Happy 4th!

The skin around my site as been getting drier and drier; it’s been brittle, numb, and tender deep below.

At the suggestion of a new friend yesterday, I put some generic Kirkland (paraben free) moisturizer on my finger and wrapped it over night. This morning, the skin was softer, more pliable, and sensation was greatly restored.

I also took a warm shower this morning and the persistent skin flap was help on by just a thread, so I trimmed it off. I was happy to see healthy joined skin below, allaying some fears Linda and I shared about the wound possibly not being closed.

Just a quick photo. Been sleeping all day for yesterday and today; I’m on my way out of the cold but it’s still got me feeling pretty cruddy.

I’ve been keeping the wrapping on it to protect it day and night. I’ve removed a flap similar to the one you see from the wound perhaps 3 or 4 times so I’ve taken the hint and stopped removing the dead skin; I’m going to let it fall off on its own. However, the flap looooves to catch on things, hence the protection (cutting off seems to be bad; tearing off would be catastrophic if it opened the wound back up).

Healing continues. Not much to see. I’m really hoping the dark spot is the magnet showing through my very fair skin and not an indicator of oxidation (i.e. coating failure). My previous assumptions were that, based on a number of other magnet failure stories, a dark spot would develop after weeks of oxidation. I’m not sure why I failed to unite that data with my observations of the magnet in a nearly saturated saline solution; in that case, less than 24 hours was necessary for the formation of iron oxides.

Healing continues well. The finger did very well in brackish water during vigorous activity and use for about two hours yesterday. I had a little bit of dead skin around the very edges of the incision, which I debrided. There is a little more skin this morning as well; I’m just keeping it covered and giving it a few days – I don’t want to end up removing too much. I’ll put up a pic later.

A quick video of me messing around, with a bonus photo showing scar, placement, and a tiny shadow of the vascular arches in the pulp.

Last night I checked in with Linda, as I was in the neighborhood. She said that the wound was healing beyond her expectations and that since the edges were approximated and the primary healing done, I could stop keeping it covered and start letting the skin get used to being out again.

Last night (for my five hours of sleep; go Goat Simulator) was the first time I had my finger uncovered from the tegaderm for longer than ~3 minutes. Even just overnight, I can see a marked hardening, drying out, and yellowing of wound edges that I suspected were dead, confirming my thoughts. There’s no pain, though, and I can use the finger for daily activities that don’t require too much pressure just fine.

Well, I’m definitely getting sick… Dry and scratchy throat with wheezy chest congestion. Systemically, though, I feel fine. I’m guessing this is bad luck and stress/lack of sleep from starting work that’s worn down my immune system. No temperature; procedure site remains healthy looking.

The wound is definitely not closing as quickly as I’d like, but the edges are approximated and relatively healthy looking so I’m not massively concerned yet. I changed the tegaderm after my longest duration yet (36 hrs), and things looked decent. I redressed sans triple antibiotics and just kept the tegaderm; with the deep wound closed, I’m less concerned about infection.

I seem to have developed a slight runny nose and cough, precipitated by incessant symptoms of dehydration (chapped lips, dry mouth, heavy thirst) despite increased water intake over the last three days.

I have no temperature and only a slight scratchy throat; I’m not coughing up sputum nor do I have any joint pain, muscle aches, or other problematic indicators.

The wound site continues to heal well and is healthy and as pink as my pale skin usually is; certainly no discharge, necrosis, odor, or any indication of infection. I’m going to chalk my symptoms up to a stress induced bug and keep chugging water – a systemic infection or sepsis doesn’t look possible given the appearing and health of the incision area.

I removed my stitches today. Below are a few pictures.

There was a bit of bleeding when the stitches came out (not much), and there were some odd shadows in my skin that I hoped weren’t the magnet showing through. I remain ever paranoid, however unwarranted, that the magnet was nicked when I sutured myself and the parylene is compromised. I don’t think I hit it; the fear is there, though.

Healing continues well. Pain has remained nonexistent for the last couple days; I haven’t taken any pain medication since the day of the surgery, and I’ve been just fine. It has been tender to the touch both at the incision and where the magnet is settled under my skin, but only with pressure.

The photos below are from this morning when I changed my dressing. I’m currently using triple antibacterial ointment and a half transpore sheet changed twice daily, wrapping my finger in flexible gauze roll over the transpore during the day just to give it some padding and keep me aware of the site.