Saturday, 28 September 2019

THE LATEST HEALTH UPDATE ON BRIAN FROM CLOSE FRIENDS KEITH AND PAT

Hi all

An update from Gilly this morning (Friday):

The vacuum pump was reinstalled on the serious ulcer on Brian's left foot on Monday and is now working properly. It has to be serviced every three days.

The doctors tried to take an MRI scan to see the condition of blood circulation in both legs and feet but Brian was unable to remain still for the 30 mins due to the pain that he is in.  Instead they injected with dye and did a CT Scan.

The results showed that there is hardening of the arteries in both legs below the knee.

They are now talking of doing balloon angioplasty to stretch them and help the blood flow.  Prior to that they will put his legs in compression (the better right leg already is).

There are two items of good news:

It looks like the hole caused by the ulcer on the left foot is beginning to fill up. It is still rather 'gungy' and the vacuum machine removes all this gunge, but slow progress is being made.

Secondly, the Occupational Therapist came yesterday and asked how far he would usually walk at home?  This was only a few yards when he could walk, but that has not happened for a while as the left foot has been so painful.

He said to Brian 'shall we have a go?' and Brian said 'I can hardly put the weight on my foot.'

The therapist wasn't taking 'No' for an answer and explained he had special sandals with velcro fixings on and that he would put a special version on the bad foot that would tip his weight back onto the heel.

With these sandals on Brian stood up with the walker and then almost marched across the ward and down the corridor to say 'hello' to the nurses before walking back!

The staff on the ward all applauded!  Quite an emotional moment, especially for Gilly.

So - no commodes from now on - he will have to walk to the bathroom!

He now has a strap to accommodate the pump machine while he moves around.

So it is possible that he will be allowed home with trips to hospital every three days to change/clean the machine.  We will let you know when this happens.

Again, praise the Lord for the progress, and love and thanks to you all for your continued prayer support.

Love and blessings

Keith and Pat

No comments:

Post a Comment