Foot Ulcer - Happy me.

Today has been one of my happiest time in clinic. I was more in control of what I was doing. Today, I had a patient who came in with ulcer. The moment I flipped through the case note, I was already feeling anxious. U.L.C.E.R..... oh my!

Called the patient, gathered some information on my initial interview, carried out the necessary assessments and cracked on with the work. All those initial bits were not as difficult, it was just looking for any differences since she last came. She last came last week for ulcer treatment dressing. She had a healing ulcer on the dorsal L/2nd Proximal Interphalangeal Joint (tibia side) secondary to shearing from footwear.

The identified problems:

• Age - 77
• Medical and Surgical histories - Breast cancer (mastectomy done), Bone cancer.
• Incompliance to footwear advice - tight, small toebox, only toes covering shoes.

I also took pictures of this patient's feet that I wanted to put up here, but to think about confidentiality, I rather not.

It is actually a simple thing to handle but it actually comes with a big responsibility. I had to prospectively look at the prognosis and making sure I did not cause any further injury or bleeding this will cause further infection.

Afternoon session, had a simple rather quite a challenging patient. It was his second time at the clinic who was deciding to have nail surgery. I think he is still in the booking list. But then he realised, surgery is not the only solution. His ingrown toe-nail is not as bad as anything that I have seen before.

Overall, I am happy with my performance. Got all positive clinical fedback from my clinical tutors. So what could be more satisfying in clinic. =P

Oh btw, today it was freezing cold at -2deg, everyone was scrapping and deicing their cars, the park was beautifully covered with grey frost. I enjoyed my walk to the hospital this morning. although not the cold!