A lot of napping

Its been a few months since my last post because I've been busy running around. This current pic shows that my ulcer has healed up quite a bit over the last few months. The yellowish rough parts are dried skin or scabbed skin. I was the area with a washcloth & Hibeclens to remove what I can but I don't want to pull anything off because sometimes this leads to bleeding. I'm currently on 12mg of Prednisone and another drug that seems to make me sleepy. It seems the more i sleep the better my leg heals up. maybe it has something to do with the edema.

Mid November

This pic shows the area outside the ring healing. If I pull this rough skin/ scab it will either bleed or will display new skin beneath. So, I'll just wait for it to go away or be washed away while I shower. Again, I simply use a washcloth with some Hibiclens antimicrobial soap.

Mid October

My leg looks kind of "chubby" from the edema but I thought it looked better while I was taking the pic. As one can notice the 'ring' has gotten smaller. Again, I generally wash the ulcer with a washcloth with a squirt of Hibiclens while showering. The ulcer produces no pain so washing isn't an issue. After showering I let it dry real well and then apply some Neosporin on the edges after which I cover with a piece of  soft paper towel. "Viva" brand paper towel is the best I've found so far, soft and absorbent.

Also a good tape is required. I've been forced to use all types of tape throughout the years. Its best to purchase online. The medical tape I see at my local drugstores is really expensive about $6 bucks a roll and its low quality clowntape. The 3M Micropore tape works great. I like the 2" or 3" widths. Even when I had my "leaky leg" problem the Micropore tape held up. The pic shows a 6 pack of Micropore I just got online for about $10 bucks delivered.

To save a few bucks I have no problem using Wal-Mart or Target house label versions of Neosporin. I'm not sure why its so expensive. I have a Target near me so i nave been using their 'up&up' triple antibiotic salve. Its at least 50% less costly than the Neosporin brand.

Early Fall

This pic looks alot like the one from August. The actual size of the ulcer has been reduced. I've gotten a little bit of edema around the ankle and I had a flareup which has since healed, located on the side of my ankle. Flareups generally come about once every few months and follow the same routine. The area hurts like a deep pimple and then a purplish node or bulb appears, about the size of a pea. It breaks and bleeds like crazy. An actual hole will appear. After a few days it will heal up.I'm not sure why I get flareups. They just happen without warning. Even with the increase in exercise which seems to help the ulcer, it has no effect on flareups.

After a walk

I'm convinced that as I increase my amount of exercise I see an advancement in my ulcer's level of healing. My doc says that swimming is good for me but I don't have access to a pool normally so I'm forced to walk generally for my exercise. The last few months I have been removing thick bands of dry skin that surround the ulcer. As this dry skin is removed new, albeit scared skin is hiding underneath. The small patch of "missing" skin I had a few weeks ago has healed up.

Post Nashville

After a few weeks of swimming my ulcer has improved alot. Before every shower I feel around,  feeling for a "scab" or a ring of dried skin on the outer area. Every once and a while I'll pull it off or at least a piece off, exposing fresh skin underneath. In this pic one can see a patch of skin that has been removed. While removing my bandage a week ago, after a swim, this patch of skin came off with the tape. It came right off, like nothing. It stung like a bitch! A few days of neosporin and it has begun to heal up.

Summer Swimming

While swimming I crafted this "leg sock". I still have the bandage on underneath. I simply took a dress sock and cut off the end so that it may slide up my foot and onto the calf. It worked great!  

Looks about the same..

After looking over some of my older posts it seems not much progress has been made over the last few months. I used to have to change my dressing a few times a day. Then I moved on to a "pad". It was necessary because my ulcer was producing fluid. Well, now the "fluid phase" is over and It isn't necessary that I continue to use a "pad". These days I simply use a few squares of paper towel (Viva brand is the best)taped to my leg. After I shower, I use a little Neosporin and tape my towel on. It will last for the whole day.

Moving On

I took an hour or so of washing my ulcer with hydrogen peroxide before taking this picture. I just took a small glass of water and made a 50/50 mixture with the peroxide. Its painless. The white "gunk" that covers the ulcer sticks on really tight. A little peroxide wash can loosen things up. Again everything I do is pointed towards keeping my ulcer clean and dry. It allows the healing process to "do its thing". I have also noticed that the more exercise I do, walking, the better condition my leg seems to be. My problems with edema in both my legs is gone. It was such a pain in the ass I'm glad its gone away. I'm sure the exercise helped this out a lot. As we get better weather in NYC I'm sure I'll spend more time walking around.

I've lost about 30 pounds over the last few months and it seems to have helped out alot. It has allowed me to get some exercise done, walking. It may not seem like much but when you aren't doing anything except walking to the store or the bathroom an afternoon walk is a giant leap. The speed of healing of the ulcer has increased and my right leg has almost totally healed. If I didn't scratch my right leg so much it probably would have healed by now.

Pressure Socks

The pressure socks are a much better thing to deal with than those Uni boot wraps. The problem with the pressure socks is that they can hurt. When I first got them it was not possible to put them on because they were too tight. I stretched them over a few days and they worked out. Any gaps or slack in the sock and the edema will take advantage of it, sometimes creating strange bulges or bumps. They also cause a good deal of ankle pain. I can only wear them for a few hrs before removing them. Perhaps things will get easier as the fabric loosens up. They all start to lose tension after a few months of wear. So, I read. My problem with my right leg has healed enough where I no longer wear any bandages or pads at all. The issue of the 'weeping edema" or the fluids continually draining from my legs has stopped. This is great because it allows me to leave the house for much longer periods of time. The ulcer has continued to heal as the picture illustrates. My prednisone is at 20mg a day. And I continue to gently wash the ulcer with a warm washcloth and Hibiclens.

The New Year

This might look a tad messy but things are moving in the right direction. Every other time I shower I spend a moment rubbing a wash cloth over my ulcer. There is no pain. I just want to make sure things are as clean as they can be, Hibiclens, hot water, my wash cloth and some elbow grease.

After a few weeks of wearing the leg rap things cleared up. I no longer am wearing the wraps and have moved on to "compression socks". They have been ordered but i haven't received them yet. As the pic shows most of the ulcer has healed up. It has dried up and is surrounded by dried skin. My prdnisone was reduced to 30mg a day which so far has worked out. I have had a few flare ups but they don't last. It seems the trick was getting the water or edema out of my legs so that they could heal. I hated wearing the wraps but they did work as promised.

Still moving forward

I know the pic makes things look like a mess but there has been some real progress on my ulcer healing up. It shows about 3/4"-1" inches of new skin. My daily dosage of Prednisone has been reduced to 40mg a day. I was taking about 160mg a day about two months ago. The side effects were ruining me. Since the dosage reduction I've lost about 25lbs of water weight. My hands and arms have lost the puffy appearance. It seems every week my doc says that its my last week wearing the "uniboot" but the following week he'll say the same thing. I figure I've got about 4-5 weeks more of wearing this thing and then I'm going to be wearing something called a "pressure sock". I'm not sure what they are but I looked a few up on Amazon, about $25 a pair. I would love to get those on and lose what I've got now. Of course I'm happy to see progress on my leg and will do whatever is necessary to get things healed up.

Progress

Uniboot removed

Things really look like a mess here but they aren't bad. This pic was taken right after I cut off the cast. I wear this thing for a whole week and cut it off with a box cutter and some scissors. The whole area is loaded with dry skin, looks like dandruff. The white square thingy is actually a small section of the antibacterial pad they cover the ulcer with prior to wrapping things up. This pad usually melts away from body heat. Wearing this thing is a BIG PAIN IN THE ASS! Its impossible to shower while wearing it. I'm a 1 or 2 shower a day guy, so after a few days without a shower, I start losing my fukin' mind. The upside to all this is that this uniboot thing works. I've seen a 1/2" to 3/4" inch ribbon of new skin surrounding my shrinking ulcer, progress I haven't seen in years. I'm not sure how long I'll have to wear this thing but I sure hope it ain't much longer.

Bulb

The reduction of my Prednisone allowed this thing to pop up. It looks bad but doesn't hurt much. It grew fast, from red area to red ball in about two days. The slightest use of a washcloth pulled it apart as usual. Its just a mater of keeping the wound clean with a little dab of neosporin.

Uniboot II

The second week of wearing the boot didn't go so well because it started to slip off. It should be removed Friday morning before showering and the new one put on a few hours later. I cut it off my leg Wednesday afternoon because the slippage was exposing my ulcer and it wasn't possible to "fix". I took a box cutter and worked the fabric. It took about 5 min. The nurse told me to keep the boot dry. How am i supposed to bathe? A simple shower would too much water so I tried a kitchen trash bag and some tape. It works! It takes a good amount of tape though. I'm not sure how many weeks they are going to want me to wear this thing. The doc is very happy with the results so far.

Uniboot

I was sent to a specialist and he applied the "uniboot". It looks just like an Ace wrap that is worn for a solid week. It seems that my edema was preventing the leg from healing. After just one week progress was seen. I'm going to be wearing this boot thing for a few weeks. I'm not sure why its called a boot when it is simply a wrap. with a zinc/medicine patch placed on the ulcer, keeping it moist and prevent infection. We'll see where this road leads but so far so good.

Edema

The right side of my body has never been effected by anything. Lately it has been developing an edema that just comes and goes. Its been a side effect of the prednisone which I've been hoping to reduce/eliminate but so far my docs are not simpatico on its replacement.