GANGRENE & HBOT

Many of you who have been following Max know he developed a nasty case of Gangrene in his foot while I was on vacation.  The consensus is that it was from not moving enough (should be moved every 4-6 hours minimally and do exercise / Physical therapy).

I had him checked out - all over..

• Cardiac EKG, UltraSound and Doppler were done to make sure there was no clot - cardiologist said he has a very heathy heart!
• Xrays were done - no masses - just arthritis  (he's over 100 in human years)
• Blood work done - normal for him for the most part - elevated where you'd expect  from being on the meds he's been on.  
• Test to determine if there was a clot= came back likely for a clot
• UltraSound of abodmen - all clear - no masses, 
• UltraSound of blood vessels - showed a 40% block in his gangrene leg - when the legs were togeher there was no flow, when they were separated the flow was pretty good... so they think this is what was going on

Gangrene can be caused by a few things: 

• Venomous spider bite  (check the poisonous spiders in your area)
• Venomous snake or scorpion bites
• Diabetes and poor circulation
• Ranaud's disease (circulation issues)
• Clots

What is__gangrene?

It's necrotic or dead tissue and can include an infection too. It is caused by a lack of blood feeding the tissue and the tissue dies

How Gangrene is treated

Many vets just say to put animals down.

Many others just want to cut off the part of the body that has it.  (surgery)

OR.......

there's Oxygen Therapy... or Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT).. which is what we are doing.

Little did I know that HBOT treatment is FANTASTIC for neurological patients and helps improve neuroplasticity - which is helping the brain recreate the connections it lost during brain damage (stroke, brain bleed, hemohrage, anurism, brain tumors, head trauma, etc)  It also is great for infections too. 

Here are some links for you to review:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21287528

http://www.hyperbaricexperts.com/conditions/neurological-disorders/hbot-the-brain.html

(List of other things HBOT can be used to treat:

http://www.vet.utk.edu/departments/LACS/hbot.php

We are getting treatment at Southpaws in DC... google and look for a hospital that offers CERTIFIED AND TRAINED HBOT providers near you

http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/news/article/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-hbot-available-at-southpaws/21833


So... We're now going to post pictures after EACH of Max's Treatments in the next posting.. Max is getting 2 treatments  / day with 4 hours in between each treatment -