Then you saw it - now you don't

Finally: our first bandage-free day! At least for the serious bed-sore that's plagued us for about three months [link].

Healed!

Two milder sores need care but less intensive.

I was buoyed all along by the visiting nurse who assured us that, gross as it looked, the wound was actually healing nicely. I was left to reassure the skeptical school staff who questioned the length of the process and were skeptical about its efficacy.

So all of you grappling with bed sores: don't be disheartened. Ignore those alarming Google sites and images. You just need plenty of patience and plenty of these special, expensive bandages - which our visiting nurse lavished on us.

These are photos of the three layers of bandages, and how they were layered:

First the gray flannel

Then the pink foam

And finally the transparent, water-proof vinyl. 

Plus the gels

For the first month, the Octenilin went under the grey flannel. Second month:
the Flaminal. Third month: no medication

And now two blood-building drugs given to premature babies have been found to boost brain development and the IQ ["Two drugs may help improve IQ and brain development in preemies", via Washington Post]. Like the last encouraging drug I mentioned - the beta blocker, propanolol - they haven't been tested on children like ours. But who knows what future studies will yield?

Has anybody tried either of these? I intend to give propanolol a shot because results were virtually immediate. I just need an obliging doctor who'll write the script.

Tomorrow we are off to visit another neurologist; plodding onward in our quest for that elusive diagnosis. At the very least I hope to come home with that propanolol script.