Izzy's Leg: Update 18

Not bad news, but no real good news either. Izzy's leg is still not quite healed. And then there will be some scar tissue to deal with after the wound has completely epithelialized. 

When I get discouraged, I go back and look at the earlier pictures. They are quite shocking. So even though the wound seems to be the exact same size, pictures prove that it is healing. This last little inch is just taking forever.

The problem is that the very center has closed over twice, but then it swells and breaks back open once the bandage has been removed. For the past three months, I've bandaged for a day or two and then left the bandage off. Each time I do that, the leg goes through a period of swelling which cracks the skin. I go back to bandaging which helps the wound get a bit smaller, but the second the bandage comes off, the swelling returns and so does the cracked skin.

Throughout this cycle, the wound has gotten quite small, so I am now at a point where I have quit bandaging. I pick off the scab and scrape away any thing that doesn't look like healthy skin, and then I give it a coat of Alumaspray. I leave that in place for a day or two and then wash and scrub and pick off more unhealthy tissue. 

It has been a painstakingly slow process, but the wound is ever so slowly closing up.

Late May (after the first blow up from April)

Late June (right before another blow up)

Late July (no bandaging)

What is encouraging about the latest photo is how thoroughly healed the top few inches have become. That skin is now black, and the scar is clearly fading. The bottom of the wound is also looking darker and more tightly sealed. 

I think I am on the right track. Bandaging does allow the skin to close up faster, but the skin doesn't get strong enough to resist the pressure created when the leg swells once the bandage comes back off. It seems to do more damage bandaging than to just allow the skin to knit more slowly while I pick away at the unhealthy tissue.

If you had told me in January that this might take a year to heal, I am not sure that I could have dealt with the enormity of that proposition. We are now nearing seven months of doctoring. It's amazing what we are willing to do for our horses.

Ever onward!