July 18, 2009
Itchy Incisions
As you may remember, Portland Firefly had surgery with the DaVinci Robot in May to remove some of the cancer that had invaded my body. My surgeon made six incisions which were from two to three inches each. This saved me from having to have a very long incision from my pubic bone to my breast bone. As is now common practice , the outer skin was closed with surgical “glue”. My insides were sewn closed, but the outer skin was not sewn closed —it was glued! This is supposed to cause less chance of infection and an easier healing for the patient.
I like the idea of several smaller incisions over one very large one. I know that my post-surgical pain was much less and I was able to return to normal activities much sooner than if I had had the larger incision.
Ever since I was a child with a scabbed over knee, when it began to itch, the reply was “Oh good, it is healing.” And that has been my mind set when ever an incision began to itch. So when my incisions began to itch six week ago, I told myself , “don’t scratch, they are beginning to heal and that is a good sign.”
But, they have been itching for over six weeks and sometimes I just cannot stand it!! I scratch “around” the incisions –remember I have six of them across the width of my abdomen– but they still itch! I have been applying an antibiotic cream to them to keep the scabs soft, but they still itch! When I get into the shower, I let the water “scratch” them for me. Oh, it feels so good! Then I start doing little things around the house and soon I forget about them until they decide that they want to torment me again.
The incisions are getting smaller every week. Remember that because of the chemotherapy, my body doesn’t heal as fast as it normally would have so the process is taking longer than one might expect. I am willing to put up with some itchy discomfort as long as the desired result is achieved — extending my life.
Now that I wrote about it, maybe the itching will go away. Wouldn’t that be nice!
