Thursday, March 3, 2022

Ob-la-di Ob-la-de Life goes on even with Alzheimers

Paul McCartney's song since 2009 link

Dealing with complex challenges of with Alzheimers  update.


PART ONE Basal Cell Carcinoma of Nose

Second Mohs surgery to remove a basal cell cancer of my skin. 

Thurs. 
Right after Moh's surgery on nose. 
This procedure cured my basal cell cancer on the nose. 
The injection of lidocaine into my nose was very painful.  I was told it was to be expected because it is such a sensitive area.  
The closure of the wound by the plastic surgeon was painless.
I asked him what I should do if the area begins to bleed.  He said apply pressure.  He didn't tell me to apply a pinching pressure for 30 minutes.
The site seemed to have stopped bleeding when I went to bed.  I couldn't wear my CPAP machine for my sleep apnea.  I slept well. In the morning I found myself waking up from my snoring. 
FRIDAY
I called the Dermatology nurse if I should come in to change my bandage.  At noon today I will finish the first 24 hours with my bandage.  Tomorrow at noon I was told to remove the bandage and wash the wound with soap and water.
 If I start to bleed heavily I could go into the office to get the bandage changed.  The nurse said I could probably change the bandage as well as they could. 

On my cruise I had alot of repeat bleeding from a cut on my leg which would rebleed everytime I took the bandage off.  I attribute this to all the fish oil I take and the Xarelto.  Finally I purchased a pressure bandge for my leg and the bleeding stopped. 

Photo below is the blood saturating my bandage from my nose surgery after sleeping for a few hours. I didn't panic because I saw the active bleeding had stopped. I added the big brown bandage to absorb any other bleeding.


My son is a surgeon and he said not changing the bandage may cause a larger scar. 

Yesterday was crunch time.

After my call to the nurse we left it with my followng options:
1- I could change the bandage myself.
2- I could come in to the office and have the nurses change it. 
3- My Dermatologist and Plastic surgeon were not in the office. 

I worried if I took the bandage off,  I would have much more bleeding. 
My wife wanted me to go to the office. 
It was Friday afternoon and I knew the office would be closed for the weekend and at that point I would be forced to go to the emergency room. 

My wife had an appointment to get an IV infusion of monoclonal antibodies for Covid. 
Her appointment was for 5 PM.

She left for her appointment and wasn't happy I would have to drive myself to the Dermatologist.  It's been months since I have driven.  I had no worries about my driving ability but my wife doesn't want me to take any chances.  It is a worry that with a car accident will fall off a cliff with my Alzheimers. 

Once my wife had left the house I had less distractions to make a decision.  
I realized that my patchwork with multiple bandages was not working.
I called the Derm office at 4:30 PM.  
They told me to come in if I could be there in 5 minutes.
I had no trouble driving and finding the office on my own. 
This is how I looked after the Nurses took my bandage off:



The nurses took the bandage off and cleaned up all the dried blood. 
They could see the site was still ouzeing blood which was similar to my repeated bleeding on the cruise on a leg wound.  I beleived it was due to the fish oil and Xarelto I take. A pressure wrap bandage around my calf finally stopped the bleeding and after a few days when I upwraped the pressure the bleeding had finally stopped.

The plastic surgeon came in and offered some options.
1- She could inject a few sites with lidocaine and epinephrine to stop the bleeding. 
I said the shot in my nose yesterday was excruciating and I didn't want to go through that again.  She didn't think I needed more stiches.

2- She could just apply another pressure bandage and remove it on Sunday.

The pressure bandage seems to be working. 
When I went to bed Friday night I was still leaking a little around the edges of the pressure bandage. I applied two bandages to stop the leaks until this AM I noticed I have a little leaking of blood. I am afraid to remove the bandages I applied. 

This morning I saw my gerrymanding worked for the most part.  
I did not bleed all over my face as I had the night before. 

Progress. 
My wife was so happy I took care of the situtation when she came home after her two hour infusion.
Despite my diagnosis of Alzheimers in December 2017 I still have a good amount of executive functions and I can still drive

Saturday

I slept well with no further bleeding. 
I hoped to take the bandage off today but the Doc suggested I wait one more day before I take the bandage off and start cleaning the wound with soap and water. 

Sunday

No more bleeding.
When I woke in the middle of the night I noticed my bandage had fallen off. 
In response I found the largest bandaide I had to cover the exposed sutures. 





















First Mohs surgery Nov 2021 on forehead below




No comments:

Post a Comment

update trials of Alzheimers

 The best part of the day is when I have a bowel movement.   Recently started Miralax. I found MOM too harsh. Pacing helps but I get exhaust...