Monthly Archives: April 2014
Wound Care – Friday, April 18, 2014
Erin has had an open sore at her waistline for a couple of weeks. About 10 days ago, when we were at the Morse Ave Kaiser, I asked Dr. Adams assistant if Dr. A could refer Erin to the wound nurse whom we had used 2 years ago when Erin was on hospice. The nurse was at the Kaiser Point West office 3 miles from here.
The assistant came back with an appt for 9 days later, at the Wound Clinic at Kaiser on Eureka Rd in Roseville, 19 miles from here, which I had never been to before. Kaiser is openening a wound clinic next month at Morse Ave, but for now Roseville is the only one.
In the meantime I have been treating the sore with terbinafine hydrochloride which I thought was what Erin had been given for sores 2 years ago. (It had been given to her for a rash.) On Tuesday when I saw my own doctor for a routine checkup, he told me that terbinafine hydrochloride was an anti-fungal cream for athlete’s foot or rashes! Instead I should use an antibiotic cream such as neosporin which I did use Tuesday night.
Yesterday morning, we saw the wound nurse in Roseville. She thought that the sore looked great. She said that since December, neosporin is no longer recommended for open wounds! It attracts drug resistant bacteria. The nurse used silver nitrate on the sore, then covered it with a 1 inch square of silver PolyMem, followed by gauze and tape. She gave us s sheet of PolyMem to use. (For exciting reading, go to polymem.com)
The nurse didn’t think that it was a bedsore or pressure sore, which occurs near a bone. Erin’s was probably due to poking against something when she fell. There was about a 4 inch square black and blue bruise area around it which has almost disappeared.
Afterwards, we went to lunch at A Slice of Goodness, a small hole-in-the wall on Douglas Blvd in Roseville, which has good sandwiches and homemade pies which my friends in Roseville have served at social bridge. Trade Joe’s was nearby, so shopping there completed our outing.
Barbara
Leg Brace Adjust – Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Erin’s brace was making an indent mark on the top of her ankle, and I never could figure out how to wrap the velcro strap, so we went to Integral Orthotics today. Greg, Larry’a assistant, helped us. I had been wrapping the strap directly around the ankle and this was what caused the mark. He showed us how to form the strap in a figure 8. He also cut a little off the bottom of the boot.
Barbara