gangrene advise for caring for my husband needed please

[Northerner]

Hubby went into hospital yesterday, he was going to have a exploratory op, but it was canceled until tuesday,

Sorry to hear it was cancelled, I hope it goes ahead on Tuesday - is that tomorrow, or next week?

 

[belinda legate]

yes, Tomorrow fingers crossed, He now has the golly wobbles as its not looking so quick and easy as he was thinking it would be

 

[grovesy]

Good luck for the op.

 

[trophywench]

Well - he is in the only place where he might get it sorted Brenda - so to me, that actually counts as a Plus, if you see what I mean?

Tell him that when you see him tonight, and wish him all the best, please.

 

[belinda legate]

Well hi there, It's been a long week, No big op as yet been done, So this will be a long update [Sorry], Since going into hospital last week it seems not much has been done but on looking closer it has, First we find no two doc's say the same thing and it changes in the course of a day as to what might be done! So on Monday nothing happened, Tuesday was a angiogram, Wednesday talk of removing the toe and a bypass done, Thursday talk of doing a Stent quote from doc while i was there "don't know if it will work" Friday Stent behind the knee done and "give it until Monday to see if it's worked, If not toe to be removed and bypass done on Tuesday", Not sure if we are comming or going at the moment, On the upside They now have my husbands diabetes under control, As it turns out on doing the long range blood test covering the past 3 months Mitches bloods have been sitting at "130" i was shocked! So he now takes a drug that makes him wee out sugar plus has to inject in his tummy once a week [dont know what that is all about as yet] sugars now down to "11", He also has what looks like a "ROBO BOOT" to wear [again i know nothing about this] He has been booked in for eye screening and the dentist while there, So i must say they are sorting him out and almost have pain under control, i fully understand why they couldn't do any op's on him with sugars that high, We now have DIABETES UK bookets etc and i must say this is the first info on diabetes we have ever been given, While working away Mitch lives on processed food in his lorry cab, But once home, and his been home for two months now, we only eat home made meals fresh veg and everything made, we don't have crisps sweets or puds there is no icecream or choc's or biccies or cakes in the house, we don't have take aways only once a month "fish and chips" Iv'e not cooked chips in this house for over a year now, so i have no clue what so ever where the sugar is comming from, I must say i am really grateful of all the advise given. Mitch isn't much help at passing on info given to him at the moment as he is finding it all too much and seeing so many people he sometimes doesn't have a clue what they are talking about having said that he has had a big problem with his blood pressure dropping like a stone and feeling very dizzy etc, So now i need to find the right person at the hospital to talk to, I will post more news as i have it, many thanks

 

[Northerner]

Thanks for the update Belinda 🙂 It's good to hear that they have got his diabetes under control, that will be a real help in his recovery. I wonder if they are giving him insulin in the injections? Quite possibly. Such a shame that all this was not acted on sooner - his levels should never have been allowed to get so high, especially when he is showing signs of complications Fingers crossed that the stent works and restores good circulation. Don't feel that you have done anything wrong with the meals you have been having, it may simply be that his body is no longer able to process the glucose the food creates so he needs help from more medication - it's not a failure at all, just the way that diabetes often goes. All carbohydrate will raise blood sugar levels, but if the body can no longer produce enough insulin to deal with the rise then levels will remain high. I hope they can sort his blood pressure out as well, and that all this is the start of much improved health for him. Good luck to you both! 🙂

 

[belinda legate]

My husband seems to think that the injections are hormones? I know they are not insulin as Mitch wont have that as he will loose his job as a hgv driver

 

[Northerner]

My husband seems to think that the injections are hormones? I know they are not insulin as Mitch wont have that as he will loose his job as a hgv driver

Insulin is a hormone. It may be insulin, but as a temporary measure in order to get his levels under control for any surgery - he may not need it once he has recovered. There are other injectables they can give though, which are not insulin and wouldn't affect his license, so it may be one of them (examples are Byetta, Bydureon, Victoza)

 

[belinda legate]

thank you, i never knew insulin is a hormone, don't think i will tell Mitch that mind lol But i do remember the lady saying they may have to put him on it for a short while, He also had it when he had his heart bypass done

 

[Caroline]

Hi there, just to let you know our appointment went very well today, We went to a Mr Morris's clinic, we had more info in 10 mins from this man than any other doctor,First thing he said was that he had heard about Mr Legate a number of times and it was about time he got involved himself, Where other doctors were only interested in the "black toe" he was interested in the "massive clot" just below the knee, He is putting my husband forward for a bypass op at a meeting in the morning, he will ring us tomorrow with a view of doing the op next week, fingers crossed, i will let you know how we get on

This is brilliant news and I'm glad hubby is getting help. I hope everything is sorted out and he feels better as a result.

 

[AlisonM]

The boot thing is a gadget that should help improve circulation. It sort of 'pulses' forcing blood up the leg and will hopefully reduce the infection by providing a better blood supply. At least that's what they told my aunt when they used one on her. I reckon the once a week thing is possibly Bydureon as I know that is a weekly injection because they considered it for me at one stage. I'm glad his numbers are coming down now, that too should help the infection clear.

 

[Northerner]

Ah yes Alison, I missed the fact that it was a once a week injection - they wouldn't give insulin once a week! 🙄

 

[belinda legate]

hi there,, i brought Mitch home today and now have the discharge notes, the once a week injection is DULAGLUTIDE PRE FILLED PEN 1.5 MG i must say this is working a treat, Sugars are down to 8.3 today, they are quite new and hospital staff didn't know much about them, Notes also state he will be seen again to assess the best timing for toe amputation within 2 weeks, Angioplasty done on the 11/12/15 with good result, There were no immediate complications, the ankle pressure measured using a hand held droppler increased from 58mmHg before procedure to 96 afterwards. Not sure what all this info means but i will read up on it now i have more timem maybe this info could be helpful to other people too

 

[Northerner]

Ah, I'm so pleased to hear all this Belinda! I bet he's glad to be home 🙂 How is the pain now? The injection is similar to the Bydureon I mentioned earlier, so not insulin - instead it helps him to use his own insulin more efficiently 🙂

Hope everything goes smoothly and you can both start getting on with your lives again soon 🙂

 

[AlisonM]

That's a new one on me but a quick Wiki search leads me to believe it's along the same lines as Bydureon. Glad he's home and doing better.

 

[belinda legate]

Thank you, Pain is just the same no matter what they give him, It's a pain in the sole of his foot, He got the pain the very moment he was given the first blood thinning injection, He was then put on Clopidogrel and Rivaroxban, The Rivaroxban has now been stopped this week, He has no pain from his toe what so ever and it is still dry

 

[belinda legate]

Fed up and Browned off, Hubby should have had a appointment within two weeks of discharge to assess the best timing to remove the toe, Our GP is shocked that it is still on his foot! No appointment came so i gave Southampton a call to find no-one knew anything about it and am now being sent a appointment for 14th Jan! with Diabetes Team, Secretary blames Thoracic's team for not passing notes on, We never see the same person twice, Hubby had a infection in his foot last week so the pain and sickness kicked back in, I really don't allow my dog to suffer the way my husband has been treated since May!

 

[AlisonM]

Oh for heavens sake Belinda! The poor man. I really hope it get sorted soon, he must be miserable and both of you stressed to the max.

 

[belinda legate]

Yes Alison hubby really is down in the dumps now because they told him he was being allowed home for Christmas and then going back in, He hasn't been outside for months now other than hospital and doctor appointments and has now lost 4st too