Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Parrish Medical Center - (Page 50)

DIABETES SUPPORT AND EDUCATION Parrish Medical Center has the only hospital-based diabetes education program in Brevard County. Located at 7075 U.S. Highway 1 in Port St. John, the Diabetes Education Program is accredited by the American Diabetes Association. Individual and group classes are available to help people with diabetes learn to manage their chronic condition. A diabetes support group also meets the third Tuesday of each month from 3 to 4 p.m. in the PMC Conference Center. Call 321-268-6699 to RSVP or for more information. He was seen by Carlos Carrillo, MD, a general/ vascular surgeon who is also on the medical staff of the Parrish Wound Healing Center. Because of the nature and severity of the wound, unfortunately, the only option was amputation of the two outer toes on McGee's right foot. All this happened in about a week's time! Almost too fast for McGee to take it all in. HELPING WOUNDS HEAL HBO therapy (hyperbaric medicine) is used to treat chronic wounds-wounds that are not healing naturally or, for example, a diabetic foot ulcer that fails to improve after 30 days of standard therapy. Wound treatment takes place in a specially designed compartment called a hyperbaric chamber. Wounds heal faster when the patient breathes 100 percent oxygen at higher pressures than that of a normal environment. The chamber helps deliver the prescribed amount of oxygen to the patient's body tissue, which in turn begins the healing process. McGee's eventual date with HBO started one morning last December when he woke to ﬁnd an ulcer on the bottom of his little toe. Over the next couple of days it got worse, changed color and spread to the next toe. That's when he went to the Parrish Medical Center Emergency Department. 10 Years of Excellence 50 WINTE R 2 013 WHAT CAUSES CHRONIC WOUNDS? Typically, chronic wounds occur in patients who have poor blood circulation or diabetes. Underlying causes of chronic wounds vary from patient to patient. In McGee's case, he'd been diagnosed with diabetes about seven years earlier. According to the American Diabetes Association, people who have diabetes can develop many different foot problems. Even ordinary problems can get worse and lead to serious complications, often because of poor circulation or nerve disease. The treatment plan for chronic wounds may include specialty dressings, compression wraps, biological skin grafts, ofﬂoading of pressure on 34,022 8,272 33,089 104 97% Patient visits to the Parrish Wound Healing Center Hyperbaric oxygen treatments HBO units Average number of physicians who refer to the center each year Patients whose wounds are healed at the center

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Parrish Medical Center

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Parrish Medical Center
Contents
Tasty Tips
Opening Thoughts
Community Calendar
Renovation and Rejuvenation
Lights of Love
Got Excuses?
Managing Your Health with a DIY Tool Kit
Is It the Stress Talking?
The Wonderful World of Greens
Knee-to-Know Basics
On the cover
Run for Your Life
14 Good-for-You Gifts
Special Delivery
Virtual Health
Pure Healing
Community Health
Foundation Focus
Ask the Expert

Vim & Vigor - Winter 2013 - Parrish Medical Center