Retired GP: ‘I risked having my left foot amputated due to diabetes’

A RETIRED GP who narrowly avoided having a foot amputated because of diabetes has issued a stark warning in the light of new figures.

As revealed in yesterday’s Oxford Mail, Public Health England statistics showed 124 people in Oxfordshire had diabetes-related amputations between 2010 and 2013.

This was an increase of four per cent on amputations carried out between 2007 and 2010.

Patricia White, from Moulsford, near Wallingford, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes as a child.

In 2007, after fracturing her left foot on holiday in Tobago, Dr White developed complications, including MRSA, and her foot failed to heal.

She walked for months with a shattered heel and a developing infection, but was completely oblivious as she had no feeling in her feet.

The 67-year-old said: “I couldn’t feel anything on my feet.

“Because you haven’t got sensation in your feet you’re not walking properly but don’t realise it.
“Once I went outside with no shoes on to turn off the garden hose and when I walked in I hit my foot on a grate, not knowing that I’d cut myself. There was blood all the way up the stairs.”

In 2007, after fracturing her left foot on holiday in Tobago, Dr White developed complications, including MRSA, and her foot failed to heal.
She walked for months with a shattered heel and a developing infection, but was completely oblivious as she had no feeling in her feet.
The 67-year-old said: “I couldn’t feel anything on my feet.

“Because you haven’t got sensation in your feet you’re not walking properly but don’t realise it.
“Once I went outside with no shoes on to turn off the garden hose and when I walked in I hit my foot on a grate, not knowing that I’d cut myself. There was blood all the way up the stairs.”

It was only during a routine foot examination at the Churchill hospital, in Headington, that doctors realised the extent of the damage to her heel – finding her left foot was 7C warmer than her right.
At a follow-up in the nearby Nuffield Orthapaedic Centre, doctors broke the news that she could face amputation.

Luckily, after wearing a foot brace for 18 months, Dr White recovered, but it served as a worrying reminder of the risks posed to diabetics.

Full story: oxfordmail,co.uk

Paul wrote:Exactly that Graham! How can they be qualified to deal with the newly diagnosed when they can't even get their own house in order in some cases like this one!

graham64 wrote:

Paul wrote:Exactly that Graham! How can they be qualified to deal with the newly diagnosed when they can't even get their own house in order in some cases like this one!

That's why self management is important for us diabetics Paul