Another small update at the end of day 17. All my steristrips except one have fallen off leaving my wounds exposed. They are closed up and look healthy I guess (for what I can see...lol...not an easy angle to see when you're not allowed to twist). I don't really like my clothes rubbing on them so I have my pants pulled down low and an oversized t shirt on. Glad the strips have come all the way off though...the slightly off and catching on everything was very uncomfortable and this is better.

So...my last steristrip fell off today and I don't like it at all. I feel like this incision isn't closed all the way yet and I don't see the Dr again until January 10th. I'm going to have my husband take a look when he gets home to see what he thinks but I really don't like the look of it, plus it's been hurting a lot today since the strip fell off...like it feels like it's pulling apart or something (that may be totally psychological...lol...but that's what it feels like to ne). Probably just paranoid...lol...but really don't want to move right now (but I'm alone with my 3 yr old so good luck with that).

Could you have your husband take a picture of it when he gets home? Then forward it to your St. Jude rep? I have found that the reps are very responsive and would likely know what it's supposed to look like.

That's a good idea. He said it looks good to him but darn it hurts. Doesn't help that I am so itchy I feel like I am losing my mind. Scratching hurts so bad but not scratching and I'm losing it. Grrrrr! Thanks for the suggestion though. I'll do that today.

Hydrocolloid bandages work well to help heal incisions. I like this brand: Amazon.com: Dynarex Dynaderm Hydrocolloid Dressing, Thin ,2 x 2 Inch/2 Count: Health & Personal Care

I also used Surfer's Salve and Anti Chafing Sports Salve to help with the healing process.

I will have to look into these. Thank you!

There is definitely something that hasn't healed over all the way...I think it's a very small area but when I took my ever so fun sponge bath yesterday a small bit of soapy water ran over the incision and man did it sting/burn! The pain right now that it feels like it's tugging and pulling apart where it's not healed all the way yet. I'm calling Tuesday morning and will send pictures. I'm a bit worried about infection just because it's so red around this incision (not the other one) and there are itchy red bumps around the area (but those could be a reaction to the tape I guess).

I will definitely look into those bandages and things LitLove and I have taken pictures of it to send to my st judes rep if needed.

Right now the only comfortable position is laying on my stomach. Had a small flare up in the pain in my leg after laying on the floor because of my back hurting ...but it maxed out at a 6/10 and is now back to its normal 2.

I am experiencing lots of itching too. A couple of things that I pulled from my brain’s cobwebs that have helped decrease the itching- drink lots of fluids. Being dehydrated increases the itching. Also, temperature affects itching. Being hot or even warm can increase itching. I just gave up my electric blanket and the itching has eased. Lastly, it seems that my whole body went into itching overdrive. I can’t bathe or scratch the areas on my back but I did sponge off the rest of my body and applied moisturizer. That seemed to quiet the itching down a lot- including my back and incisional areas.

Over this holiday weekend, my drg stimulator experience hit a wall. 2 of my 3 leads stopped working. I have those 2 leads up to the max and I am not getting any tingling that I am supposed to feel. I will be calling the rep in the morning. I don’t know if my leads have migrated or what... any one have experience with this?

That sounds kind of like what happened during my trial. It happened one day before I was to have it removes so they didn't do anything...but it just stopped working. In my case I just noticed the pain slowly increasing and beat guess is that while i was sleeping I stretched funny or something and pulled the wires just slightly and they disconnected. I hope that whatever it is that it's an easy fix/adjustment for you.

I am literally losing my mind at this point with the itching. It's definitely not too warm...its frigging cold in my house due to below zero temps and a 150 yr old house. Because of my itching though I've been not wearing any pants and pulling shirt up across my back because anything touching is causing me to lose it. I have red bumps all over the incision area plus on both legs and up to about middle of my back. I am hurting myself so bad with the scratching but I'm seriously losing it. Heading in to see my primary care for walk ins this morning. No lotions or moisturizers are helping. I had something similar years ago and it was caused by inflammation. With the incision i want to make sure it's not infection since that's where the bumps and itching started but I have a feeling that big it's just inflammation then there's not much they'll be able to do.