Chronic wound after dog attack, 6 months later

[TheBusyMoose]

ok so I need to know if I am being extreme to be so frustrated and annoyed with this situation.

long story short I was attacked by a dog in November and had surgery. It got infected and I had 3 further surgeries a few weeks later. It is now a chronic wound and simply won't heal, I've had 5 more surgeries and I go to the hospital every week and they umm and ahh and say come back next week. I have a hole in my leg, I am in pain and it seems endless. I will post progression photos but it looks worse if anything than when it first happened. I have never been under a doctors care, just see the wound care nurse every week and every so often she will get a doctor and I go back to surgery. I've had enough and not really sure where to go from here

And? What does that have to do with your comment about her husband?

I’m so sorry that looks incredibly painful! What are the medical professionals thinking about trying next?
it really doesn’t look like it’s healed much at all in the 6 months.

a dog that’s capable of doing that kind of damage shouldn’t be roaming the streets and should rightly be put down and I say that as a dog lover.

are there any criminal proceedings against the owner? You really should think of a civil case for compensation that’s a horrific injury l!
@Doorbangingyou’ve just outed your self as a heartless knob! I’m pretty Damn sure OP would
much rather have been working the last 6 months instead of dealing with this, have some compassion FFS

Difficult to tell, the second photo looks clean, the one with the long suture line and dressing, has most of that healed and you're left with a hole. Were all the sutures removed. I'd be insisting on a mri/ct, bloods, plastics review. is the wound bigger now than it was at the beginning. I wonder if it all needs a surgical debridement, clean, packing from the inside.

All of my surgeries have been under the plastics specialist department in my county, not my local hospital. The nurses I see are the plastics wound dressing nurses at that hospital (my petrol bills could make me cry!).

they just seem stumped about the lack of progress

God love you, that’s a terrible ordeal.

It's certainly odd as your skin graft site healed alright so must be something in the wound site and usually it's the bottom of legs that don't sometimes heal at all.

wound: if your unsure if you are getting decent care, check out your near plastic surgery consultants and see about a second opinion.
you: regarding you and your wound - plenty of water, elevation of the leg, exercise, eat good food - it all helps (limit caffeine, alcohol - definitely limit / cut out sugar)
you: mentally: this is a lot for you to cope with . While you’re not working can you start up with a group or a gym ? Something new in your life for a positive experience ?
I feel for you.
if your young and healthy - there’s no reason why you won’t be putting all this behind you one day, but it may take a little bit longer - you can and will get through this.

Yes sorry, they are from very different points. A couple are just after debridement surgeries, the original ones I posted were more sequential.

basically after the surgery the wound reopened and is just a big hole in my leg. It has sealed in some places but in the middle is just deep and open.

the original bite punctured the muscle and the wound is still that deep

How is she supposed to work ? Her husband should look after the children if she’s ill. You are an absolute dick.

Have they suggested a vac dressing ?

Is that the negative pressure suction thing? Had it after surgery 4 or maybe 5

@TheBusyMoose, I'm not medically qualified but I agree with @MissMoneyFairy. The wound needs a fresh debridement and the wound packing, then a follow through regimen of dressing changes via the DN team and maybe some serious antibiotics to try to get on top of the infection?
The fact that this has caused you to be off work for so long and impacted your health so badly is awful.
Wishing you a speedy recovery 💐

I wonder would leeches work? I know its grim, but they draw out fresh blood to get the circulation going again, therefore helping to heal the wound.You poor thing, that looks awful after so long of trying. I assume they have cultured the area to see what bacteria is growing there?

I said I was unsure what happened to the dog, the police dealt with that. I'm sure they took the necessary steps and my opinion on whether it needed to be destroyed or not would have little impact.

I chose not to be informed of their decision regarding this for a myriad of reasons and that's my choice as they made clear to me.

Sounds like they need to try a different approach. Ask the wound care nurses if you could be considered for VAC therapy (might need a bit of surgical debriding first), or Gecko device. The wound may also benefit from compression bandages.
They don't seem to be being very proactive. You said the nurses are plastics wound care nurses. Ask to be referred to the tissue viability nurses. They are better equipt for dealing with more chronic wounds which this now is. They may be needed for the suggestions I made above.

Not the same thing, I know, but I had a wound that wouldn't heal near a surgical site, would start to heal then open up again and be worse than before. It went on for months and months.

One day I saw something in it and teased it out, it was a tiny vascular staple from the surgery. It healed perfectly after that.

I'd definitely query if there is something in there causing it to not heal and ask for a scan / xray etc to check.

I also had a cream that worked wonders when silver dressings etc were no good at all. It was an antifungal, antibiotic, steroid cream. I think it was Trimovate. I know a cream is probably not big guns enough for what you've got now but maybe it will be helpful if things improve a bit.

If it was after surgery it would likely be a PICO device. Vac is different x

How long did you have the negative pressure wound therapy on for ?
Have you had specialist Tissue viability nurse input ?
Was the dog bred in the UK ?

Time to look at alternative treatments like peptides etc for skin healing. Reports of some amazing results.

How can you be in the "wrong place wrong time"? It is totally the dog's owner that is at fault. Start civil proceedings on Monday before it's too late.

I've heard that Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy or decompression chamber therapy works well for healing wounds.

One day I saw something in it and teased it out, it was a tiny vascular staple from the surgery. It healed perfectly after that.

@GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut that's a good point , I have seen chronic wounds caused by foreign bodies left in there following surgery, has the leg been scanned at all @TheBusyMoose ?

You need to be referred to a community tissue viability nurse, have you had a Doppler assessment?