13 replies to this topic

[noles1984]

I'm trying out the Wound Vac system on my glutius maximus to heal faster. It seems to help create new tissue fast by removing serous and sanguineous fluid. My only problem is that it takes an hour to change the dressing every other day. Also, Medicare will pay for it with your 20% included. The nursing agency let me believe it was covered fully like their supplies are.

Anyone else used this system?

[edlee]

Noles,,,, yes, I have used one,,, in the same place as you,,,It was, for me, a godsend,,,, mine kept getting worse,, with nurses coming to change dressings every other day,, till I finially got fed up with them and kicked the lot out.

I got the name of a wound care specialist,, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't put on the WVac from the start.

Long story, short,,, it is why I healed without surgery.

Be sure to see a dr every month or so,,, to see if you need debreedment(sp??) It helps the healing and keeps the scarring smaller.

My secondary insurance picked up the deductable for me, so I paid nothing,,,, good thing, too, I heard it was a bit pricey.

ed

[noles1984]

Noles,,,, yes, I have used one,,, in the same place as you,,,It was, for me, a godsend,,,, mine kept getting worse,, with nurses coming to change dressings every other day,, till I finially got fed up with them and kicked the lot out. I got the name of a wound care specialist,, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't put on the WVac from the start.[/color]
That's what I heard too. Maybe it's the economics of it.

Long story, short,,, it is why I healed without surgery.
One Dr. said he couldn't help me... that I needed to go to a wound facility like a burn unit. Like hell. I said I heal it myself with my brain and what knowledge a nurse gave me. That worked along with keeping my protein at 110-120 grams a days. I've used SilverCel which gets it done. Not fast, but heals it.

Be sure to see a dr every month or so,,, to see if you need debreedment(sp??) It helps the healing and keeps the scarring smaller.
Can't do that. Too costly and I'm bed bound. I have nursing 3 times a week, though.

My secondary insurance picked up the deductable for me, so I paid nothing,,,, good thing, too, I heard it was a bit pricey.
I may get by as a medical financial hardship. The nurse assumed I had secondary insurance, she didn't ask. I thought it was paid for 100% since a hospital I was just in (July) was paid for entirely by Medicare.

[irish]

 noles1984, on Feb 14 2009, 02:55 PM, said:

Noles,,,, yes, I have used one,,, in the same place as you,,,It was, for me, a godsend,,,, mine kept getting worse,, with nurses coming to change dressings every other day,, till I finially got fed up with them and kicked the lot out. I got the name of a wound care specialist,, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't put on the WVac from the start.[/color]
That's what I heard too. Maybe it's the economics of it.

Long story, short,,, it is why I healed without surgery.
One Dr. said he couldn't help me... that I needed to go to a wound facility like a burn unit. Like hell. I said I heal it myself with my brain and what knowledge a nurse gave me. That worked along with keeping my protein at 110-120 grams a days. I've used SilverCel which gets it done. Not fast, but heals it.

Be sure to see a dr every month or so,,, to see if you need debreedment(sp??) It helps the healing and keeps the scarring smaller.
Can't do that. Too costly and I'm bed bound. I have nursing 3 times a week, though.

My secondary insurance picked up the deductable for me, so I paid nothing,,,, good thing, too, I heard it was a bit pricey.
I may get by as a medical financial hardship. The nurse assumed I had secondary insurance, she didn't ask. I thought it was paid for 100% since a hospital I was just in (July) was paid for entirely by Medicare.

the wound vac is as good as the nurse that applies it. if it makes noise, they screwed up. if it does not work quietly, raise hell until they fix it
i wasted a good week out of six with a nurse who said she knew everything but didn't. finally got the rep for the company to give an in service and guess who didn't show. she also didn't apply the bandage after that

[noles1984]

the wound vac is as good as the nurse that applies it. if it makes noise, they screwed up. if it does not work quietly, raise hell until they fix it
i wasted a good week out of six with a nurse who said she knew everything but didn't. finally got the rep for the company to give an in service and guess who didn't show. she also didn't apply the bandage after that.
Yeah, the rep has been out twice here. The nurse I have said she had done several but when she started working with me, it's like she wandered in on something new. Couldn't get it right on her own.

[HandicapHero]

The Wound Vac.. Oh memories.. I battled with pressure sores for 4 years.. I've only been injured for almost 5! Now lets see.. At my worst I had 5 pressure sores at once.. I have had that damned wound vac on every part of my butt and both of my heels.. Four hospital stays later I'm free. Up until about 6 months ago, I was using an air mattress that did not give enough pressure relief and I ended up riddled with holes..

I hate that noise it makes when its not sealed properly.. I get chills just thinking about it..

Anyway, noles, you should check to see if there are community based services in your area. They will pay to have nurses come and change/apply your wound vac dressings for you. Here the organization is called VFI.. Voices For Independence. That is not the only one either.. I have a list of about 30 in my area and I live in a small city in PA. These community based organizations operate outside of your insurance and are free of charge. Depending on your injury and amount of function, you get a certain amount of hours of care each week.

If you already know all this, I'm sorry, but if not, I hope it helps.

[Wheelz 16]

 noles1984, on Feb 14 2009, 06:33 PM, said:

I'm trying out the Wound Vac system on my glutius maximus to heal faster. It seems to help create new tissue fast by removing serous and sanguineous fluid. My only problem is that it takes an hour to change the dressing every other day. Also, Medicare will pay for it with your 20% included. The nursing agency let me believe it was covered fully like their supplies are.

Anyone else used this system?

I'm currently using it. I have been told that if there is a rattle,your vac is not completely sealed. Was on vac 2 yrs ago and it did shrink wound but never healed it.It rattled the whole time I was on it 2 yrs ago which leads me to believe I was not getting full suction. I'm hoping for better results this time but not overly optimistic.I have to pay after insurance pays which will be expensive. It took over an hr for my nurse to get a complete seal today.

[noles1984]

 Wheelz 16, on Apr 27 2009, 01:38 AM, said:

I'm currently using it. I have been told that if there is a rattle,your vac is not completely sealed. Was on vac 2 yrs ago and it did shrink wound but never healed it.It rattled the whole time I was on it 2 yrs ago which leads me to believe I was not getting full suction. I'm hoping for better results this time but not overly optimistic.I have to pay after insurance pays which will be expensive. It took over an hr for my nurse to get a complete seal today.

Results were good however the nurse didn't seem to know that a shallow wound will not accept the vac and the alarm will go off. I was strapped for cash and got a waiver to keep from paying.

[Illinois Boy]

Used these babies since they came out and were the size of sewing machines........

Sometimes they work great, last time it made my wound worse....
One company's got the market cornered on these, KCI.... They charge outrageous fees.....
My wife did a better job of putting it on than the nurses, there's some tricks to sealing them.......

Jim

[Wheelz 16]

 edlee, on Feb 14 2009, 07:30 PM, said:

Noles,,,, yes, I have used one,,, in the same place as you,,,It was, for me, a godsend,,,, mine kept getting worse,, with nurses coming to change dressings every other day,, till I finially got fed up with them and kicked the lot out.

I got the name of a wound care specialist,, and he couldn't understand why I wasn't put on the WVac from the start.

Long story, short,,, it is why I healed without surgery.

Be sure to see a dr every month or so,,, to see if you need debreedment(sp??) It helps the healing and keeps the scarring smaller.

My secondary insurance picked up the deductable for me, so I paid nothing,,,, good thing, too, I heard it was a bit pricey.

ed

How long did it take your wound to heal?

[wakulla]

[size="5"][/size][quote name='noles1984' timestamp='1234636388' post='96236']
I'm trying out the Wound Vac system on my glutius maximus to heal faster. It seems to help create new tissue fast by removing serous and sanguineous fluid. My only problem is that it takes an hour to change the dressing every other day. Also, Medicare will pay for it with your 20% included. The nursing agency let me believe it was covered fully like their supplies are.

Anyone else used this system?

Where did you get your Wound vac from? I'm currentyl in Ut Medical Center in Knoxville, TN and will be returning home to Tallahassee this weekend or first of next week with a Wound Vac. I donot know where to go when I get home to have the bandages / foam changed, the debreiment done and etc. They are sending me home with the Wound Vac and just telling me I will need to see a Doctor when I get home. I had never heard of one of these until here, they use them on just about every one who has a bad sore or area.

Edited by wakulla, 15 October 2010 - 08:23 PM.

[noles1984]

 wakulla, on 15 October 2010 - 08:22 PM, said:

Where did you get your Wound vac from? I'm currentyl in Ut Medical Center in Knoxville, TN and will be returning home to Tallahassee this weekend or first of next week with a Wound Vac. I donot know where to go when I get home to have the bandages / foam changed, the debreiment done and etc. They are sending me home with the Wound Vac and just telling me I will need to see a Doctor when I get home. I had never heard of one of these until here, they use them on just about every one who has a bad sore or area.

The company that makes the Wound Vac has reps working with the hospitals and home nursing agencies here.

[McRobb]

Have wound vac on now and have had since mid-March. Pressure sore on left ischeal area - stage 4. Was in hospital Jan - mid-March. Had debridement surgeries and then flap surgery, which broke open 10 days post- surgery. Doctor prescribed wound vac but was not kept on as the nurses had not been trained how to repair it. Consequencently, no progress while in hospital for six weeks with vac on;off;on and sent home with home care.

Am using private home care company who is outstanding. They settle for what Medicare and my insurance pay so nothing out of hand for me. If this thing comes off, someone is here within an hour or a few minutes to put it back on and this is very rural Iowa! They have been wonderful and my regular nurse can put this on in under 10 minutes anymore.

Doctor who was head of Burn Unit in Iowa City Hospitals told us to get wound vac on and keep it on 24/7 = only way to heal it and he was right. As soon as we started to keep the wound vac on, we started to see signs of healing. KCI is very expensive and I have only had one visit in all this time from their rep. When she was here, we learned some things that neither nurse nor I knew - some of it might have helped this heal faster!Seems like for that price, they ought to be here checking things a lot more often.

My home town docter comes to my house to see me as I cannot come to office. We make appointment at end of his day and he comes right out here when finished at clinic/hospital. My nurse is here when he comes and once he has checked and given orders, vac goes right back on. Doctor will come this week on Tuesday and I hope he orders the vac removed. We are down to about 1/2" deep now and less than an inch across and in length. Will see what happens.

There should be someone in the hospital who helps set all this up. Social worker or another title and all should be in place when you get home. That is the way mine has worked on several occasions and as I am on Medicare, it should be the same (pretty much, any way) across the country. Hope it can be set up for you.

Good luck with the wound - I have had a long haul but think part of this could have been eliminated with proper hospital care. In bed entirely for nine months and up only about an hour now. Hope to be increasing that in the near future!

[retired]

My husband is currently using the wound vac, after several weeks of trial and error , we finally have it down and sealed pretty good. It is on a really difficult localtion and tricky to get sealed. We have found that an econ seal around the opening and then the various drape matterial works best. It has inproved greatly in the last couple of weeks, still stage 4 , but the sides are closing in and looking good. The machine does make noise, even when it is working. When it isn't working, it is really loud and a constant gurgling. If you check the site, there should be no drainage and the vac concaved into the site. At least that is what we think, and hope is right.