Experience with suction/negative pressure dressings

Keep that sense of humour going @terrianne xx   I get the frogs (SO LOUD) every night .... I wear an ear plug in one ear, to deaden a lot of the noise! It helps!  ;)   I still wake up to anything 'unusual' tho - and those burping noises would have done it!  LOL. ;) 

I hope you are sleeping better now  ... make haste slowly with the exercise - you'll know when you are 'up to it' :) 

take care

It is tough. I am 8 weeks post DMX and feeling so much better- your post brought back a lot of memories. My pumps did this random growling/purring  noise- the first night I kept thinking I was in bed with 2 kittens! Hang in there- you will  feel a tiny bit better each day.

Thank you 😁 

I was very similar to you, with one surgery back in 1990, and then nothing until all this started in 2020. I went through everything you’ve explained. We just need to keep finding our way. I think you’re doing really well 😊🌸. 

FLClover said:

I understand your worry though because it’s different when we’re out of it and see things in hindsight, but a whole different ball game when we’re in the midst of it and it’s fresh. It is scary and we worry about every little thing, and we need reassurance that everything is going the best it can. Sometimes we’re too consumed by fear to be able to see clearly and it’s also new for us so we don’t know what’s what.

ruralmum2 said:

Terrianne, I had a prolonged experience with dressings after my lymph node clearance. It was so frustrating, especially as I’m a nurse & thought I’d be all over it! Make sure that if your wound is still oozing that the skin around it is well protected with barrier wipes (ask the wound nurse). Mine kept breaking down at different times, especially if the wipes weren’t used. I’m healed now - with an ugly scar, but it was a very trying time. I wanted to exercise, but didn’t want to risk my dressings getting sweaty or coming off. Hoping you don’t have the same dramas, but if you do, feel free to message me if you want to vent xo

I know what you mean, it’s all a bit traumatic isn’t it! That beeping noise still triggers me 4 years down the track 😄🤦🏻‍♀️😐. 

terrianne said:

So last Thursday I had a bilateral "Goldilocks" mastectomy - it's Tuesday now, so today is the fifth day post-op.

I had three nights in hospital and was discharged on Sunday, and every day has felt like a battle with these dressings. It's a system called Prevena that puts a foam layer over the sutures, and then a plastic dressing over that so that the attached pump can then apply a gentle vacuum.

Even in hospital, every day has brought patches to the edges to try and maintain a seal. It holds if I'm sitting down but the moment I stand up, the pump goes off, and I hear a little whistle from a new leak somewhere in the dressing. It's getting pretty frustrating - I can't shower without it going off and even just doing a wash at the basin triggers leaks. And forget going for 'gentle walks' - I want to, but not if the dressing's going to leak the whole damn way.

I'm due to have them removed on 9 December, so six more days with them. If I thought I was happy to have drains removed, that'll probably be nothing compared to the joy of getting rid of these dressings.

Has anyone else had experience with suction/negative pressure dressings like this?

Terrianne, I had a prolonged experience with dressings after my lymph node clearance. It was so frustrating, especially as I’m a nurse & thought I’d be all over it! Make sure that if your wound is still oozing that the skin around it is well protected with barrier wipes (ask the wound nurse). Mine kept breaking down at different times, especially if the wipes weren’t used. I’m healed now - with an ugly scar, but it was a very trying time. I wanted to exercise, but didn’t want to risk my dressings getting sweaty or coming off. Hoping you don’t have the same dramas, but if you do, feel free to message me if you want to vent xo