Sister Charcot Foot

Last October, my sisters foot looked really swollen and she just thought it was due to her diabetes because at one other time her shin had a sore on it and her leg was all swollen.  After going on antibiotics, it healed.  Well, this time, her foot wasn’t healing.  She went to her regular doctor and he put her on medications to take the swelling down but this time it did not take the swelling down.

My daughter went to my sisters home and was sitting in a chair across from her.  My sister didn’t have her shoes on and my daughter noticed a big sore on the bottom of her foot.

She went back to her regular doctor and he didn’t know what the problem was so he sent her to a foot specialist.  By the time she got in to see the specialist, her foot had progressed quickly to a very ugly, mangled looking foot.

This was taken January 2nd after it started healing.

The specialist knew right away that it was a severe case of Charcot foot.  He stated that it was one of the worst cases he had seen and after consulting with other doctors, they did not know how to treat it .  He stated that most all the bones in her foot were broken and that the sores were caused from the bones trying to protrude out of the bottom of her foot..  she would need to go see a specialist in Salt Lake at the University of Utah.   My brother and other sister took her to Salt Lake where this specialist  said it would be risky for her to have surgery so he put her in a boot for 2 months.  While in the boot, she was to use her foot very little so mostly using pressure to get up and down, she rode a knee scooter all around the house.  She had one from a medical place but we thought it was costing too much so I got on the Wal-Mart website and purchased her a new one.  It was much lighter to maneuver around and she liked it better.

By the end of March, her foot still was not doing well so the Salt Lake specialist opted to do the surgery.  He cut in the side of her foot and took out some bone and filed down other bones.  This is a picture of my Sis, right after surgery………...surgery went well.

After the surgery, I traveled to Utah and stayed with my sister for two weeks to help her since she was to be a non-weight bearing patient at this point.  By trial and error, we learned a lot about getting up and down.  During this time, I also downloaded the game “Ultimate Jewel” on her Kindle and totally got her hooked.  You’ll have to trust me on this one……..if you don’t want to spend a lot of time on your Kindle, DO NOT download this game.  I myself am an Ultimate Jewel “hooked” person!  Love the game.

After two weeks from her surgery, this is how her foot looked.  The blisters by this time had shrunk and didn’t look too bad but before thinking to take the following picture, all her toes had huge, dark reddish purple blisters.

On April 17th, she went back to the doctor.  My other sister snapped this photo while waiting for the doctor to come in and take out the stitches.

The doctor informed them that the stitches weren’t ready to come out yet so he bandaged it back up and gave her an ankle boot/shoe to wear until her next appointment.  She could now use the boot/shoe to assist herself in getting up and down but was not to walk on it.

It has been a long 6-months but Sis is now able, with the assistance of her boot/shoe to walk (limited) again.  When she goes back to the doctor, the plan is to have her wear some special orthotic shoes.  Keeping our fingers double crossed…..which means lots of prayers going heavenward. 

This is how her foot looked on May 1st.