Hear from Duke Raleigh Hospital Wound Healing Center patients.
James Pipkin
When James Pipkin arrived at Duke Raleigh Hospital, he was suffering from blisters on his ankle, and his right leg was red. A type 2 diabetic, James and his wife of 33 years were quite anxious after the wound appeared.
James had already overcome many obstacles, including having survived colon cancer in 2006, and the couple was worried that James would lose his leg.
Thanks to the professional guidance of Dr. Andrew Drabick and Dr. Scott Covington, James and his wife not only received mental relief, but James also received a prompt diagnosis and treatment that brought physical comfort. Dr. Covington discovered that James had two blockages in his right leg and surgically put two stints in his leg.
From then on, the Wound Healing Center helped James to regain a sense of normalcy. His wife Diane brought him to Duke Raleigh’s hyperbaric chamber for 45 days, all while she worked 12-13 hours per day.
“Everyone in the Wound Healing Center was great, and we could not ask for better people,” said Diane. “James did not lose his leg, and he has been walking and exercising ever since his treatment.”
A rather easygoing gentleman, James usually defers to his wife on his care. “When the doctors wanted to know something, I said talk to Diane,” noted James. “And the staff gave her the information that she needed to care for me.”
Rather than use a home health aide, Diane opted to take care of her husband at home. “The Wound Healing Center staff ensured that we had the necessary supplies, and they showed me how to properly treat my husband’s wound,” added Diane.
When asked if he has to go back to the center, James said “I don’t have to go, but I know how to get there.”
Vivian Stewart
Vivian Stewart knows that time doesn’t heal all wounds -- but, if asked, she may suggest a whole lot of oxygen. Stewart and her husband had lived in Raleigh for almost three-and-a-half years when she learned she had breast cancer at Thanksgiving of 2006.
Stewart immediately embarked on a plan with her caregivers to fight the disease, beginning with a lumpectomy in December and chemotherapy and radiation treatments in the following months. In June 2007 Stewart’s treatment plan took a detour, however, when she developed a radiation injury from radiation therapy that she said, “just wouldn’t heal.”
Up to 5 percent of patients receiving radiation therapy experience difficulty in healing radiation injuries, called radiation necrosis. These injuries are tissue damage that can result from radiation therapy and can require more advanced treatment options to heal the wounds. Stewart’s physicians tried using wound drains to help speed up the healing process, but her healing was further complicated by her diabetes.
Stewart’s care team then told her about promising healing options for her condition at The Wound Healing Center at Duke Raleigh Hospital.
“As an insulin-dependent diabetic for more than 40 years,” said Stewart, “I was so excited to find out about the idea of oxygen treatment and the hyperbaric chambers. Before I began my treatment plan, I went online and did all of the research I could to learn about it and definitely felt it was a good option for me.”
Beginning in September over an eight-week period, Vivian came for thirty, two-and-a half hour treatments in a hyperbaric chamber.
Upon first seeing the large glassed-in cylinder of the chamber Stewart said, “I was a little anxious about what it would be like to be in there. But, once I went in, Pat, my nurse, was able to talk to me via a phone, and I watched TV and was able to even take a nap -- I could signal them if there was anything I needed.”
With the use of hyperbaric medicine, Stewart’s tissue damage responded positively and began the healing process. It became no longer necessary to undergo the oxygen treatments as her body began to take over the remaining healing process. Stewart is now only monitored weekly to keep the progress in check.
“I had never realized that a center would have such a specialized process for healing wounds,” Stewart said. “I am so grateful for this place. The people here were extremely knowledgeable and so up-to date on the newest and best options for healing me.”
