Nurse…Change the Dressing

Hubby continues to heal although, quite frankly, he looked worse yesterday than on surgery day. The tissue around his eye was so discolored and swollen that it hampered his vision and made him look even more bruised than we expected. We called the Dermatology Department and they asked me to bring him in for a look-see. I could tell Dr. Dermatologist was not too happy to see the state of Hubby’s face but he assured us that it was just excessive trauma from the surgery and that the swelling and black and blueness would eventually disappear. OK…I guess I’ll believe him. Some of the swelling has shifted downward to Hubby’s cheek and chin (Doc told us this would probably happen as a result of gravity) so now his face is distorted as well as battered.

Today was my first stab at playing nurse since this was “Change the Dressing” Day. I removed the bandages, had Hubby soak the area in a combination of warm water and vinegar (doctor’s instructions), applied Polysporin to the wound, cut and placed new bandages on the area and then taped it up. I had to do this a few times until I got just the right amount of bandage and tape since his darn eye kept getting in the way. OK…this is one of the many reasons I chose not to go into medicine as a career. While blood and gore don’t faze me at all, I cannot seem to master the very basics of medical care…bandaging and taping. Part of this has to do with being “scissor impaired” and some of it has to do with my self-diagnosed lack of depth perception. We have two more weeks of these daily dressing changes so maybe, by the end, I will be able to do it in one take. Here’s hoping…