh holding out?

Oh bless you, Tess! I know it can't be fun coming to a decision about your surgery. But it sounds like you have a one-in-a-million surgeon there, and it may indeed be a wonderful chance to finally get that wound closed. I know you'll have had plenty of CT scans before, but I had my first with a bag only a few weeks ago and was shocked at how quickly the contrast liquid they give you runs through the system. I nearly got caught out myself. I was just glad I brought my backup bags with me. But do take good care and know that you're in our prayers. Take good care, Colm

Gee Colm, I was kind of hoping that they could hook me up to a large drainage bag so I would not have to take any of my supplies with me - what do you think my chances are? I had 2 or 3 CTs in the hospital and you're right, the contrast just about waterlogged me LOL - thanks so much for the blessing and the prayers - how have you been lately?

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Hi again Tess, sorry I meant for after the scan you'd need the bags. Nothing happened during the scan but as soon as I got to my car to come home, everything started to move. But for myself, I can't complain. I had my reversal just over a week ago, along with hernia repair. Except for a few near misses, I'm coping not too badly. I'm just happy that my hernia is back under control once again. If the stoma reversal fails, I really have no problem at all with having the bag back. I really have learned so much during this time thanks to this site. So here's wishing you good luck with the CT and may your mind soon be at rest regarding the surgery. God bless and take good care, Colm

That's great news, Colm, on both fronts - I will pray that the reversal takes place. My Stefan is permanent, but that does not bother me at all. When would you know if the reversal is going to fail, or is that question just silly? Wish you all the luck in the world, or at least my little part of it... Terry

Thank you so much Terry. Oh, don't worry, it's not so much whether the reversal will fail, but no one seems to know if it will last for my Cronkhite-Canada syndrome. There are no details out there at present. I'm just happy with the present. I'm a firm believer in positive thought. And here's wishing you better days ahead too! Colm

Hi Tess, sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you, but my computer is about to go, so the pigskin hasn't held up for me. I have 3 hernias now, and they said they don't know if they can be repaired because I have no wall that will hold mesh, due to all the surgery I have had and the radiation I received. So, I'm waiting to hear from my doctor to see if she found a doctor. God only knows if there should be one at the Cleveland Clinic, so just wait. So, how are you doing? Good, I hope. Keep your head up, and my prayers are with you. Your friend, Sharon.

Hi Tess, this is my first message on this site, so hello to everyone. Regarding your original message and the replies, I was quite fit and active but had the early stages of bowel cancer 3 years ago. I went into the hospital and things went wrong. Five months in the hospital instead of five days? 7 weeks in intensive care. 4 surgical procedures, etc. I won't go into the details, but during this, I had the flesh-eating Necrotizing Fasciitis. This resulted in emergency surgery to remove my peritoneum and the left side of my stomach muscle. This left a large hole. I was told it would take many months for this to heal from inside. However, the surgeon had some knowledge of using a collagen implant. After some investigation, they agreed to use this method that I believe originates from some association with pigs? The implant was carried out, and it started to repair within weeks, although I had some form of pump attached to keep it moist. I also understand it's a quite expensive remedy. I then had a skin graft over the healed wound. That was three years ago, and I am not sure what the future holds. My only major problem now is weakness due to no stomach muscle, but I feel lucky having survived all the complications of surgery. I cannot comment on your surgeon's explanation, but certainly, the implant so far seems to have done the trick. Whatever you do, you have my very best wishes. During my year as District Governor in Rotary, our theme was "Make Dreams Real." May all your dreams be real.