Wound Care Center Celebrates Second Anniversary
October 13, 2011
Sonora,
CA
In 2010, Bob Fisher had a one-inch ulceration on his leg. The wound required a couple of bandage changes everyday and did not get any better for six months. Having had enough of the high maintenance, Fisher decided to call the Center for Wound Care.
“The staff was very efficient,” recalls Fisher. In his initial appointment, his wound was examined and determined to be infected. The fact that his wound would not heal was attributed to a venous valvular defect, a condition which doesn’t allow proper blood flow in Fisher’s legs.
Finally with a diagnosis, Fisher began the treatment regimen prescribed by Eden Smith, MD, one of the three physicians who treat patients at the Center for Wound Care. Fisher underwent a course of antibiotics and a series of bandaging which included silver bandages, zinc oxide wraps, and positive pressure wraps to encourage draining and provide an antimicrobial environment for the wound.
Fisher also received a new layer of skin. “We use bio-engineered wound care products often thought of as human skin substitutes,” says Dr. Smith, the Center’s Medical Director. “Actual human skin cells present in the product help the patient’s tissue to grow and heal.”
After suffering six months with a non-healing wound, Fisher’s wound was successfully healed at the Center in eight weeks.
The Center for Wound Care, a Sonora Regional Medical Center clinic, opened in 2009 and is celebrating Fisher’s success, along with hundreds of other successfully treated wounds. In two years, the Center has healed 669 chronic wounds in our community and beyond. The Center is unique to this area. Patients have routinely traveled up from the Modesto area to receive this specialized care which is not available in Stanislaus County.
Fisher’s story doesn’t end with one wound healed. “No sooner did I get released from their care, I was out cutting the wood pile, ran into a pine spike and tore open the other leg,” says Fisher. “This time I did not wait; I went to wound care and was healed in six weeks.”
And Fisher would not hesitate to return again should he suffer from another wound. “The whole staff knows their job and goes through each process methodically; the doctors listen, ask good questions and take appropriate action; and everyone there is very caring. They treat you like a human being.”
To find out more about the Center for Wound Care, visit www.sonoramedicalcenter.org or call 209.536.5196.
