CLHCO Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 This is for my mom. About 9 months ago she has surgery for a bone spur or something like it on her heel. Since that time the wound has constantly reopened and hasn't healed up. She has had her skin stretched (painfully), had it glued, sewn up, done again, infected, healed, reinfected, etc. It's a never ending battle. She's seen wound specialists and 9 months later she still has an area of the wound that will not heal over. They won't give her a skin graph because they only do that for wounds when you have diabetes (insurance issues:confused:). I have no clue what's with that, but they've basically ruled it out. Is there anything that may help the body heal something of this nature? She'd be more than happy to just have a good old pile of scar tissue at this point, but it's still a gaping hole at times. Any ideas of where to research next? I'm feeling so bad for her. That's a long time to deal with a wound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Any ideas of where to research next? I'm feeling so bad for her. That's a long time to deal with a wound. I would research hyperbaric oxygen therapy for wound healing and see if any of the hospitals/med centers in her area have this available. I'm so sorry she's going through this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 I would research hyperbaric oxygen therapy for wound healing and see if any of the hospitals/med centers in her area have this available. I'm so sorry she's going through this! I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that. She's spent way longer in one of those than they could have imagined she'd need. It helped a lot, it just didn't go far enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that. She's spent way longer in one of those than they could have imagined she'd need. It helped a lot, it just didn't go far enough. I guess it would be wrong to wonder if there's some way she could "cheat" on a blood sugar test so she could qualify for the skin graft? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Any cardiac issues? Varicose veins on the same vein path? Is she taking any steroids? Does she eat well, increased caloric intake has helped with topical Vitamin A. Has it been thoroughly cleaned to new tissue and if so, did they check the cell biology? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 Any cardiac issues? Varicose veins on the same vein path? Is she taking any steroids? Does she eat well, increased caloric intake has helped with topical Vitamin A. Has it been thoroughly cleaned to new tissue and if so, did they check the cell biology? I don't think she's taking any steriods of any type. She eats plenty but does NOT eat well. She may improve an aspect of her diet though if I could suggest some good for her foods she should incorporate, but just saying "eat better" to her will get me nowhere, I fear. She used to tell me I should give my kids Fruit Loops for a snack because they had vitamins in them. :001_huh: I'm sure it's been cleaned but I have no idea if anything has been done on cell biology. She's at the mercy of medicare so they don't bother with much medicare deems to costly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 I guess it would be wrong to wonder if there's some way she could "cheat" on a blood sugar test so she could qualify for the skin graft? ;) Kind of makes me wonder if she's even been tested, to be honest. She doesn't eat particularly healthy and has been somewhat overweight for a long time. Would that be a symptom at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I would suggest her taking a multivitamin or ensure (dietary supplement drink) daily , use topical Vitamin A on the wound. If it is leaking or red, she should ask for a debridement and have a biopsy sent to the lab to see if there is an underlying infection, although uncomfortable it could help get to the bottom of it. Seeing she is not diabetic it seems like it could be a Venous Stasis Ulcer. Lastly, if her Dr. does not want to do another debridement, she could contact the wound center at her local hospital, many hospitals welcome(I know this sounds strange) wounds that will not heal and will offer treatment as part of a clinical study at no cost to the patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pongo Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 A fasting blood sugar should be done, you don't necessarily have to be labeled diabetic to have underlying glucose issues. Many people self medicate by the food choices without being officially diagnosed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie in OR Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Have you asked about a wound vac? This is supposed to encourage and speed up healing. I am currently hooked up to one 24/7 after a failed breast reconstruction. It works like this: a sponge substance is put in the open wound, covered with clear plastic, then a small vacuum is attached to it so that the wound is constantly under pressure. This encourages oxygen and fluids to the area to speed up healing from the inside out. My wound was pretty huge, but it is healing fast according to the nurse. Takes 1-3 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Have you asked about a wound vac? This is supposed to encourage and speed up healing. I am currently hooked up to one 24/7 after a failed breast reconstruction. It works like this: a sponge substance is put in the open wound, covered with clear plastic, then a small vacuum is attached to it so that the wound is constantly under pressure. This encourages oxygen and fluids to the area to speed up healing from the inside out. My wound was pretty huge, but it is healing fast according to the nurse. Takes 1-3 months. She was put on one to try that at the beginning but I think it wasn't working, possibly because of the location on the ankle, or the direction of the skin? I don't want to sound like I'm shooting down ideas. They've just tried so much of the logical routs already we're starting to look for the weird ideas. :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 I would suggest her taking a multivitamin or ensure (dietary supplement drink) daily , use topical Vitamin A on the wound. If it is leaking or red, she should ask for a debridement and have a biopsy sent to the lab to see if there is an underlying infection, although uncomfortable it could help get to the bottom of it. Seeing she is not diabetic it seems like it could be a Venous Stasis Ulcer. Lastly, if her Dr. does not want to do another debridement, she could contact the wound center at her local hospital, many hospitals welcome(I know this sounds strange) wounds that will not heal and will offer treatment as part of a clinical study at no cost to the patient. Wow. Ok, I didn't follow most of that so I will just email it along to her and she can check in with her doctor on all this. Thanks for the ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcconnellboys Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 (edited) Is she diabetic or a smoker? Even if she is, you might look into a new medical grade of honey that's having good results with healing wounds that won't otherwise heal. It's called Manuka Honey. I can't recall what name it's being marketed under but a google search should turn it up. This is applied to the wound, not taken internally.... Edited March 19, 2009 by mcconnellboys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 I'm sure she has already seen a dermatologist to see if they can help, but if not that might be an option. This is going to sound very strange, but my son had an open wound on his foot that was about a 1/4 inch wide and 2 inches long, and the derm. told us to use a thick lotion and cover it with duct tape. I know that sounds crazy, but it worked like a charm in a few weeks and that was 3 years ago with no recurrence. He had this wound for 6 months before we used this treatment. We did that each night and left him open to the air during the day. The hardest thing was getting the sticky off of his foot from the tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLHCO Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 I'll do a search on that honey to see what I can find out. She isn't a smoker but it may be time to have a complete test for diabetes. Thanks Regena. Wendy, she is seeing a wound specialist, if memory serves, not a dermatologist, but one would hope they have similar specialties in this area. After the taping, gluing, and other experiments, I think duct tape would probably make the doctor frown a bit, but I can certainly see how that would work on a little kid. They tend to patch up pretty easy, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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