Help Heal Dan
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As a result of a bout of severe fever which landed me in the hospital, I discovered I had developed a severe infection in my right foot near my little toe. The infection moved up into my toe and damaged the tissue so severely that the toe had to be amputated. Prior to the operation, I was given dire predictions that I was likely to lose my entire foot. Following the operation, I have undergone extensive rehabilitation therapy to promote healing and proper tissue growth in the damaged area. I wasn't prepared in any way for such an extreme medical emergency. The expenses, the doctor's bills, the hospital and lab testing bills, and the bills for the follow-up treatment are far beyond my ability to pay. Any help you can give me (even if it's just a prayer) will be greatly appreciated.
The Complete Story...
THE BEGINNING...
The end of Feb. I came down with what I thought was a bad case of the flu. The first week of March, I was running a high fever and feeling terrible (I think I contributed significantly to global warming). I didn't have any respiratory or stomach problems. The 6th of March, I hadn't gotten any better, so I went to my doctor. He took one look at me, and at my right foot and told me to go immediately to the ER in the nearby hospital. I had a small wound on the outside edge of my foot that had gotten infected, and the infection had gotten into my blood. It was a lot more serious than I realized. If I had waited a few more days, I could have died, and just barely avoided dialysis. Once in the hospital, they pumped IV antibiotics in around the clock. Unfortunately, the infection moved up into my little toe and damaged it so severely that the tissue died. I was in the hospital for 5 days (I think... I was running a fever most of the time and it made me [more] stupid). An MRI showed that the infection had not moved into the other bones of the foot (lucked out!). When I went home, I was put on three oral antibiotics plus pain medication. The combination of all this resulted in some "interesting" digestive problems. I changed the dressing on the foot every couple of days, and started getting checked out at the Wound Treatment Center at the local hospital.
THE SURGERY...(and after)
After a few weeks, following tests to check the oxygen levels and blood circulation in my lower right leg, I had surgery to amputate the toe (the tests were to make sure there wasn't a hidden problem that needed to be addressed first). I was in for four days this time. They pumped more antibiotics in, around the clock via IV. The next to last day, the IV started leaking out around the vein it was in so they had to pull it out. It left me with a swollen arm and some big purple bruises. The last couple of days in the hospital, I has a wound vac attached to the amputation site. This put a mild vacuum on the wound which drew the two halves together and encouraged blood flow to the area. Unfortunately, because I was leaving town for a week, I could not stay on the wound vac after I left.
When I left the hospital, I stayed with my brother in Dallas for about a week. This really helped because I couldn't drive, or even walk very well. I went to a doctor there for wound care. It was one of the most negative experiences I have had in this ordeal. He took one look at my foot, without really knowing much about my case history, and declared that I would be losing the entire foot, piece-by-piece if not all at once. That did not make me happy at all. I think I can see why he might have poor outcomes with his patients.
BACK HOME...
I returned home, still on crutches. I had to get back because I had a follow-up with the surgeon, and to start treatment at the Wound Care Center. The doctors didn't want me to drive at all, but OKed me to drive to and from treatment. The Wound Care facility has what they call a Diabetic Limb Salvage Program, where they address the issues fairly agressively. I was getting the dressing changed three times a week, and seeing the doctor on one of those visits.
TREATMENT BEGINS...
I finally got approved for financial assistance, and was able to begin daily Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments. The "chambers" are large diameter clear plastic tubes with a fixed metal cap one one end and a thick metal door on the other. There are rails inside the chamber, and a (very hard, uncomfortable) matress sits on a trolly which rides these rails in and out of the chamber. A movable base with a hydraulic lift holds the trolly when it's out of the chamber. The lift allows the trolly to be lowered so one can lay down on it, then be lifted up to the proper height to be slid into the chamber. The chamber is pressurized with pure oxugen at one atmosphere (about 15 psi) above normal. Treatments last for about two hours. There's a TV mounted above the chamber, with a speaker inside. No street clothes can be worn inside the chamber (we are provided with scrubs to change into), to eliminate the danger of a spark from static electricity, and a wrist band grounds the patient's body to the frame. No "outside" objects are allowed inside the chamber during treatment, except a squeeze bottle of water (again, static concerns). If the chamber wasn't transparent, I don't think I could go through with it. I don't think I'm especially claustrophobic, but getting shut into a solid tube like this would not be fun (I had a lot of trouble during an MRI about 10 years ago, not just because it was a sealed, dark tube, but because it was also too small, and being squeezed in from the sides made it really hard to stay composed). The TV helps pass the time, but I found that if you can take a nap, the time passes without you knowing it. When watching TV, you're stuck watching every, single commercial that's on that channel. There's no remote control, or any way to mute or change channels, from within the chamber.
Being pressurized/depressurized took some getting used to. Because you start out at "normal" pressure, the pressure in your ears is the same as your surroundings. As the pressure inside the chamber is slowly increased, the pressure inside your ears needs to be adjusted to match this change. The bottle of water helps with this. Small sips of water help open up the tubes going from the throat into the inner ears. I also started using anti-allergy nasal spray regularly, and take a decongestant and antihistamine before I leave the house for treatments. Pinching the nose closed and blowing (called the Valsalva manuver) is frequently needed. This is the same thing scuba divers do to equalize the pressure in their ears during a dive. The treatments are sometimes reffered to as "taking a dive" and the patients who undergo treatment reffered to as "divers". Depressurizing requires a similar equalization of pressure in the ears, but most of the time a deep yawn or a sip of water does the trick. My ears frequently pop from the released pressure for several minutes after I get out of the chamber.
MY NEW "BEST FRIEND"...
Another therapy I received was a woundvac applied to the surgery site. This is a portable vacuum pump that applies a controlled amount of mild suction to a wound area. The amputation site was never sutured (sewn) closed. This allowed drainage of the wound, and allowed new tissue to grow back in from the inside out. If it had been sewn closed, there was a possibility that a void or open space could have developed inside the wound cavity. The woundvac also encourages circulation and the growth of new tissue. The pump itsself is about the size of a large cigar box (about 4" x 6" x 10") and weighs about 10 pounds. Mine has a black nylon case with a short carrying strap and a loop that can go over the shoulder. The wound site is prepared with a layer of protective tape applied around the wound area. A piece of open cell foam is put over the wound, and more tape is applied to cover and seal the foam. A thin plastic disk about 3" in diameter is placed over a hole made in the foam and stuck down (it has a sticky underside). This disk has a flexible plastic hose attached in its center, that attaches usin a quick-disconnect fitting to a similar hose that comes out of the woundvac pump. The two hoses give me about 8 feet of movement around the pump. The pump has to be in place and running 24/7. That means you're never more than 8 feet from the purring, chuckling pump, around the clock. You have to take the pump everywhere with you. Every. Where. You. Go.
FREE AT LAST!
Having the pump removed gave me a great sense of freedom and relief. The wound had healed enough to have it removed. As of right now (mid-June), I'm just going to see the doctor once a week for check-ups and to have the wound debridded (dead tissue scraped off). I won't know for a few days whether the woundvac pump stays off...
The Complete Story...
THE BEGINNING...
The end of Feb. I came down with what I thought was a bad case of the flu. The first week of March, I was running a high fever and feeling terrible (I think I contributed significantly to global warming). I didn't have any respiratory or stomach problems. The 6th of March, I hadn't gotten any better, so I went to my doctor. He took one look at me, and at my right foot and told me to go immediately to the ER in the nearby hospital. I had a small wound on the outside edge of my foot that had gotten infected, and the infection had gotten into my blood. It was a lot more serious than I realized. If I had waited a few more days, I could have died, and just barely avoided dialysis. Once in the hospital, they pumped IV antibiotics in around the clock. Unfortunately, the infection moved up into my little toe and damaged it so severely that the tissue died. I was in the hospital for 5 days (I think... I was running a fever most of the time and it made me [more] stupid). An MRI showed that the infection had not moved into the other bones of the foot (lucked out!). When I went home, I was put on three oral antibiotics plus pain medication. The combination of all this resulted in some "interesting" digestive problems. I changed the dressing on the foot every couple of days, and started getting checked out at the Wound Treatment Center at the local hospital.
THE SURGERY...(and after)
After a few weeks, following tests to check the oxygen levels and blood circulation in my lower right leg, I had surgery to amputate the toe (the tests were to make sure there wasn't a hidden problem that needed to be addressed first). I was in for four days this time. They pumped more antibiotics in, around the clock via IV. The next to last day, the IV started leaking out around the vein it was in so they had to pull it out. It left me with a swollen arm and some big purple bruises. The last couple of days in the hospital, I has a wound vac attached to the amputation site. This put a mild vacuum on the wound which drew the two halves together and encouraged blood flow to the area. Unfortunately, because I was leaving town for a week, I could not stay on the wound vac after I left.
When I left the hospital, I stayed with my brother in Dallas for about a week. This really helped because I couldn't drive, or even walk very well. I went to a doctor there for wound care. It was one of the most negative experiences I have had in this ordeal. He took one look at my foot, without really knowing much about my case history, and declared that I would be losing the entire foot, piece-by-piece if not all at once. That did not make me happy at all. I think I can see why he might have poor outcomes with his patients.
BACK HOME...
I returned home, still on crutches. I had to get back because I had a follow-up with the surgeon, and to start treatment at the Wound Care Center. The doctors didn't want me to drive at all, but OKed me to drive to and from treatment. The Wound Care facility has what they call a Diabetic Limb Salvage Program, where they address the issues fairly agressively. I was getting the dressing changed three times a week, and seeing the doctor on one of those visits.
TREATMENT BEGINS...
I finally got approved for financial assistance, and was able to begin daily Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments. The "chambers" are large diameter clear plastic tubes with a fixed metal cap one one end and a thick metal door on the other. There are rails inside the chamber, and a (very hard, uncomfortable) matress sits on a trolly which rides these rails in and out of the chamber. A movable base with a hydraulic lift holds the trolly when it's out of the chamber. The lift allows the trolly to be lowered so one can lay down on it, then be lifted up to the proper height to be slid into the chamber. The chamber is pressurized with pure oxugen at one atmosphere (about 15 psi) above normal. Treatments last for about two hours. There's a TV mounted above the chamber, with a speaker inside. No street clothes can be worn inside the chamber (we are provided with scrubs to change into), to eliminate the danger of a spark from static electricity, and a wrist band grounds the patient's body to the frame. No "outside" objects are allowed inside the chamber during treatment, except a squeeze bottle of water (again, static concerns). If the chamber wasn't transparent, I don't think I could go through with it. I don't think I'm especially claustrophobic, but getting shut into a solid tube like this would not be fun (I had a lot of trouble during an MRI about 10 years ago, not just because it was a sealed, dark tube, but because it was also too small, and being squeezed in from the sides made it really hard to stay composed). The TV helps pass the time, but I found that if you can take a nap, the time passes without you knowing it. When watching TV, you're stuck watching every, single commercial that's on that channel. There's no remote control, or any way to mute or change channels, from within the chamber.
Being pressurized/depressurized took some getting used to. Because you start out at "normal" pressure, the pressure in your ears is the same as your surroundings. As the pressure inside the chamber is slowly increased, the pressure inside your ears needs to be adjusted to match this change. The bottle of water helps with this. Small sips of water help open up the tubes going from the throat into the inner ears. I also started using anti-allergy nasal spray regularly, and take a decongestant and antihistamine before I leave the house for treatments. Pinching the nose closed and blowing (called the Valsalva manuver) is frequently needed. This is the same thing scuba divers do to equalize the pressure in their ears during a dive. The treatments are sometimes reffered to as "taking a dive" and the patients who undergo treatment reffered to as "divers". Depressurizing requires a similar equalization of pressure in the ears, but most of the time a deep yawn or a sip of water does the trick. My ears frequently pop from the released pressure for several minutes after I get out of the chamber.
MY NEW "BEST FRIEND"...
Another therapy I received was a woundvac applied to the surgery site. This is a portable vacuum pump that applies a controlled amount of mild suction to a wound area. The amputation site was never sutured (sewn) closed. This allowed drainage of the wound, and allowed new tissue to grow back in from the inside out. If it had been sewn closed, there was a possibility that a void or open space could have developed inside the wound cavity. The woundvac also encourages circulation and the growth of new tissue. The pump itsself is about the size of a large cigar box (about 4" x 6" x 10") and weighs about 10 pounds. Mine has a black nylon case with a short carrying strap and a loop that can go over the shoulder. The wound site is prepared with a layer of protective tape applied around the wound area. A piece of open cell foam is put over the wound, and more tape is applied to cover and seal the foam. A thin plastic disk about 3" in diameter is placed over a hole made in the foam and stuck down (it has a sticky underside). This disk has a flexible plastic hose attached in its center, that attaches usin a quick-disconnect fitting to a similar hose that comes out of the woundvac pump. The two hoses give me about 8 feet of movement around the pump. The pump has to be in place and running 24/7. That means you're never more than 8 feet from the purring, chuckling pump, around the clock. You have to take the pump everywhere with you. Every. Where. You. Go.
FREE AT LAST!
Having the pump removed gave me a great sense of freedom and relief. The wound had healed enough to have it removed. As of right now (mid-June), I'm just going to see the doctor once a week for check-ups and to have the wound debridded (dead tissue scraped off). I won't know for a few days whether the woundvac pump stays off...
Organizer
Dan Major
Organizer
Norman, OK
