Christine, I happened to go to the VA clinic recently for something unrelated and the Doc inquired about the wound. He would have jumped directly to the IV antibiotics. If it's still suppurating in two weeks when I go back in, I'll ask for a swab.

Mine is more like a .22 or pencil eraser size.

My crude understanding about non-healing wounds is that they occur where blood supply is limited, which is likely why they also infect. This is an area that's been nuked and now crisscrossed with surgical scars. I would even question whether surgery would work if some blood vessels weren't added.