the root of the problem

Hello everyone 

Ken is busy restringing all our musical instruments, so we have fresh strings for the fair.  We are heading over to Eugene early Saturday morning to take in the fair on Saturday and then we will be playing on Sunday.  We will be camping in our van Saturday night and then home Sunday to start chemo Monday.  I have already started with my daily ginger in preparation.

I am looking forward to Monday, sort of how you look forward to the exam because the sooner it gets started the sooner it will be over. It cannot be over till it starts.   :)

I am glad we are not camping at the fair, as the lesions on my butt have still not healed and so nice to have running water at night. I have been concerned about the problem of open wounds around the rectal area, and so I contacted a wound care specialist in Portland (she is the one I learned everything I know about wound care from).  I have had open wounds for 8-9 weeks now.

Although I would never clean an open wound on a patient of mine with hibiclens, the cancer center have told me all along to cleanse the wounds several times a day with watered down hibiclens, and so being a "good patient" I have been.  Getting worried about them healing before I am due to go back on Chemo, I got "another opinion".

(I should add that I have never treated open wounds in the rectal area)

The wound care specialist said that hibiclens destroys the cell membranes so that wounds exposed to it will NOT heal.  The product she suggested instead is called Aloe Vesta foam which was formulated for wounds in this area, and does not damage the cells you are trying to get to grow.  So I started that cleanser yesterday and 2 of the 3 wounds are a lot better today.

BOY Do I feel dumb.  I wish all the different areas of medicine could get together and talk sometimes.

I should also add that I have developed a new YOGA pose which allows me with the help of flashlights and mirrors to "observe" this area that is normally rather difficult to get a look at.

So its a race to heal before Monday, as chemo takes away my infection fighting abilities, and so not good to have open wounds.

When I am done all this I am going to inform as many oncologists as I can about this because hibiclens seems to be what most centers suggest.

Ken and Chewy (our dog) are out trying to scare away the rats from my birdfeeder garden, chewy is digging and Ken has a hose,  not sure what the principal here is or what the overall plan is, but they look like they are both having fun.....must be a guy thing.

Wish I had a picture.

Well I AM looking forward to having more fascinating things to talk about in my blog, than my butt....... like nausea, heartburn and constipation.

But for now...

love and peace

janet bates

jankenb @ gmail.com

oh the photo is my sister Denise, her husband Dave and me