Well, I would be putting a dressing on that all the time.

Change it daily. Something cushiony --let the podiatrist recommend something.

Zinc is a great healer... perhaps Alan needs some oral zinc?
This is given typically to people with bedsores and other hard to heal wounds. You have that zinc at home anyway still?

Also l-arginine helps too. In nursing homes there is a drink called ArginAid but you can give Alan tablets...same thing. This heals skin wounds/ulcers. Vit C. Also.

If you go to a wound center they have special dressings that you leave on for days... and are designed to help the wound build a matrix of tissue for healing. They are very expensive, so see what would be needed, and call your insurance to see if they pay for it. Since Alan is not diabetic there may be resistance for them.

I would not let this wound be leaking into socks. I would be putting a sterile pad on it. Some wound healing products have silver in them. But since Alan is allergic to sulfa, the typical silver sulfadiazine cream cannot be used.

I think he will need to go to a wound clinic. These are more common now, and very useful. It is a miracle he hasn't had a severe infection yet IMO.

Hi. THANKS MUCH

I do have the Optizinc that I take, I'll give it to him 3 times a week starting tonight.

And about why he hasn't had an infection yet. THAT'S BECAUSE HE HAS ME!!!!

Even his doctor says this.

I never in all my days thought that besides his not being allowed to get special shoes because he's not a diabetic, that they wouldn't pay for special dressings??? Oh my god.

Never even thought of that.

We shall find out on Friday. I will update.

Oh, I have a question.

I have Silver biotics in the house.

Might I take some drops of that, place in water, and then take a q tip and put on his wound. At least as a start?

What do you think?

Thanks much

Melody
P.S. I just asked him to please use the wheelchair in the house, just to go form one room to another. He said "not until the doctor says so".

My goodness, he is so stubborn.

Mel

Well, I wish I could say, it would work... but I really don't know
Mel.

So it is your decision to use the silver that way.

Well, it can't hurt, so I'm going for it.

Will update AND THANKS MUCH.

Melody

P.S. Just did it. Put a drop on his ulcer. Put a bandage over it and then the sock. He's lying down on the couch with his leg up.

Will continue this tomorrow. Hey, can't hurt, might even help. Reminds me when I told one of his doctors that I use Methyl B-12 for my neuropathy and it went away and the doctor pooh poohed me and said "I would NEVER use B-12 for anything other than anemia".

And sometime later, this same doctor came down with neuropathy, and asked me "Tell me about Methyl B-12 again". See, doctors are smart and they know stuff but sometimes we have to experiment and use non-medical interventions. That's what I'm doing now with the Silver biotics. And I am diabetic and haven't had a UTI for over 15 years. you gotta love that silver!!! lol

you have to be stubborn to live this long.

since the wound hasnt healed basically in years i dont think that it should be an insurance problem to get a special dressing at this point if it is coded properly.

things get complicated when you have one thing that affects something else and then cant be treated without more complications.

i just found a pretty nasty looking crack wound on the bottom ball of my fight foot which of course i hadnt felt. this winter has been a killer. its taking a while to heal.

too bad Alan is allergic to sulfa, silvadene is very effective for healing and preventing infections. i have a big tub of it from my past life that i use when needed.

make sure that whatever dressing you are putting on the wound does not "fill in" the space that was left in the shoe to "off load" pressure from that spot.
Think "princess and the pea". Has Alan ever had a 5 hour GTT? Just because he wasn't diabetic last year, doesn't mean he can't be this year.
Good luck

They have given him various diabetic tests. He just got blood tests results back two days ago. His fasting blood sugar is 80. It NEVER goes above that.

We even filled him with sugar once (to see if it could register above 120). It went to 100.

So no, he's not a diabetic.

I hope whatever dressing they use, works, and that's it covered because his insurance WOULD NOT COVER CUSTOM SHOES OR OTHOTICS.

Nasty people these insurance people.

And I am very careful to not have the dressing that I put on, fill in the hole in his foot. Very careful.

Thanks much

Melody