Charcot Foot

[livingwith]

Hello All,
I have been diabetic since I was 17 , I am now 44 years old. Like many people I did what I wanted, ate what I wanted and did very little exercise. In the time I gained a significant amount of weight, heart problems, circulation problems, on oxygen 24/7. you name it I have been there.
The latest event is finding out that I have charot [charcot] foot. In November I noticed that my ankle and foot were swelling and that my foot was turning red. After two weeks of nothing happening (...Read the full article

[Medtrans+]

Dear Christine: This is Sat. March 8, 2008, and also the first time I have gone to a website in order to research Charcot foot, which is what I believe I do have, although the diagnosis is in the process of being confirmed. Our circumstances seem to be so different...I do not have diabetes. About 2 years ago, it all of a sudden felt like I was "walking on rocks". As time progressed, things in our personal lives were happening, including my husband losing his entire lung, etc, and I was so wrapped up in caring for him that I let my own symptoms go a bit. Finally I realized something was wrong and right now I am waiting for authorization to be seen at USC in Los Angeles, CA. I don't live in L.A.; about 100 miles or so away from there. I am hoping there will be something they can do. The reason I feel it is Charcot is that it was, in fact, mentioned to me at one point in time when I saw a podiatrist several years ago, but at that time I could still walk. I just had left hip replacement done in Dec 07 and my recovery has been complicated by the Charcot, as I walk with the feet extended outward. I do have peripheral neuropathy and I had a wound on the bottom of my other foot, which was being treated. Luckily for me, we are a retired military family so that our insurance will at least provide care. When I heard about the possibility of maybe not being able to walk for 4-6 months, I could not believe it. I cannot even believe it is happening to me as I have had to quit my job and things have just been crazy. Our daughter-in-law died unexpectedly about 6 weeks ago and I could not even attend the funeral. I am now waiting to go USC and on Monday I have followup with my hip surgeon because the hip has come out of the joint twice already. The same surgeon did my other hip 2 years ago and I had no problems whatsoever, so I do not think my current problems are from the surgery, but from the Charcot foot. Right now, I don't know where I am going with all of this either and I can relate to your topic of "unbelievable". Only someone else who has this would be able to understand the frustration of not being able to take a shower because your weight cannot support the feet for too long, but what I have done is purchase a shower chair and I also bought those shoes called "RX CROCS" which I ordered online from Footsmart.com. I also soak my feet every day and put on clean socks twice a day too. I wear thick socks with those Croc shoes and it is the best combination I have been able to find for at least a little bit of comfort. I am anxious about going to USC. I am 57 but have 2 grandkids and a lot of living and activities that I still plan on doing. I have been "down" a few times (so very much unlike my character!) and I have to get hold of myself. It is the not being able to walk that kills me the most, although I am still currently walking with the help of a walker. I did hear that one cannot bear any weight at all on your feet, after you have surgery, for maybe 6 months. I cannot even imagine that at this point in time, but if it is God's will, then so be it. I have struggled to keep my personal faith and that has been the hardest test ever! I do not blame God, I blame the DEVIL HIMSELF for trying to get me to lose my faith, which is something I refuse to do. I worked in a hospital for 16-18 years as a medical transcriptionist and so I know enough to make myself a little dangerous! There is always someone who has it worse than you, however, so the best thing we can do is pray hard, ask others to pray for us, listen to our doctors and replace our fears with hope for the future, that there will either be a new procedure or maybe SOMETHING that will happen to help us and speed up the recovery time, and also give us back our lives which I feel has just been stolen from me. I am also overweight and I have a feeling no doctor is going to operate until I loose some more weight. Since we are not exercising right now, we do not need that many calories to sustain, so I am going to drink an Ensure for breakfast, just eat a Healthy Choice meal and have fruit or veggies, etc, keeping it around 800 calories daily until I see how the weight loss progresses, then take it from there. I will do whatever I have to do in order to be able to walk again and our healing starts in our brain, so we have to keep our faith! We just HAVE TO! Also, having someone to talk with is always helpful. I don't know why things have to be this way for now, but I know I need to lose 50 pounds before they will consider surgery, and I am hoping to have the strength to do this. It's hard as my husband is diabetic and so he thinks of food more than I do! I don't know why we have been destined to have this happen, especially when I personally have worked so hard my whole life and I have been so active, but I refuse to let this get me down. I will be praying for you as I understand what you are feeling right now...sometimes I have just broken down and cried, as to ask,"why me, God?". Since my hip came back out of the joint the last time 5 weeks ago, I too have had to just do daily sponge baths and I just hate it! I have this special no-rinse soap that I use which is a no-rinse soap used for colostomy patients and it is excellent for cleaning and not being irritating, and I'm sure you might be able to purchase it at a medical supply store. I also soak the feet every day and as I think I said, put on clean socks twice a day too. I also bought TED hose and sometimes will put ice in Ziploc freezer bags and place a towel on the ankle and then ice the swollen areas for no more than 15-20 minutes or so. i am not on any neuropathy drugs, but I am on pain meds as also the 4 lower disks in my back are so degenerated that it is "bone-on-bone" or so they tell me. For that I will be seen at Loma Linda, so I know I have a long recovery ahead. I am hoping I can handle it okay but I already know there will be major frustrations, just based upon what I have been going through so far. I hope that you will write again on this website so I can see how you are doing and if there have been any new changes.
Please know that even I don't know you, I will pray for you too as I so believe in the power of prayer!
Take care and maybe I will hear from you soon...keep up with your faith and if you have any suggestions for me, I would greatly appreciate it as well! Have a good day tomorrow...
sincerely, Medtrans+