As I said in my first post, I was not even aware of pressure wounds when it comes to taking care of my wife. It has now been four months since we discovered her first pressure wound. It is much better now but it is still not completely well. This particular wound was caused by the constriction of the wheelchair she was sitting in. That wheelchair had a 17 inch seat and she was literally wedged in it. In fact, her new wheelchair is a 20 inch seat and it is still touching side to side when she sits in it.
Because of the location of this wound just below her tailbone it has been difficult to treat, it's difficult to put bandages on it in a way that holds the treatment material in place for more than a day. We have discovered new kinds of tape and new kinds of treatments that have helped it improve but it's still not completely healed. In addition to this wound there have been at least three other spots that have shown up in areas where she sits all day but we've been able to catch those quickly and treat those in a much better fashion.
I am told that had we not been able to get treatment as soon as we did the wound below her tailbone could have migrated into her spinal column and created enormous problems. So for this reason I’m suggesting that if your loved one is in a position where they can't move their own body and they are lying in bed or sitting in a wheelchair all day long that you constantly examine them for sore spots on their body. In talking with nurses who have come to assist us with this issue I have discovered that pressure wounds are one of the major things that they have to treat on a regular basis with dementia patients.
In order to help others who may come to this website please share your experience with this kind of situation.
