Hospital Admission

[boxman55]

Hi all, by know you all must be sick of hearing about my medical problems, but here is an update anyway. My stay at St Luke's lasted 11 days. During that time I would receive Hyperbolic oxygen treatment everyday along with my dialysis on M-W-F.
The oxygen treatment was proven to be working at about 98% which is pretty good. We where shooting for not having to deprive the wound area where the two toes where removed, which would of opened it up all over again. So the good news is it is healing sufficiently and it did not have to be done. Which allowed
me to come home tonight. I will have to go as an out patient for the next two weeks to St Luke's to continue the oxygen treatment.
It is good to be home...Thank you all for you thoughts, prayers, cards, magazines, movies, food, phone calls and best wishes. And a very special thanks to Jeff for all the rides and help, Love you, man

Hi all IHD fellows, the above was an e-mail I sent out to family and friends it is good to be back home. now I have to catch up on things...Box

[paddbear0000]

I'm glad you're at home! enjoy your bed!   

[Sluff]

Hey Box just tried calling your cell until I seen you were on line.  Good to see you back.

[Ang]

good  to  have  you  home,you've  been  missed,hope  things  start  to  look  up

[okarol]

  Keep healing box, glad you are home!

[rose1999]

We, your IHD family, will never get sick of hearing about your medical problems, we just wish you didn't have them.  Take care and heal soon 

[petey]

We, your IHD family, will never get sick of hearing about your medical problems, we just wish you didn't have them. Take care and heal soon

I'm with Rose -- and we missed you.  Rest.  Get better.

[CW]

Missed ya Box, glad you are back and doing well 

[willieandwinnie]

  Boxman, you rest and get your strength back. We'll be here waiting.

[bolta72]

Welcome back and take it slow.

[boxman55]

Thank you all, you know that the simple pleasures are the best. It felt so relaxing to wake up this morning in my home, and make my coffee. It never tasted better...Boxman

[annabanana]

I agree, the simple pleasures are the best!
Home from the hospital is FANTASTIC!
annabanana

[Ken Shelmerdine]

Glad it went well boxman and your home. Take Care

[MyssAnne]

We don't get sick of hearing of other's medical problems, we care and we KNOW what you go through. I am so happy for you that you're home now! I agree, simple pleasures ARE the best, aren't they? 

 

[Sluff]

Glad to hear only a few more weeks of treatment then off to the fishing pond. 

[kidney4traci]

Glad to hear from you .... take care!

[kitkatz]

Welcome home! I was always glad to arrive home out of the hospital. Clean sheets, my own things, and time to finally sleep. Hospitals are noisy places aren't they?

[angellady07]

I'm glad to hear you are home. Take care.

[Ohio Buckeye]

Glad you are home at last.
Take care and God bless!

[boxman55]

Welcome home! I was always glad to arrive home out of the hospital. Clean sheets, my own things, and time to finally sleep. Hospitals are noisy places aren't they?

that is the truth Kit, I had a older gentleman in the room across the hall and he wasn't suppose to get out of bed. But every nite at like 2 or 3 or 4am he would get out and set his bed alarm off. It drove me crazy. One nite the nurse comes out in the hall and I could hear her say "he's walking around pooping every where". at least that nite I had a big laugh...Boxman

[kitkatz]

I swear Kaiser has cart races up and down the hallways every night. I would get up and close the door, then someone would bounce into the room slamming to door open, do their thing,t hen forget to close the door. Up I would get again. After awhile I was going to get that big stick out and hit the next person that blew through the door.

[lola]

Box glad your back

[st789]

Nurses came be every 2 hrs.  Other patients cough, scream, and etc.,

[kidney4traci]

OMG I hate being in the hospital!  It's like the night nurses get mad that they have to be up so they think everyone else should be too!  I can never get any sleep in there.  And the bed, that is the most uncomfortable!  Noisy and uncomfortable.  I agree, hospitals are no place to be! 

[boxman55]

Well here is an update on my foot. I have had (21) hyperbaric treatments so far and will have (5) more. Next Thursday will be my last. The treatments have helped but at the rate it is going I would need about 3-4 more months of this type of treatment. So, they are going to try a wound vac starting next thursday. They will debride the wound then attach the vac. I will wear it 24 hours a day for about a month. They hope that will be a faster way of healing the wound. Me too. See below for a breif explanation of the wound vac...Mark

The therapy is both a technique and a device. It works to close a wound by gently and continuously suctioning fluid from it and applying a fresh dressing into it. Not only does this decrease the risk of infection, it stimulates the growth of new skin cells. "The beauty of VAC therapy is that it’s portable and it works," said Lyle Vasher, DPM. "I’ve been able to put tissue over bone with this. That’s unbelievable." Vasher is one of four podiatrists with Englewood Community Hospital’s Wound Management Program, whose staff includes two MDs specializing in peripheral vascular disease. Each month, the staff treats an average of 55 patients, many of whom have open wounds resistant to treatment. They’re not alone.
Nationwide, non-healing wounds present an enormous, ongoing challenge to medical professionals. In fact, each year in the U.S., more than 2.8 million people are treated for wounds that won’t completely heal. Often, these wounds are the result of trauma, vascular disease, diabetes and other circulatory conditions. Treatment can be costly, involving lengthy hospital stays, specialized home care and expensive supplies. "In the past, conventional treatments to control drainage and fight infection required (changing the wound dressing) once or twice daily, every day," said Ann Bartucci, RN, and Clinical Manager for the Wound Management Program at Englewood Community Hospital. "That can be time-consuming and uncomfortable."
For some patients, that scenario is starting to change. Although the VAC system was developed several years ago, its use was confined primarily to major medical and plastic surgery centers until recently. Now that the VAC system has been cleared by the FDA for clinical use, studies suggest that it can lower the cost of treating wounds while improving a patient’s quality of life. Rather than constantly changing moist dressings, such as saline wet-to-moist gauze dressings or antibiotic dressings, the VAC system uses negative pressure, or suction, to enhance healing. "It is a whole different approach," explained Dr. Vasher. "There’s a dressing and a tube connected to the dressing that provides gentle, even suction by way of a battery-powered pump."

Depending on the individual, patients may either wear the pump in a portable mini-pack or use a larger, stationary unit. The obvious advantage of the portable system is that it provides continual wound therapy without interfering with a patient’s daily activities. "We generally see our wound care patients once a week to (clean) the wound, make sure it’s healing correctly, and reapply the dressing to the wound to continue the treatment process," said Dr. Vasher. Although VAC therapy patients still come in for weekly treatment, there are fewer uncomfortable dressing changes during the week. "Usually, we’ll have a home health care nurse see the patient twice a week, for a total of three dressing changes per week," said Bartucci, noting that all of the Wound Care Program’s physicians and home health nurses have been specially VAC-trained by the manufacturer. Further, insurance typically covers the costs associated with the VAC system, including supplies and equipment lease. The patient’s part? Remembering to recharge the battery at night. "Also, they have to make the commitment to have (the VAC) with them at all times, which means wearing the pump in a fanny pack or over their shoulder," said Bartucci. "For some, it’s a hassle. But for most patients, it’s not a problem, sort of like remembering your purse."
Bartucci adds that while VAC therapy is not a miracle cure, it has yielded excellent results thus far. "Of the new wound care therapies, this is the best that we’ve had," she said.  I have never had the problem of forgetting my purse  ....Boxman