[PeterT]

Throughout the month of August my left foot was swollen and at times slightly painful. I thought it was just sprained and carried on.

Early September my right elbow started to get painful and after a few days swollen. This was made worse by the fact I was driving a Sprinter for work that had no running board on the driver's side, and I was clambering in by hauling myself in by the steering wheel.

I finally broke down and went to the Emergency department of the local hospital where I was told I had a broken ankle (!) and cellulitis on the elbow. I was put in a removable cast on the foot / leg and put on an IV antibiotic drip for a week, and given two appointments the following week to have the ankle examined on the Monday and the elbow ooh the Tuesday.

The following Monday I finally admitted under questioning from the Doctor to being diabetic and not having taken care of it for several years! I was given a follow up for the next week at another campus of the hospital to see an orthopedic surgeon and have a full contact cast.

On the Tuesday I saw another Doctor for the elbow who told me it was Bursitis and that he wanted to operate later that day to drain the pus from the elbow. I was admitted that afternoon, had surgery and spent the rest of the week in hospital consulting with other Doctors on my diabetes.

Finally when I got to see the surgeon and have the cast, I was diagnosed with Charcot Foot.

Since then I've been in a cast the whole time, had both a bone scan and gallium scan (looks at the tissues in your body for signs of infection). I'm currently waiting for a date for surgery which will probably remove some bone from my foot and fuse other bones.

At least on the bright side I've done wonders in bringing my blood sugars down to bring in range via both major diet changes and a combination of insulin and pills.

I've been off work since mid September and have been told that post surgery, recovery can be several months.

Why am I writing this (and starting this thread)?

Simply put, to remind you that if you have medical issues, don't ignore them; take the necessary steps to treat the issue. Don't do as I did and ignore the problem.

Anyone else have a health issue they ignored?

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