Diabetic Foot Management:

diabetic foot syndrome (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my roles as a professional is to manage the complications of diabetes. Many times this is noted first by non-healing ulcerations (sores) on the lower extremities (feet and ankles). Here are some ways to prevent the manifestation of problems….
1.Check Your Feet Daily. Make it a routine to check your feet every night before bed. Get a hand-held mirror and look at your heels and the bottoms of your feet. I have seen and taken out nails and tacks and various other things imbedded for weeks in someone’s feet. Which leads to huge ulcerations and potential loss of limbs. If you can’t find someone who can.
2. Test all water with your hand before sticking your feet in. Neuropathy inhibits the ability to FEEL. Pat feet dry especially between toes. Small amount of lotion as long as the feet feel dry to the touch. No lotion between toes as this space does not dry well.
3. Cotton Socks and well-fitting shoes…Cotton absorbs moisture and your shoes should not rub any where. Pay attention to rubbing on the top of your toes. If you are diabetic, your shoes can potentially be the difference between walking on two feet or walking on one.
4. Never go barefoot. Even the tiniest sliver can cause great hardship in the diabetic foot that does not heal properly.
5. Bunions, calluses and hammer toes need to get fixed. See a Podiatrist early. These cause pressure points that can cause the breakdown of underlying tissue and eventually lead to diabetic foot ulcers.
6. After showering-when dead skin is softest-gently remove dead skin with a pumice stone or emery board-trim nails while they are soft-you can file the nail beds even. Just make sure you do not file too deep to open to the underlying tissues.
7. Manage your Blood Sugar Levels
God Bless You AND Yours

The Journey Begins…

It all started March 20th 2013. I had just arrived to work at the wound center checking in on everyone. My cell phone rang and it was the High School nurse. She told me that my son was complaining that he was dizzy after athletics this morning. This had been the second time in two weeks. She asked him if she could take his blood sugar. She was expecting it to be a low reading. He agreed and she took his reading. The machine showed HIGH. The machine reads up to 540. I knew this wasn’t good and my RN mind tried to critically think WHY? He had awoken up late and ran out the door with two hot dogs just to have something. (Not a normal happening). “Could it be the hot dogs?” It’s funny how you think when you know the reality. Off on a 25 mile or so drive to the school I went. I prayed all the way there this would be a fluke, rehashing the last few days to weeks over and over. He had informed me a week or so earlier that he had gotten dizzy so I gave him some AdvoCare protein bars to bring up a blood sugar then. Hypoglycemia or low blood sugar runs in the family.
That morning I had thought to myself “He sure has been sleeping a lot lately.” Explained it away with “but he’s 17 you know teenagers do that.” How could I have missed it?
We had been eating healthier and all of us had lost weight. Including my son (who was not overweight be no means of the definition). I had lost 37 pounds and he had lost 10 pounds. Eating right and being athletic that’s what happens, right?
He also told the nurse (you don’t tell your mom these things) that he was getting up several times a night to go to the bathroom. Would I have gotten it if I had known that? I am a nurse that deals with diabetes all the time and love diabetic education. How did I miss it?
Stop it mother! He’s your son and all the pieces weren’t available till now. He’s alive and that is what matters. 1 Peter 5:7 ESV – Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
A few calls to the prayer warriors and a few texts to those that care. Off to the ER with a young man in Diabetic Ketoacidosis. Our journey begins…..