Celebrity News – Zsa Zsa Gabor Battles to Save Leg

While you may have never seen a film or production she has acted in, chances are you recognize the name Zsa Zsa Gabor.  The Budapest born actress has made many headlines over the years with her extravagant lifestyle and happenings. News broke earlier this week that she was going to have a life saving limb amputation.  More recent articles note that doctors are trying strong antibiotic therapy first.  Her publicist reported that an unhealing, long-standing wound became quite larger over the holidays before she was admitted to the hospital.  Doctors worry that this infected wound could be life threatening.  While we wish her the best as she attempts to heal, these headlines give us here at AFAS an opportunity to discuss wound care, infection and amputation.

Amputation is the absolute last resort.  It is only when an infection has spread throughout a limb and becomes life threatening that doctors will utilize amputation to save your life.  There is well documented evidence that amputation of a limb decreases your lifespan.  This fact has decreased the number of amputations preformed in recent years and put more emphasis on treating the causes that lead to it.

When dealing with wounds, it is imperative that you follow your doctor’s instructions.  Hygiene, proper bandaging and bandage changing go a long way in keeping infection at bay.  In Zsa Zsa’s case, being restricted to a wheel chair and history of blood clots likely inhibited wound healing.  Proper blood flow is absolutely necessary to properly heal a wound.  As part of wound healing, Dr. Thomajan will assess your blood pressures in your legs and refer you to a vascular specialist if needed.  Good blood flow allows your body to deliver healing nutrients and immune system cells to fight off infection.  You may be prescribed antibiotics if an infection is identified.  It is important to take all of your prescription.  By closely following instructions to keep weight off the wound and proper wound hygiene, you can heal longstanding wounds and avoid amputation.  Make a visit to AFAS today if you have a wound that has been present for more than 2 weeks without any changes.

Until next time, keep those feet happy and healthy Austin!

Texas Rangers – A model for wound care

The Texas Rangers face the San Francisco Giants in Game 5 of the World Series tonight.  Trailing the series 3 games to 1, a win at Rangers Park is the only thing to keep hope alive.  This team has won some tough games throughout the season to arrive at this point.  They have had a rough time with the Giants for several of the first 4 games, but they’re not about to let that history play on their future.  Every member of that team is going out to win tonight and bring that trophy back to Texas. Doing so will make them only the 6^th team in history to make such a comeback.

We want to use all that excitement and determination to explore a facet of foot health.  Wound care, especially combined with diabetes, can be a difficult challenge.  For our younger audience, wound care more than likely consists of a bandage and maybe a little Neosporin.  This paradigm becomes a little more complicated when age and disease, like diabetes, are added in.   Wounds that occur in the diabetic foot can require a large dose of determination to go along with the proper care.  While there are many different doctors who will help to get you well, the care of a podiatrist is of utmost importance when dealing with problems in the feet.  Some of the components that go into healing foot ulcers may be overlooked by other physicians.  One such component may be what is causing the wound. Typically, footwear and foot structure can cause unfavorable pressure points which eventually lead to ulceration.  A podiatric physician will off-load these pressure points with a special boot or shoe. Doing so, allows the wound to heal by eliminating further insult.  Along with this assessment, a podiatrist may take a swab of the wound to assess for possible infection.  Flushing, debridement, gels, grafts, or other modalities may all be used individually or together to promote healing.  What methods are utilized is all dependent on the type of wound you have.  As the patient, you need the determination to follow your doctor’s instructions for the weeks or months it may take to get you better.  Just a reminder, but anyone living with diabetes should examine their feet every night and seek treatment at the first sign of a problem.  If you have diabetes and a foot wound that won’t heal, make an appointment at AFAS today!

Until next time, keep those feet happy and healthy, Austin! Go Rangers!