The Wordsmith's Forge

Wound care, for me, is love.

In his battle with lymphoma, Rob had a large tumor removed from his scalp--several times, as it tended to grow back. As part of his care, I was taught by the nurses at Mayo Clinic how to dress it several times a week as it healed, which took months.

The first time I did it, I could barely bring myself to go through the motions, afraid of hurting him, of even looking at the area.

But gradually, what at first had been intimidating became bearable and finally routine, just part of the way I cared for him. It was hands-on, part of the way I interacted with the physicality of what he was going through, and yes, part of the way I showed him that I loved him.

In the past couple of years, as my mother has aged, my siblings and I have all stepped up to be more hands-on in assisting her. One of the things I personally do is to help her with her shower once a week. As I was already doing that, and I had experience because of the assistance I gave Rob, I was the natural person to take on the role when her fragile skin on one of her legs developed a tear. Blood flow becomes less robust in elderly skin, so healing can be slow.

It's been three months, and I'm still dressing an area on her calf once a week (the other two times a week she is helped by a visiting nurse who changes the dressing).

In the past week, this took a bit more attention. The change in my schedule due to a medical procedure I was undergoing meant I had to coordinate with the visiting nurses to arrange a change to all three dates that we did the wound care over the course of the week. The nurse and I also consulted with her physician this week: was her ankle swelling a bit too much? What to do about the dry skin? Was the wound stable, or was there an infection?

I don't mind doing wound care. It feels, in fact, like a way I show my mother love. She cared for me as a baby in the most personal way possible. Now each week after I help her with her shower, I rub lotion on her skin and help her dress. And every week, I give her a foot rub before pulling out the latex gloves, the scissors, the cleansing spray, the emulsifying wrap, and the gauze and get to work. The foot massage is not only to increase the blood flow to her feet, but a way to give her my touch, to give her comfort, and to remind her, each and every week, that she is being cared for by those who love her.

Image description: Background: various medical implements used in wound care. Left: a pair of hands wearing latex gloves hold a two-foot length of medical gauze. Behind the medical gauze: a pair of feet of an elderly woman, crossed casually at the ankles. Bottom: the hand of an elderly woman holds a caregiver's hand.

Wound Care



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