So I am going in for another surgery on December 12th,
2013 at 7:30am to have a reconstructive surgery done. I have been going to the doctor almost daily
since January 9th due to having a wound post-surgery that would not
heal. We have tried EVERYTHING to have
this wound healed but my body is saying Nope I don’t think so!
My body has been acting this way for a while now so it is
not a surprise that it would go ahead and decide to do it now but we gave it a
lot of time. This week I hit my 300th
doctor visit this year. That is a lot I know
the nurses on a first name basis and I bet if you ask them they have seen way
more of me than anybody ever wants to see.
When they do a proctocolectomy they remove the rectal stump
because you do not need it any more they give you as we in the ostomy call it
an action figure butt or a Barbie butt.
You know the kind that is there but completely closed up and serves no
function? Well that was supposed to
happen to me, you have no idea how happy I was to have a GI Joe butt, come on
my wife would love a GI Joe butt right?
Well my body decided not to heal the wound so instead of GI
Joe butt I went back to a complete dysfunctional butt that would not heal. I have a six inch by 1.5 inch cavity that
will not heal or close up. So that means going in daily to have the wound
packed with gauze to try and keep it from closing up too quick and causing an abscess
to form. So not only do I have to go in
daily what they do to me is not pleasant by any means. Luckily I have had some very amazing nurses
and doctors who have been trying to provide the best care for me possible.
So with this surgery I will be a human jigsaw puzzle as I
like to call it but I am so thankful that they are doing it so that I can hopefully
be healed and moving forward. They are going
to use the two small muscles on the inside of my inner thigh the Gracilis
Muscle to pull through the wound and fill the cavity and then allow my body to
just heal the outside wounds.
Here is a wonderful write up about it on Wikipedia:)
The gracilis muscle is commonly used as a flap in microsurgery.
According to the classification of Mathes and Nahai, it presents a type II
blood supply, allowing it to be transferred on its artery derived from the
medial circumflex femoral artery. This artery enters the muscle about
10 cm from the pubic symphysis. At this point (or 1 cm proximal) the
nerve also enters.
Gracilis muscle is widely used in reconstructive surgery, either as a
pedicled flap or as a free microsurgical flap. Both pedicled and free flaps can
be muscular or musculocutaneos (the so- called "composite flaps"). As
a pedicled flap, gracilis muscle can be used in perineal and vaginal
reconstruction, after oncological surgery, in the treatment of recurrent
anovaginal and rectovaginal fistulas as well in the coverage of the
neurovascular bundle after vascular surgery.[3]
As a functioning pedicled flap, the gracilis muscle can be transferred for
the treatment of anal incontinence. This technique called graciloplasty was
described in the 1950s by Pickrell and was revolutionized in the late 1980s by
the introduction of chronic muscle electro-stimulation. The gracilis
microsurgical free flap is commonly used in the reconstruction of upper and
lower limbs, in breast reconstruction and – as a free functioning flap – to
restore forearm function or in dynamic reconstruction of facial paralysis.Gracilis
Muscles Clinical Role
So I only have 20 more daily visits to get through and then we will have
surgery so please keep my family in your prayers as we go through one more but
hopefully this will be the last one!
