[Video] How Restoring Vascular Health Can Help Restore Quality of Life

The vascular system is your body’s superhighway. It’s responsible for thousands of miles of blood vessels and arteries which are needed to deliver blood throughout your body. In this article, we are sharing a video from Washington Healthcare Systems and ABC 7 San Francisco which talks about the quality of life benefits of restoring your vascular health.

Video Transcript:

0:05 So it was the day after Thanksgiving. And she was on her way to go black friday shopping and she was stepping out of her garage and she just fell on the floor on the cement. And she couldn’t move. She couldn’t get up my sister called the ambulance. And so she broke her left ankle and the right one she fractured. So she was unable to walk ever since then. We’ve pulled all the troops together and all the different specialties into a coordinated effort to try to get her back on her feet and back to independence.

0:37 Before the incident where she felt my mom was very active, very normal, walking around, driving herself to the store, friend’s house, pick up my kids from baseball to and from school, and she always took them to school, pick them up whenever I needed, she was always there to help out. Now she needs me anything my mom needs to get to appointments I know to take her. So it’s been very hard, but we’re getting through it. She’s had couple surgeries to get her arteries strong and prepare from her heart to get her ready for all the other surgeries that would follow

1:13 me.

1:15 Norma has a situation that is very difficult. She underwent a surgery for an ankle fracture the end of 2016 and did not have adequate arterial flow to heal that surgical procedure. She has diabetes and arterial disease at baseline. And so she’s had multiple setbacks and is ended up in a skilled nursing facility and bed bound for the past two years. She’s had a small stroke in that period of time, a small heart attack and underwent coronary revascularization and has become quite debilitated and develop contractures and both her knees, we started a limb preservation team. And part of that was because of our experience with Norma. The goal is to provide a more continuous type of care for these patients. So we’re able to know what happens with them on a day to day basis and intervene when necessary. I got involved in Norma per doctor her skills request, he thought that having a dedicated team will improve her overall care, because each one has their own role. If the vascular surgeon is going to fix her limb, without keeping her diabetes under control. It doesn’t work. They need good control, diabetes, and other medical problems, so that they can focus on their part. Every time she’s seen by one doctor, she’s seen by all of us. And there’s immediate communication so things aren’t left where you’re bouncing around from place to place, you’re going to this hospital for this and that hospital for that you have all your doctors there and you have people in every area of expertise. It’s all happening in real time at the same time, so that things aren’t missed or lost so that we can make sure that everything progresses.

3:02 Are you having pain in this leg? No. Dr. hirschi has been very involved right from the gate. When we first met him once transferred to Washington hospital. She’s had numerous surgeries and he’s gotten her heart strong enough to prepare for the surgeries that happened after

3:19 this optimistic because this is stuff draining now. So that’s a good sign. The antibiotics are working a little better. We just need to bring a little more blood flow so you can have full healing and you can stand on it. Okay. This Thursday, they’ll be releasing both the knees to straighten those out. And hopefully after this couple months like Dr. Hurst, he says she can walk. If I want to watch the surgery that we’re planning for her. We’re able to do because of an investment by Washington hospital, this patient population, they’ve really poured a lot of resources into helping us take care of the most complex vascular patients. And so I’m thrilled that she has hope again, because when I told her that we were going to get her walking again and this group of doctors came and stood at her bedside and doctors and physical therapists and nutritionists. Her face changed. She had hope again, and he’s always give us a positive outlook. He’s never given up on us, which is really hard to fly in and something that I’ve never had. This is something new for us. Right and I appreciate him. Yeah, he’s a good doc.

4:50 It looks great, Norma.

4:53 You’re doing great. Norma is a success story for sure. There’s very few people who are capable

5:00 For this type of recovery, to get back to walking after being in a state that she was in, she’s had to overcome incredible hurdles. And really, this is quite a story for her. And that’s really what she’s had through this process. It’s an emotional ride, and she’s been doing this now for three years. So the walk now is really thrilling for and she deserves every

5:21 chemistry you

5:27 can with.

5:32 Normal success required a year of intense dedicated efforts from our multidisciplinary team, but in the end, we’ve succeeded in helping her regain her health and independence. She’s walking again, this is a tremendous success.

5:49 Learn more from the limb preservation team at Washington hospital at bay area, healthier together.com