Reversing Gangrene

[kokhongw]

My dad has just gone for his 2nd amputation. This time it is for his 2nd and 3rd toes on his left foot. He is almost 80 and he is getting very frail. Pretty much bed ridden for the past year and lost much of his muscle mass.

Anyone had any success with reversing gangrene?

 

[Brunneria]

I am very sorry to hear about your dad.

By the time it reaches gangrene, the tissue is dead and needs to be cut away completely. There is no way to reverse it, and without amputation, the infection and dead tissue will spread, causing further amputation and even death, if left untreated.

The key thing is to prevent the gangrene in the first place - and that is done by exactly the same methods that are used to check, monitor, control and prevent diabetic complications - diet, exercise, blood glucose control, medication, regular checks for neuropathy and circulation...

 

[kokhongw]

Thanks @Brunneria

It is difficult to deal with the watching this in slow motion inspite of the best medical care available to us.

Even more so after I have discovered how easily much of this could all have been avoided...

 

[AndBreathe]

Thanks @Brunneria

It is difficult to deal with the watching this in slow motion inspite of the best medical care available to us.

Even more so after I have discovered how easily much of this could all have been avoided...

Whilst I can't imagine what you must be going through, and how you feel about your own discoveries (in terms of prevention), all you can do for your Dad is deal with the here and now, and help him through the future.

For a time, it looked we would be facing the prospect of my Mother losing a leg (not diabetes related) as her circulation teetered on the edges of viable. I'm delighted to say on that account, she struck a line of excellent fortune, and we were all spared it. I know it was a terrifying prospect and I am eternally grateful we got the lucky break.

Not all situations are avoidable, and perhaps your Father would have had poor circulation, even without his diabetes. Just a few short years ago, things weren't so well understood, and folks of our parents era are far more likely to have treated their Doctors' words as unquestionable. Nor, of course, did they have the massive benefit of the internet to aid their research.

I really do hope your Dad copes well with it all and will recover to enjoy life again.