Any DUers have experience or knowlege of skin grafts or wound healing?
On Feb. 7 I had a wide area excision of a .4m melanoma on my shin. A full thickness skin graft was taken from my arm. I had taken 4 ibuprofen, 15 hours before, the doctor said I might bleed more. My stitches were removed at 20 days. The nurse called the doctor in before she removed my stitches, and the doctor described the entire area being a very dark color as bruising. I began daily bandage changes. All seemed OK for about a week, when I detected a yeasty odor and exudate. Went in and my doctor told me that the center of my graft had sloughed off, but the edges were holding, and that I would heal by granulation. She said it did not look infected, but prescribed gentimicin. I am doing 2X daily vinegar and water soaks, and using gentimicin topically for 2X daily dressing changes. The yeasty odor went away fairly quickly (pseudomonas?) I have been doing this for 15 days now. I don't know what to expect, and don't know how to evaluate my experience. My exudate is a light amber color and can be almost nonexistent if I do nothing but lay around with my leg elevated. There is pain sometimes, not sure if granulation healing hurts as the wound heals. I don't go back to the doctor until next Wednesday.
