wound vac & questions

I had a panniculectomy and umbelical hernia repair late last July.  Unfortunately things haven't been wonderful with that and I am having another surgery to correct it on Friday.  The exterior healing was great.  Then about 3 months later I developed a seroma and had it drained in late December.  It is back and I went for my 3 yr check with Dr. Anthone and he said that it has to be corrected.  Thus, the surgery on Friday.  I was ok with the DS and semi ok with the last surgery but for some reason this one is freaking me the heck out!  The incision will be across my stomach and not bikini level, the scaring doesn't bother me, but the whole thing does.  He will also remove the skin that has stretched back out from the panniculectomy (reconstruction).  

I will be coming home with a wound vac, which I have never had.  I had a lap DS and had drains with the panniculectomy / hernia repair.  Can anyone suggest what is easiest to wear with this wound vac and how limited I will be.  I will be having a home health nurse three times a week according to Dr. Anthone.  He said it will fit in my purse, but is it electric, battery operated or what.  I am home alone during the day except for weekends.  Thus will be doing my own lunches ( and I usually cook something) and make meals for the family for evening meals.  Any suggestions, explanations, insights would be awesome! 

It's battery operated - it has a rechargable battery which you will recharge at home.  It makes noises which can be difficult lin quiet public settings.  You have to change it regularly as it fills with fluid.  It's not pleasant.  I had one some years ago after my rear LBL incision failed.....had it for about 6 weeks...it was difficult and unpleasant. But slowly but surely it did the job.  Why are you going home with a wound vac?   Why can't you be closed up with drains?

My wound vac had a carrying pouch, with a shoulder strap.  Kinda like a big pocketbook (of course, with a tube hanging out and fed under my shirt to the wound.  If I wore a cardigan over my shirt, it wasn't too noticeable, and I still went out shopping, dinner, etc.    I had it for about 6 weeks. 
  They carve what looks like black packing foam into a piece to fit inside the wound, and the vac connects to the outside of the foam.  It gets covered with a plastic piece, like thick saran wrap, but medical grade, so there's no dripping, odor, etc.    You could feel a gentle pressure when it was first applied, then it was barely noticeable.
    Good luck,  and studies show it does increase wound healing times, and less infections than a hanging drain.    Take care,  Mary

Dito on the two previous posts. I had my wv for about 3 or 4 months. The biggest problems I had were that once you start getting out of the house, home health is not covered by insurance. I still needed my wound changed 3x per week, and it was difficult finding someone to do that for me. At first they were just going to train me and leave me to do it myself. I was not comfortable with that at all! Finally found a nearby hospital that had a full time nurse that did changes.

Next problem I had was that I forgot my charging cord once when I went out of town. You can't have the wv on you without the suction for more that a couple of hours, so had to have them deliver me one to our hotel.

My wound was very gross! Another hard thing was the removal of the seran type tape! OUCH! and 3x /week too! I learned to use alcohol wipes to help loosen it as I removed it myself. I actually fired one home health nurse for just jerking it off of me with now consideration of the pain.

As far as odor, mine did develop some odor to it after a while. I carried it over my shoulder like a purse and it purred like a kitten every once and a while or when there was a leak in the tape it would gurgle as the air entered.

The only thing I felt embarrassed about is that the tube held a pinkish fluid in it from my body most of the time and I thought strangers thought it was bloody urine.

If you have any specific questions, let me know. Mine was by KCI and they have great customer service.

Terri-Lynne

FWIW,  I had no visiting nurse ever - I changed it myself the whole time.   The nurse at my surgeon's office showed me how,  and that was that.

Not sure how yours was, but mine was about 6"x4" hole and had one tunnel that was longer than the long q-tips.  You could see my so called abdominal something, but it couldn't have been my abdominal muscles as they are about 4" apart as well.  What does FWIW mean?

FWIW = for what it's worth.

Yeah,  my hole was huge and deep and disgusting. 

You must be one tough nyb.....!  lol  Once I could finally have something by mouth, I was npo for about 2 months, I would puke everytime it was changed.  I usually have a stomach of steel, but it made me so sick.  Actually thinking back, I gagged and puked even with I was npo.  So glad that chapter is over.  T

I had a wvp for about 8 weeks after developing a seroma.  Yep, it can be loud in a quiet place.  Mine would not have fit in my purse.  It's strap was long enough to be crossed over my shoulder.  I had no smells from it, but when the sponge needs to be changed, it can kinda get icky.  The absolute worst thing is the first few weeks when the nurse come to change the sponge.  Holyyyyyyyyyyy **** it down right HURTS!!  I then started taking a pain pill about 1/2 hpur before the nurse was coming to change it.  My favorite nurse would put sterile water on the sponge before she yanked it out.  Just BE PREPARED!  It kinda feels like they are pulling out your insides.  I became allergic to the clear plastic that goes over the sponges and had to have a special powder put on and it made it much more bearable.  My skin was raw.  You will be so amazed at how good this works!  Eveytime I got my sponge changed, my nurse would say wanna see how much it has closed.  You could actually see the huge difference from change to change.  There is nothing you cannot do.  You just have this purse like thing hanging from you.  The machine and sucking is not painful at all.  Like I said the worst thing is the changing of the sponges.  Good luck! 

 I am hopefully having my wound vac removed tomorrow after having it on close to 3 months. My wound is located in the middle of my abdomen, originally was about 6 inches in length and is now less than one inch. Will be wet/dry packing until it closes completely. My wound vac from KCI came with a strap to wear around my shoulders and can be belted around the waist. If the vac is applied correctly, with no air leaks, you should not be able to hear it work except for when it is suctioning. It has not restricted me from doing anything. I am able to disconnect in order to shower.
Like the previous poster stated, use alcohol or Uni-solve to help remove the tape that is applied on your skin for easy removal. If there areproblems removing the black foam from your incision, ask for a product called adaptic to be placed in the wound prior to the black foam which helps the foam not adhere to the wound.