8 weeks post op body lift...

I was able to do the night wound dressing change myself.  I procrastinated until almost 8:00 p.m. and then decided I just had to get on with it.  I got all of the supplies out (gauze, wound spray, long q-tip applicators, anti-fungal powder, ABD pads, Acetic Acid, medipore tape, skin prep, Palmer's Oil, trash bags, underpads, compression garment, gloves and Glad Press 'n Seal)....

The first step was showering; I had to wrap the old dressing in the Glad Press 'n Seal and be very careful to not let anything get wet.  Supprisingly, the stuff works pretty well and I had no problems....

After my shower, I dried off and laid down on the underpad.  I had Mark hand me things as I needed them.  I put on gloves and removed all of the old dressing and put it in the plastic trash bags.  The gauze that was packed in the wound was really mucus-like and totally barf-a-licious!!!! New gloves. I took the wound spray and sprayed around and in the wounds and wiped them clean. Then I had to take the long q-tip applicator and really dig into the tunnels to clean them out... OUCH!

When I felt comfortable that the wound was clean, I soaked some gauze in the Acetic Acid and used the stick part of the q-tip applicator to push the medicated gauze into the tunnels.  I covered both wounds with extra gauze.  Then, I sprinkled some of the antifungal on the yeast spots and dabbed the area with the skin prep like Gitta had done. Once finished with that, I covered the whole area with two 5x9 ABD pads and taped them down with the medipore tape.  I put on my compression garment and was finished!  It took me about 45 minutes to do the whole process but I'm really proud of myself for not getting grossed out by changing the dressing myself.  I like it much better when Beth (my home nurse) does it because then I don't have to know what's being done- I just close my eyes and try to breathe through it!

These were taken today, 8 weeks post op original body lift and a day shy of 4 weeks for the removal of the abscess.....

pretty freaked out by the yellow in the wound on the bottom picture =/  I guess time will tell and I'm praying that the infection goes away and the rest of my recovery is smooth!