68R/T
I got drunk and swallowed my teeth, now
I s'pose it's best to start at the beginning........
Way back in primeval times, 1979 to be exact, I had a snowmobile accident that left me unconcience in -13f weather for about 5-6 hours. The result was some pretty bad frostbite to my feet. The injuries were pretty much confined to the tips of my toes, except................
The personel at the local horse-pital didn't have enough brains to elevate my feet, they let my heels rest on the bed. :doh: This created pressure sores on my heels that became gangrene. When they noticed the red lines half way up my shins, they sent me to a top-notch hospital in Madison, WI. Within days the gangrene was knocked down but they had to remove an area about 2" and 1/4 deep from the back of my heels. Because of the damage to the capillaries, the circulation in my feet negated doing skin grafts. This meant that I spend about 4 months of treating and bandaging to allow the areas to scar over from the outside in. I had too much piss-n-vinegar to sit still and let it happen, so the sore on my right heel never completely scarred over. When muscle tissue is exposed it dries and developes a scar/callous like covering, Which was fine with me, I had living to do.:shifty:
Fast forward to april of this year, that scar/callous decided it didn't want to be there anymore. I tried treating it in the same manner that I did 32 years ago. After a month of no results, I saw a podiatrist, (foot Dr.) He tried some different stuff for about another month with no results. Then he sent me to a Wound & Edema Care Center. The 1st Dr. there tried his best for 6 weeks and then passed me to a different Dr. 2nd Dr. tries for a month, and then asked me, "Has anyone done a biopsy on this?" My answer is "No", his reply "Let's do it"
5 days later the biopsy comes back positive for carcinoma. To the unkowing, this is the second worse type of skin cancer.
Next step is to see a dermatologist, he looks at it, "Yup, it's cancer" and sends me to an onocologist, (cancer doc).
He looks at it, says, "Too far from your heart to use chemo or radiation, they would cause more damage than good." Me, What then?" Dr, "Surgery" No one can tell me how much, they just say the worst could be below the knee. [smilie=2:
During all this time I'm wearing one of these, [URL]http://bledsoebrace.com/products/lc.asp[/URL] with an elevated sole to keep my ankle rigid and not bear weight on the heel.
Now I'm sent to http://www.uwhealth.org/mohs/mohs-dermatologic-surgery/10631. As their website states, they have a 96 - 98% success rate.:2thumbs:
Their technique is to remove a layer and analyze the cut side, and repeat until it's clean. Lucky for me, they only needed to make 2 cuts totaling 3" circle and 1/4 deep. Not deep enough to need a muscle graft, only a skin graft, now that the capillaries have regenerated.
Removal went smooth, (gotta love percocet :Fresh Meds
3 days later is the skin graft, (5 days in the hosp.) Then 6 weeks on crutches and keeping my foot elevated, and now, for 2 weeks I've been allowed short walks in a modified shoe, but mostly elevated foot.
Todays Dr visit allows me extended mobility in the modified shoe. (The heel is cut away so as not to bear weight on my heel) But it still may be a month or more before I can bear weight on my heel.
During the time that I was wearing the boot, I would still ride my motorcycle, (who needs a rear brake :dgt: ) But, because both of my 68 Coronets are manuals, I haven't driven either one this summer.
The reasons that nothing was said before is, with me, you'll find sympathy in the dictionary between shit and syphillis, but you won't get either from me, and I don't want any. :dgt:
And, I really didn't want to steal any thunder from Dr Jass's mother, she deserves your prayers a lot more than me.
Way back in primeval times, 1979 to be exact, I had a snowmobile accident that left me unconcience in -13f weather for about 5-6 hours. The result was some pretty bad frostbite to my feet. The injuries were pretty much confined to the tips of my toes, except................
The personel at the local horse-pital didn't have enough brains to elevate my feet, they let my heels rest on the bed. :doh: This created pressure sores on my heels that became gangrene. When they noticed the red lines half way up my shins, they sent me to a top-notch hospital in Madison, WI. Within days the gangrene was knocked down but they had to remove an area about 2" and 1/4 deep from the back of my heels. Because of the damage to the capillaries, the circulation in my feet negated doing skin grafts. This meant that I spend about 4 months of treating and bandaging to allow the areas to scar over from the outside in. I had too much piss-n-vinegar to sit still and let it happen, so the sore on my right heel never completely scarred over. When muscle tissue is exposed it dries and developes a scar/callous like covering, Which was fine with me, I had living to do.:shifty:
Fast forward to april of this year, that scar/callous decided it didn't want to be there anymore. I tried treating it in the same manner that I did 32 years ago. After a month of no results, I saw a podiatrist, (foot Dr.) He tried some different stuff for about another month with no results. Then he sent me to a Wound & Edema Care Center. The 1st Dr. there tried his best for 6 weeks and then passed me to a different Dr. 2nd Dr. tries for a month, and then asked me, "Has anyone done a biopsy on this?" My answer is "No", his reply "Let's do it"
5 days later the biopsy comes back positive for carcinoma. To the unkowing, this is the second worse type of skin cancer.
Next step is to see a dermatologist, he looks at it, "Yup, it's cancer" and sends me to an onocologist, (cancer doc).
He looks at it, says, "Too far from your heart to use chemo or radiation, they would cause more damage than good." Me, What then?" Dr, "Surgery" No one can tell me how much, they just say the worst could be below the knee. [smilie=2:
During all this time I'm wearing one of these, [URL]http://bledsoebrace.com/products/lc.asp[/URL] with an elevated sole to keep my ankle rigid and not bear weight on the heel.
Now I'm sent to http://www.uwhealth.org/mohs/mohs-dermatologic-surgery/10631. As their website states, they have a 96 - 98% success rate.:2thumbs:
Their technique is to remove a layer and analyze the cut side, and repeat until it's clean. Lucky for me, they only needed to make 2 cuts totaling 3" circle and 1/4 deep. Not deep enough to need a muscle graft, only a skin graft, now that the capillaries have regenerated.
Removal went smooth, (gotta love percocet :Fresh Meds
3 days later is the skin graft, (5 days in the hosp.) Then 6 weeks on crutches and keeping my foot elevated, and now, for 2 weeks I've been allowed short walks in a modified shoe, but mostly elevated foot.Todays Dr visit allows me extended mobility in the modified shoe. (The heel is cut away so as not to bear weight on my heel) But it still may be a month or more before I can bear weight on my heel.
During the time that I was wearing the boot, I would still ride my motorcycle, (who needs a rear brake :dgt: ) But, because both of my 68 Coronets are manuals, I haven't driven either one this summer.
The reasons that nothing was said before is, with me, you'll find sympathy in the dictionary between shit and syphillis, but you won't get either from me, and I don't want any. :dgt:
And, I really didn't want to steal any thunder from Dr Jass's mother, she deserves your prayers a lot more than me.
