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Press Room
April 8, 2004
by Guy Leonard, The Gazette
Wound Care Center saves lives, limbs
APRIL 8, 2004, WASHINGTON D.C. -- When Jerome Jackson went to Mexico last year on vacation to do some caving, he never imagined he would almost lose a leg.
When he came out of a cave and saw the fecal matter of several deer around the water's edge, he thought he might be in trouble.
"The whole leg started to swell. It was hot," Jackson, 59, said. "When I got home, it was so painful I could barely walk. It looked like a shark and I had an encounter."
After sleepless nights, searing pain and the threat of having his leg amputated, Jackson ended up at the Laurel Regional Hospital Center's Wound Care Center, which specializes in healing chronic wounds, and draws 300 new patients each year from the neighboring four counties.
Currently, the clinic receives 70 percent of its patients from referrals from other physicians.
Continuing his treatments in March from December when he first got the infection, Jackson's doctor said his patient has made a remarkable recovery.
"He looked like a piece of chopped meat," said Rene Gelber, a vascular surgeon who is the center's medical director. "He looked 30 years older. He was desperately ill."
All Jackson could think about, he said, was his leg rotting from the inside out.
"All I had was visions of flesh eating bacteria, which is exactly what it was," the Vietnam War veteran and combat medic said.
Jackson is just one of the people who have benefited from the center's care, which had a 92 percent wound healing rate for 2003.
Gelber said there was no mystery to getting chronic, festering wounds to heal.
"I'd thought I'd seen it all but it's unbelievable how debilitating these wounds can be," Gelber said. "The secret to wound care? It isn't rocket science. It's diligence."
Calling wound care a "two-way street," Gelber said patients have to follow strict guidelines to come in for their treatments and follow their doctor's orders. If not, their wounds stand a better chance of getting worse rather than better.
One particular group of patients especially at risk are diabetics who can get ulcers on their skin just by rubbing up against the inside of their shoe or their clothing.
"I lost one leg on account of an ulcer," said Robert Posey, 75, and a diabetic. "It was just a little point between my toes."
That was 11 years before he heard of the wound care center. When he came to the center in January, he expected to lose his other leg, but instead he heard his leg could be healed.
"If I'd had this procedure 11 years ago, I wouldn't have lost my leg," Posey said. "The care here is fantastic. It's outstanding. People don't know how fortunate we are to have this in Laurel."
Aside from the physical care that patients receive like sterilization and cleaning of the wounds sometimes on a weekly basis, they also receive care and compassion.
"Healing is a spiritual thing," Gelber said. "When they come out [from being healed] they're transformed. It's amazing."
That transformation, Posey said, meant changing a life full of fear and loathing into comfort and serenity.
"I felt warmth when I first came in," Posey said upon getting his first treatment. "I felt like this was where I was supposed to be."
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