Heals In More Ways Than One

Steve Ohns tadof North Dakota hasn ’t hadacigaret te since September 2021. But his journey to giving up smoking wasn ’t exactly typical.

It began when the wor st blister he ever had app eared on thre e toes of his right foot . While painful, Ste ve didn ’t think too much of it until it st ar te d to change color, eventually turning black . Concerned and in pain , Steve decide d to visi t the emer genc y room at Essent ia Heal th in Fargo.

Abou t one in four people wi th diabetes develop painful footulcers , or openwounds on the bottom or side of the foot . Not onl y can these wounds be uncomfor table, bu t they can also lead to infection , gangrene and ampu tation. This was the case for Ste ve

At the emergency room , Ste vewas told he had gangrene of the foot ,a bad infe ct ion that caus es tissue to die He immediatel y had one toe ampu tate d bu t would eventually los e all the toes on his right foot af tera sc an showe d very limi te d blood flow

Follow ing the ampu tation of his firs t toe, Steve immediatel y began hy perb aric ox ygen therapy (HBOT) under the care of Dr. Olay inka Ajay i and nurs es Sharon Hanson and Tere sa Johnson. Firs t perfor med in the1930 s by the U. S. Navy to treat de compre ssion sick ne ss , HBOT is now used for anas sort ment of injurie s, illne sses andcondit ions – including wound care

For Ste ve,HBOT wasus ed to heal his wound and tr y to prevent furt her ampu tation.

A person ’s body tissue ne eds enough ox ygen to func tion; when someone is injured, their body re quireseven more ox ygen That ’s where HBOT comes in. Inside a hy perb aric chamber, the air pres sureis higher than normal, allow ing the patient’s lung s to take in more ox ygen than they would ot her wise be able to. When the blood carries this surplus of ox ygen throughou t the body, it helps fight bacter ia , as well as st imulate s grow th factor s and stem cells, thus helping the healing proces s.

Steve de scribes the proces s sur rounding HBOT as “ver y st rict .” He re calls onl y being permit te d to wear acotton gown in the clear tube where he re ceived treatment s. He also remembers having to go through an ex tensi ve check list pr ior to each ses sion to ensure he wasn’ t wear ing any thing that isincompat ible wi th the treatment, such as de odorant or shaving lotion And much to Ste ve ’s dismay, he would have to gi ve up smok ing

A self-described “s tubbor n old Norwegian,” Steve jokes that he init iall y didn ’t see eye to eye wi th Sharon ,his nur se w ho ins tr uc te d him to quit smok ing for the duration of his treatment Bu t they got on the same page af ter Sharon ex plaine d that smok ing would counteract the bene ficial effec ts of HBOT.

Today, Ste verave s abou t the care he re ceived from Essent ia.Endear ingl y referring to Dr. Ajay i as “t he capt ain,” Ste ve st ates that he “is an ex tremel y caring physician.” Ste ve has similar prais e for Sharon and Tere sa , re calling when they would come to wor k at 5 a.m. jus t to fit him in on days when they were booked.

WhileSteve los t the toes on his right foot , HBOT save d him from furt her amput at ion. A tr ucker, Ste ve says that “t hing s are now basicall y back to nor mal.” He has returned to the ro ad, dr iving 30 0-70 0 mile sa day wi th the as sist ance ofdiabet ic wor k boots .

Bu t one thing hasn’ t gone back to nor mal: Steve hasn’ t smoked a pu ff since quittingfor his treatment back in September. He says wi th a laug h, “I st ill call Sharon sometimes to let her know that .”

In 2021, Es sentia Heal th -Far go begantoofferhospi tal-based HBOT in the FM WF area Currentl y, Essentia uses HBOT to treat 14 conditions approved by the U. S. Food and Dr ug Adminis tration, as well as the Center s for Medicare and Medicaid Serv ices . These conditions include facili tating healing in diabetic patients wi th foot wounds, thus preventing ampu tations; treating tissue damageresulting from radiation therapy ; andreducing hear t and/orbrain damage in carbon monoxide poisoning

To learn more about wound careand HBOT, visit EssentiaHealth.org and search “wound care.”