Putting the wound bed to rest Treatment for hard to heal wounds available at Madison Health
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he first time London resident Jerry Hodos, age 48, noticed something wasn’t right with his legs was back in 1996. Since he works as a long-distance truck driver, he’s used to sitting a lot, but when he started getting pain in the backs of his legs, he knew something was wrong. It was that same year he learned he had venous insufficiency, or poor circulation in his legs, which was the cause of his painful skin ulcers.
“They have no idea what causes this condition,” he said. “Basically, the veins in my legs break down and kill the tissue around them leading to fluid buildup. This eventually turns into open wounds that allow the fluid to leak. It got so bad – I had as many as eight open wounds at one time. I had to stop driving trucks because I couldn’t sit for long periods of time due to the pain.” Lucky for Jerry, certified wound care is now located closely and conveniently to his home. Although he hadn’t had an episode in about four and a half years, Jerry recently found himself an inpatient at Madison Health with a severe infection in his leg. “That’s where I met wound care nurse Amy Rickens and she’s been a godsend,” said Jerry. Amy, who has worked at Madison Health for 10 years as a registered nurse, decided a little more than a year ago to pursue credentialing to become a certified wound care nurse. This certification provides her with knowledge of the latest evidence-based Amy Rickens, RN treatments in the wound care industry. “I developed an interest in wound care in nursing school and have seen a variety of wounds during my career,” she said. “It doesn’t take long for a wound to develop – it can happen in as little as one to two days.”
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Jerry Hodos
Amy says diabetes, poor circulation, lack of movement, poor nutrition and being overweight all increase a person’s chances of developing open wounds. “Part of my job is educating patients and families about what they need to do to prevent the wound from returning in the future,” she said. “That means eliminating what caused it in the first place.” In addition to pressure ulcers, Amy also sees patients with surgical incision wounds and abscesses. She treats wounds with topical ointments, sterile dressings and when necessary, wound vacuums. “Wounds need to stay moist in order to heal and allow new skin cells to grow and migrate across the wound and cover the hole,” she said. “This takes time.” Most patients come in twice a week for dressing changes. Amy’s goal is to make it as easy as possible for patients to manage their wound care at home.