My father going into hospital tomorrow to have at least a toe amputated, possibly more. :(

[duchesse]

To cut a long story short, he's had an injury on his toe from dropping a log on it in January that has refused to heal, and in the last couple of months his foot has gone black. We've all been nagging at him to see a doctor but he refused until today . He's been told he has gangrene in his toe and will lose it, and may lose his foot or even up to his knee. It appears that he has circulation issues in his legs (his veins are blocked) and he may need a bypass.

He's a hospital and doctor-phobic who is now going to be in hospital for at least 10 days.

Does anyone have any experience of this and is there anything he can do that the doctors may not advise him on (supplements etc.?) I was thinking that Gingko may be a good idea.

We are all very worried obviously.

[kunahero]

she was a hoot. we got thrown off the ward for laughing too much. She refused a funeral saying they are too morbid and however much we cried she wasnt coming back. No one was allowed to wear black at her thanksgiving service and she made sure she planned a party afterwards. She always wanted to die happy and she did which made it really easy for me.

Sorry to go on about dying when your dad seems to be doing so well. The bleeding is good news and hopefully he will make a full recovery soon.

[duchesse]

Spoke to him this morning. The nursing staff have looked at his new wound and apparently it's bleeding slightly, which is good news as it means that area is getting blood. So hopefully, given the lack of diabetes etc, that might be the end of the problems. ho-hum.

Your mother sounds a hoot, Kuna!

[kunahero]

thats what I ilke to hear.. smiling and joking to the end.

My D mum was like that, when she had a terminal stroke she told my brother to go on his long planned holiday. He agrued saying 'what if something happens while i'm away' My mum replied ' you're a car mechanic, i dont need servicing. Stick me in the fridge and burn me when you get back'!!

try to stay strong.

[duchesse]

Quote of the day from df: "most people die all in one go, I'm doing it one bit at a time".

He had his op this afternoon. Haven't heard anything yet.

[duchesse]

Bizarrely kuna, no, he seems to have not a trace of diabetes. They all manner of tests on him and even his liver is absolutely fine. It's incomprehensible really. He must have the constitution of an ox.

[kunahero]

Duchesse, Hi. Sorry to hear about your df. Hope he is bearing up well.

I run a foot health clinic and have some experience in this field and the outlook is not good for the rest of his foot I'm afraid. Gangrene is a very unpleasant condition and once someone has lost 1 toe to it then eventually they tend to lose them all slowly though this is not always the case.

I am a big believer in being upfront and honest with my clients and think that this is always the best policy even if it may not seem so at the time.

This is usually associated with type 2 diabetes, does he suffer with it? If he has consumed that amount of alcohol for the last 40 years then he is incredibly lucky to have gone this long without any other major health issues.

One of the best 'herbal' remedies for circulatory problems is garlic so living in france has probably saved his life!

Hope you are all coping. Best wishes.

[duchesse]

He is going to lose the toe. He hates the hospital, but to be honest he has been so lucky with his health (especially in view of the 30 units of alcohol a day for the last 40 years) that he has no idea about them. He knuckled down quite well to hospital routines in August- he was in for 3 weeks so plenty of time for them to get used to him.

[Anna1976]

Duchesse, I'm sorry to hear this. It's not unexpected. But I am pleased to hear that he's actually been seeing some doctors in the interim rather than just relying on TCP! How did he hold up with the temporary indignity of being in hospital? Were you all able to help him with his fear/pride etc?

[duchesse]

And...he's back in hospital as of today with another infection, in the little toe of the same foot this time. Looking like he might lose this one as well. The only good news to emerge from his visit to the clinic today is that the bypasses seem to be holding up well and his previously arteries are starting to function again. Although obviously not enough to keep the little toe free out of trouble.

[KurriKurri]

So glad its done Duchesse - waiting for loved ones to come out of surgery is awful. Hope he makes as speedy a recovery as possible

[jasper]

hurray! GO Dad!

[duchesse]

Very relieved, thank you! It was supposed to be less than 5 hours and when it started to look more like 8 I was getting really worried. I think my stepmother only rang when he was properly out of the anaesthetic, hence the delay.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

I'm glad it was reasonably good news, hope he recovers quickly and I hope you're feeling better now he's out of surgery x

[duchesse]

He's out! We just got a call. Apparently he has woken up now and they were able to use one artery- both the others are knackered. He's lost the entire middle toe, but at least it's a middle one... Gone as well as could be expected, just very very long...

[OnlyWantsOne]

he'll be fine

mn hugs duchesse xxx

[duchesse]

He went in late (into surgery at noon French time)- still not out now... It's now nearly 7 French time.

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

Fingers tightly crossed, it's very very frightening for all involved, I know.

[bigscarymum]

Just wanted to say that my mum had this op about 8 years ago. She was told she might lose the whole leg but in the end it was just the toe. She was worried about walking afterwards as she had been told that the big toe was needed for balance. She has had no problems walking. She does not have diabetes but had been a smoker years ago the vascular surgeon said her veins (?arteries) looked like smokers ones. She has had no problems in her other leg until fairly recently (she is 83) but they do not want to do a by pass yet. She was put on cholesterol lowering drugs afterwards.

[KurriKurri]

Fingers crossed fro him duchesse, - I hope everything goes well and he makes a good recovery

that he is afraid, - its very natural to be scared, but they are usually very good at reassuring people in hospital.

[duchesse]

My father's operation has started- it's a 5-hour op as they are doing a leg bypass at the same time. Keep fingers crossed for him please. Thank you to everyone who has related their relatives' experiences of this.

[duchesse]

My father is having the last two knuckles on the middle toe taken off on Tuesday, and a leg bypass on the worst affected leg at the same time. They have been running tests on him for 10 days now to assess whether his heart is strong enough for such a long operation. Apparently though he has the heart of an ox despite the legs of a pigeon and now he's all marked up and ready to go under the knife. He is very afraid.

[hildathebuilder]

my fil had two toes amputated, but then about 10 months later the rest of his lower leg. In his case he got blood poisoning after another op and the veins packed up. He was told they would always take off the smallest possible amount.

it took him a week or so to come home, then had a wheelcahir, and prothesis. He adapted well and the leg was in fact the least of his problems. He stayed independent but had physio and check ups.

the real irony was he was turned down for DLA on the first application (despite the fact that he also had an ileostomy and had endocarditis and therfore also had a artificial heart valve and drugs etc to control the log term effects of that)

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I only have experience of a toe amputation. My father lost one through diabetes about 8 years ago. Got an infection in it, went to the dr who gave him antibiotics and told him to come back in a fortnight. He got very sick but insisted he would be ok.

He ended up in a and e thank goodness where they actually looked at it and took proper action. We were told they would have to take the toe off, possibly the foot depending on how far the gangrene had spread. Luckily he only lost a toe.

He was told that the others would move over and, sure enough that's what's happened. Now you have to look twice to notice. However, since the operation he has been left with something called Charcot foot which affects bones in the foot from what I can remember. He has to wear a special show insert all the time and should never go barefoot. The sole of his foot is completely flat but otherwise he's now fine.

That's all I know. I don't know about the rest of it. I hope your dad is ok.

[duchesse]

Apparently my father had been soaking his foot in strong antiseptic twice a day for several months. His doctors think is the only reason he is still alive and not dead from septicaemia. His foot has appears to have very little bacterial infection in it at all. He's not is bad physical shape at all for a 72 yo heavy drinker. He hadn't even been near a doctor for 50 years until last Tuesday but finally had to admit defeat with the TCP. Thank goodness he was soaking the foot so obsessively, eh?

[UndiscoveredApprentice]

Duchesse, my dad was told that he 'must' have diabetes, as he too had no other symptoms etc, until the pain in the toe. However, the arterial disease is the problem, what caused it is I suppose immaterial.

Glad to hear they are going to try the bypass - he will be very relieved that every option is being considered before the radical.

had you asked me before this happened I would have said my dad would not have coped - but he did, very well, and I was very proud of the way he handled it over the longer term, although he was in denial/disbelief about the need for it for a while before hand.

This was around 12 years ago, when my dad would have been about 65 or so, so not so far off your dad's age.

Once again, I hope all goes well.