Mepilex Ag Ulcer Dressing Problems…

 

I am the owner of a large, and ever-growing, leg ulcer, and the problem is finding a dressing that will absorb the increasing exudate and bleeding, that is bactericidal (I don’t want a repeat of last year’s infection marathon and I most definitely want to stay out of hospital), and does not gratuitously cause me more pain. Apologies for the pic if you’re squeamish, but I find it helps people who haven’t fallen victim to this most foul affliction understand the problem. Two months ago that was two tiny, almost painless, lesions, each the size of a 5p coin. Why it’s now one big one no-one is able to tell me. I’m told it’s a venous ulcer and, indeed, it looks like one. However, it also has the characteristics of an arterial ulcer (pain when my leg is elevated, relief when sitting). So, can an ulcer be both venous and arterial at the same time? Based on my experience, it would seem to. More research needed.

Doctor knows best? Er, no…

And not least because patients like me, who are medically savvy, and have time on our hands – more time than most GPs to be scrupulously fair, and some consultants – and are equally capable of reading medical journals and research papers, and keeping our fingers on the medical world’s pulse in respect of our own condition(s).

It might sound arrogant, but I defer to no GP, and few consultants, that I’ve met, in my knowledge of what ails me –I can read medical journals and research papers just as well as they can – OK, I might have to look up some more specialist terms, but I suspect many GPs do too. And consultants – after all, it’s many years since medical school, when they HAD to know them.

This should work both to my advantage and that of the doctor – I know