Your stories
We would like to hear from you! Tell us about the challenges you have faced related to your foot care, what you are committed to do to take care of your feet and more! Please fill in the form below to send us your stories.
Please see some of your personal experiences below.
Frank’s Story
I had no idea that so many different foot wounds could occur. I felt that my “blister” was the sum total of what could go wrong with feet. But I soon found out that I was very uneducated about foot problems that could occur without proper foot care.
My experience was with a blister under my big toe when I went to the hospital for a stress test and forgot to bring the proper footwear. I was wearing hiking boots but the test administrator wanted gym shoes or stocking feet only.
The treadmill was quite rough and I ended up with a blister which I did not notice until later that night.
I put a bandage on it after a shower, and by the next morning I had a smelly “Staph” infection. I went to the emergency clinic, and they referred me to the hospital emergency room where they began massive doses of antibiotics - both oral and intravenous. I had to be seen by a microbiologist, who thought he could save my foot, but he was not sure about my toe. I had to report to the hospital daily for twenty-eight days for an extra dose of antibiotics through my catheter, and they managed to save my foot and my toe. This was a “Wake-up call” and I finally began to understand what all the fuss was about when the doctors stressed foot care for diabetics.
John’s Story
In 1974 I was diagnosed as a diabetic, given a prescription for some pills and sent home. A few months later, on an unrelated doctor’s visit I was asked to take some blood tests and was told I had to take some injections of insulin to control my diabetes. I was given an orange, a syringe and was told to practice injecting a saline solution into the orange for a few minutes. I was than given another prescription for syringes and insulin and the amount I should take daily and sent on my way again. I was never given any education on how to control my diabetes. I always felt like I was carrying around a secret that I couldn’t tell anyone. Diabetes was such a silent disease that nobody ever mentioned that word. It wasn’t until years later that I received any information on this illness and the complications that could arise because of the uncontrolled sugar levels in my blood.
I continued to work as a carpenter until Sept. 1999. At this time, I had kidney failure and had to go on dialysis. Due to my ignorance of this disease and the uncontrolled level of my blood sugars, I continued to experience drastic complications of this deadly disease. In 2001 I had to have a Stint put in my heart because I had a collapsed aorta valve in my heart. In the fall of 2002 I had two small toes amputated from my left foot due to an infection and poor circulation. In 2003 I also had eye surgery because I was going blind. I had cataracts removed from both my eyes and had implants put in to help me see. Previous to this operation I’ve had several laser procedures done to both my eyes that had caused major scaring on both retinas. April 13, 2004 I had a renal transplant and a new lease on life.
Six months after my transplant I went back to work. I worked for a few months when I stubbed my big toe on my right foot. It got infected and because of poor circulation due to my diabetes I had a below-knee amputation on my right leg on March 15 of 2005. Due to all the different complications and effects of this disease I’ve had approximately twenty-seven operations performed on me.
Darlene’s Story
Upon awaking one morning, I noticed my one foot was swollen and quite pink. I went to my doctor, and he suggested it was arthritis. I was given inflammatory medication. When that didn’t help, further investigations showed it was Charcot foot. Charcot foot causes the bones to change in the feet and some deformity, which can cause ulcers.
Charcot foot was not well known in the medical profession at that time. When I saw a doctor on call, she had never heard of it.
If the problem was diagnosed sooner, I would have been in a non weight bearing cast for awhile.
Currently, I am wearing healing sandals, and the ulcer has healed.
I cannot express how important it is to get help immediately when any changes occur with your feet. It can worsen within minutes if not attended to.