My Chronic Illnesses - Phase II

Phase I - Timeline: Age 20-30
» Phase II - Timeline: Age 31-Present
Phase III - Timeline: 33-Present

As if my health problems couldn't get any worse after suffering from multiple blood clots for almost 10 years of my adult life, new developments emerged due to the strains derived from phase I of my chronic illnesses. Neither the specialists who took care of my DVT's, nor my family doctor could of predicted the long-term effects of bruised arteries, veins and blood vessels.

WARNING: This article contains information and pictures which is NOT for the faint of heart. If you have a weak stomach, you may not want to look at the pictures below.

By the time I reached the age of 31, I had years of experience dealing with legs that didn't perform as they should. Most of the activities I would participate in, would be catered around slow pacing, non time restricting movements. Everything I did was geared towards not over-doing it to prevent; swelling, pain, exhaustion and fatigue.

That being said, when I was around 31, about 3 years ago to this day, I decided to help my neighbour with a home rebuild in the local area which involved tearing the entire interior down and rebuilding the newly demolished spaces. I had some pain within my lower left ankle due to a redish/black spot about the size of a looney, which at the time was extremely sensitive and was explained by my doctor as "seepage of blood" from my blood vessels. Over time, due to the relentless stretching and bruising from the previous blood clots, my veins and arteries took a beating, leaving them in a worn out state.

Unaware of what this "spot" really could do, I went on about my business working hard every day tearing down walls. One morning after about a week of working like a man, I came home and sat on my porch to relax after a hard days work. I took off my steel-toe boots and tore off my socks to release the swelling. By doing this, I tore the entire red/black spot completely off my leg, leaving a divot at the side of my ankle about a millimetre thick and full of blood. A terrible shock of pain jolted through my leg right up my spine. My hands started to shake as I grabbed my leg in agony.

The experience was so frightening, I took a cab to the closest emergency, which happened to be St. Joe's Hospital in Hamilton, the very same place I previously took refuge while being treated for my blood clots. Waiting there for over 4 hours to see a doctor, I remember wondering why this now happened over and above everything else which was already imprinted in my memory over the years. The doctor on staff had called in one of the Thrombo specialists who had previously dealt with my condition for an assessment and further advice. After a couple of blood tests, they wrapped my leg with an amateur touch and sent me home to come back in the morning to see my specialist, Dr. Douketis and his team.

Upon returning to the vascular department, surrounded by familiar faces of my past, we once again embarked on a journey of multiple tests and assumptions. No one had any idea what had just happened. The  vascular doctor on site was a little baffled, he had never seen a hole tear out of someone's ankle before.

What is Going on, What's this Hole is my Leg?

After my visit to St. Joe's, I was immediately referred to a Dermatology specialists located at the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Ontario. From there an biopsy was performed on the hole in my leg. This involved freezing the surrounding tissue and extracting a piece of skin from the wound. From there, the labs could do all sorts of tests from the sample they obtained.

It took weeks to get any results, in the meantime, I was visited by a nurse at my home to clean the wound and to re-wrap the wound every few days. All the while, I continued to go to work. Wrapped my wound with extra padding and some duck tape to prevent any further damage and continued my demo work near by (What a great idea Martin!!!).

Two week went by without any word as to what had happened. Finally I got the call to visit the outpatient department at St. Joe's once again. Maybe this time I might get some answers. The results were in and they weren't motivating.

Rheumatoid Vasculitis - A Rare Vascular Disease!

If you've already read "Phase I" to my chronic illnesses, you would of learned that I had a rare condition called; "Factor V Laiden" deficiency. 10 Years later, after battling a great deal of pain and discomfort, I develop yet another rare diseased called; "Rheumatoid Vasculitis" which there is no known cure to date. Everything I have has to rare, there's no other way. Once again, doctors are baffled as to how I keep getting one rare condition after another.

Rheumatoid Vasculitis - Increases inflammation to; veins, arteries, blood vessels or capillaries. The inflammation increases swelling to the blood vessels, ultimately decreasing the blood flow to important organs. Now more than ever, it's important for me to ensure my blood clots don't affect blood flow, since I now have two separate conditions working against blood flow within my body.

If That Wasn't Enough, Bring on the Ulcers.

Vasculitis - Growing ulcers (Right Leg).

Vasculitis and blood clots I can deal with, but I never expected the effect ulcers would have on my body and psyche. Ulcers can become a real nasty condition to have, which comes along with massive chronic pain that never really goes away. I don't wish this pain on anyone, not even my worse enemy. The discomfort alone is enough to drive anyone mad. Please also understand that most people get ulcers only after their 60th birthday or usually later in life.

The picture to the right is showing you an ulcer I developed a year later (My 1st ulcer on my left leg), after the initial incident. The initial ulcer on my left leg has since grown into something quite nasty which is shown below.

2ND WARNING: The pictures below get a lot worse compared to the one I just showed you from above. If you have a weak stomach, I would advise that you skip this article and go to "Phase 3" of my chronic illnesses.

So How Do You Cure an Ulcer?

There are many treatments one can entertain while treating an ulcer. Bottom line is that it will take time, that's one constant that holds true for most people. Unfortunately for me, due to my underlining conditions, my ulcers have taken over 2 years to heal and still counting.

CONTINUING CARE:
A licensed nurse or health care worker is needed to; clean the wound as needed regularly, keep an eye on it's progress, and to help with changing the wrap around the wound.

I myself see a nurse once a week who assists me in changing my wrap. Yes, they assist me, I've had years of experience with countless methods, products, materials and strategies on how to change my wounds. Later on I will detail all of the materials used to clean and wrap my wounds effectively.

PLENTY OF REST:
As humans our bodies heal the most when we sleep. While in REM sleep, our bodies are hard at work attacking the cells needing repair.

If you're anything like me, you might suffer from insomnia which prevents you from getting a good sleep on a regular basis. I've been advised by a few specialist that I may be suffering from "sleep-apnea", but we'll get to that another time.

SILVER:
This natural resource has one of the best healing properties known to man. Many of the wound care products on the market already contain silver embedded within them to help with the healing process.

Guess who's allergic to Silver? 

ME of course! Go figure huh?

KEEP THE WOUND DRY:

Contrary to what you might believe, washing the wound in a bath or shower can actually have a negative effect and may increase the amount of bacteria within the wound itself leading to unwanted infections. If you suffer from leg ulcers as I do, try to wrap your leg with plastic bags, tapped off at the top to prevent water from getting in when taking a shower. The only way you want to wash a wound is by using "sterile water" a.k.a. "Saline".


Do NOT attempt to go into the ocean or backyard pools. You will immediately regret that decision as even more bacteria will attack the exposed tissue and deliver a great deal of pain. One time I attempted to go into a wave pool to see if it was ok, I jumped out of the pool quickly and suffered for days.

TAKE YOUR MEDICATIONS:
I hate the one to tell you this, since I used to be a hatter of medications. In fact, I pretty much disliked anything that came in a pill format for that matter. Many medications used to heal wounds are very specific and can also help to deal with the; pain, inflammation, swelling, discomfort, infections and mental stresses.

Bring on the Pain!

Now that you've gotten a taste of what I have to go through, it's time to show you the extend of my wounds to date. Please brace yourself, this is not a pretty picture. I'm used to looking at these and they don't bother me much, but for some of you this may be a shock.

But it didn't stop there...
Click here to read "My Chronic Illnesses - Phase III" >>


Thank you for taking the time to read about my life,
I hope to help yours as well!

Sincerely,
Martin Robillard Lemieux
Editor & Author