Hiatus - The Pico-vac Dressing

The morning after we got home a Community Nurse came and applied a Pico-vac dressing to Ferretfingers wound. Absolutely tiny compared to the hospital one, and much simpler to apply

 

Firstly it has everything incorporated into it: the dressing, airtight adhesive surround and little integral tube are all in one piece.  It has to have an airtight seal to keep the dressing "on the bed of the wound" to help it 'granulate'.  The dressing is put in place and the cover taken off the adhesive film, which is pressed down.  Sometimes it isn’t airtight, but there are spare bits of sealant to go around the edge to make it so.

The tube is attached to another which goes into a tiny pump, smaller than a cigarette packet.   It is powered by two AA batteries and the pack lasts about a week.  Roll on some 'yellow stripe' and ankle socks and we're done.  The tube can go up the inside of a trouser leg, out at the waistband and into his pocket.

Every Tuesday and Friday a Community Nurse calls and changes the dressing, replacing the power pack once a week

Ferretfingers is completely mobile, goes to the gym with Emil and does upper body work.   

He’s even been away on his respite weekend.  

I take him to his day centre on Mondays and Wednesdays as they are able to give him his lunchtime antibiotics.   

I’ve briefed them on what to do if the dressing stops being airtight and the pump alarm goes off, and left some pieces of sealant to put it right.

Sadly Ouseburn Farm is out of the question until this is all over and the wound completely sealed.

The pump buzzes at irregular intervals which is disturbing at night.  Luckily we have a plush penguin pencil case to put it in which muffles the sound.  Ferretfingers tucks it into the waistband of his pyjamas if he needs to walk around.   

The head and wings on the outside make him look like some strange Frankensteinian marsupial.