Paula Hankins has suffered from diabetes for twenty years. She developed two large diabetic ulcers on her heels and was wheelchair bound. Paula says after two years of treatment no progress had been made. That's when she came to the Wound and Hyperbaric Center at Baptist Health in North Little Rock.
Dr. Angela Driskill says Paula's wounds are very serious. "She came in, she had very difficult wounds on both of her feet, and she had to have some surgery. One of the foot specialists in town helped us. But she was ultimately headed towards amputation of both of her legs and she was very compliant."
Driskill says they had to perform skin grafts using skin substitutes and put her through hyperbaric treatments. Oxygen used under pressure, or hyperbaric oxygen, can assist wound healing, particularly diabetic wounds and skin grafts. It took forty treatments for Paula.
Because of the complicated structure of her feet Driskill will continue to see Paula every three to four months because diabetics can develop foot problems so easily.
Even with the great technology they have, Driskill says unfortunately not all wounds can be healed. "Not every wound is healable, there are a lot of factors that play into that, nutrition the health of the person, their compliance, whether they smoke or not, if they're diabetic how well their diabetes is controlled, all of those issues play into whether or not a wound will heal."
But patients like Paula, who is now out of the wheelchair and walking on her own again, will tell you it's worth trying everything you can. "You need to try it. You really need to try it because it can change your life and put you back on the road to enjoying life, it really can"