what can we do??

[inner space]

My brother has diabetes type II. Recently his toes turn black. The doctor said he need to remove the toes. What happen if he refuse to remove the toes and give up treatment

 

[lovinglife]

We can’t really say what will happen, but I don’t think the outcome would be good in any way It more than likely would get worse.

Is there a reason your brother doesn’t want to take the doctors advice and give up his treatment?

 

[searley]

My brother has diabetes type II. Recently his toes turn black. The doctor said he need to remove the toes. What happen if he refuse to remove the toes and give up treatment

In general if not removed it will continue to die, could well start with gangrene, which could spread, ultimately requiring removal of foot and or lower leg

Risks of sepsis

Ultimately risk of death

The choice is with your brother, and depending on his age and general outlook on life and wanting live life, but doing nothing could well determine the length of that outlook

I speak from experience here as my gran died from complications due to ignored foot issues

Lost here toes first, then foot, then lower leg, died in hospital from sepsis following the lower leg removal

 

[JoKalsbeek]

My brother has diabetes type II. Recently his toes turn black. The doctor said he need to remove the toes. What happen if he refuse to remove the toes and give up treatment

We can't give medical advice as such.... But, ah...

If the toes are black due to necrosis, they're dead. They're not going to turn a healthy pink ever again. There'd be no bloodflow to them anymore, and they will eventually start to decay. Which could then rather swiftly lead to sepsis/gangrene (blood poisoning), and death. If they're indeed gone, they're gone, and there's no saving them.

Personally, if my toes were that far beyond help, I'd have them removed with haste, because what's a few toes in the grand scheme of things...? My uncle lost both his legs, just above the knee. And he was still counting himself lucky, because he was alive to tell the tale. (Which he delighted in doing, as gruesomely as possible!).

It's your brother's choice, of course, but trust the docs on this one. If they say they need to go, they do, really, really, really, need to go. It's a life-and-death kind of thing, not a cosmetic matter.

Good luck, and all the best to your brother!
Jo

 

[Hopeful34]

Everyone is different in terms of age, general health etc, and the Consultant should have discussed the risks and how successful he/she anticipates the surgery to be.
My close relative was faced with the same issue, which developed over a period of time, and the prognosis of an operation wasn't good, so they decided not to have it. I fully supported them in this decision. The next 3 months were terrible, with unimaginable uncontrollable pain, which I wouldn't wish anyone else to go through. We'd been assured the pain would be controlled, but sadly it wasn't.