Can anyone share experiences with wound VAC use in weak 80+ patient on walker? Can this be managed at home and what are considerations?

I am a nurse. A wound vac is rather simple to manage. It helps healing of wounds from the bottom of the wound and wounds usually heal faster with this device. A wound care nurse will do the dressing changes - usually weekly. The wound will have sponges packed into the wound, a tube in the wound area to suck out extra fluids, and a pump/container that sucks and collects the fluids. The wound will be covered with an occlusive plastic dressing. You need good electrical supply since wound vacs do not run on batteries. The tube should be long enough to allow your mom to manage getting to and from the bathroom. If not, just unplug it from the wall, take it with mom to whatever room and plug it back in again. If the unit ceases to work, you call the wound care nurse.

CCWargel,

If your parents are homebound, they would qualify for wound care under Medicare and a nurse will come in to manage the Wound Vac and teach the family.

That said, my last job in my RN career was in Hospice and Home Care and I would not admit into our service any individual or couple who could not manage at home safely. This was always a tough call to make, but there comes a time when a SNF is the only and best option.

Time for a family meeting so that you can collectively prevent them being sent home and force the SW to find placement for them. This seems to be the best option for everyone, esp your dear parents,

It's unbearably difficult and heart breaking to see our beloved parents fail in their wishes to remain at home.

CCWargel: Your separate thread here on the forum of October 3, 2022 states that your MIL "is seriously ill." Perhaps that sheds a different light on this thread since she has a staph infection. She is NO LONGER a candidate for assisted living. She requires residence in a SNF. Yes, the husband can still opt for an AL as I recommended on October 11.

My husband had a stage IV wound on his sacrum for a year and a half. After about 8 or 9 months they put him on a wound vac and it helped tremendously. Wound started healing much quicker. A nurse came every other day to change & clean it but you need to also learn. At times I had to change it myself when the machine was not draining properly or his bandage got torn or soiled. My husband is a paraplegic so having the tubes & machine attached to him was not a problem. I do not know how it would be in a walker. If the machine is not carried with you the bandage and tubes would be pulled off. Long story short, I highly recommend the vac. Keep in mind that every time it is changed it is painful when they start the suction back up (only for a minute or so I was told, my husband has no feeling from chest down) Good Luck

My 88 year old mother with a significant wound on her rear had a wound vac for months. They sent a nurse to our house every other day to check on the wound, reapply bandages. After seeing it done a couple of times, I easily did it myself. My Mom's protocol required me to wash out the wound with saline solution, then apply a huge bandage over the wound with the supplies provided by Medicare and then attach the vac. I don't know how that would work on a leg, since my Mom is bedridden, but honestly it was helpful and not difficult. The weight of the wound vac is somewhat heavy so if it is on the leg I guess there must be some sort of waist belt to hold it up. The wound vac also requires canisters they are very easy to change out and they are also provided by Medicare.

Get your husband's mother evaluated by his doctor. She requires to be in a facility for skilled nursing care. Does she have diabetes? Because healing is slow with high blood glucose and dangerous. Your father needs to go to AL. What if there was a fire and both had to escape?

The wound vac isn't rocket science, but it is tricky. And mom won't be able to help with it, sounds like.

It would definitely be easier to have both parents in an NH of some kind. And BOTH of them should be wearing fall pendants 24/7.

If you decide to bring her home and cycle through family for care, I wish you the best of luck. I know how that worked out for my family. (Didn't). One or two of us were on call all the time and the other sibs were just not on board. What works on 'paper' won't necessarily work in real time.

You need to be trained on a wound vac so make sure this is done or your provided with an in home Nurse who will come and do it. I worked for Visiting Nurses and one of our clients doctors requested it. He had the Vac supplied and one of his staff showed our Nurse how to do it it. My daughter is in Wound care and she volunteered to show our Nurse how to use it. If you are uncomfortable in using this, then demand a Nurse. These places expect family to continue care and its not always possible.