Page 83 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2016

DIFFERENCE
story by Lynn Lofton photos by Katherine Sowers and courtesy of Garden Park
OPPOSITE PAGE: Director Paula Fairbanks assists Dr. Lynn Leatherwood with a patient at the Wound Healing Center at Garden Park, seen above.
The five physicians on staff have different backgrounds, including surgery, internal medicine and family medicine — another strength of the Center. In addition to Leatherwood, they include Larry Killebrew, M.D.; Curtis Broussard,
M.D.; Paul Matherne, M.D.; and Roger Reed, M.D. “That’s a lot of experience and medical balance that increases our productivity,” Fairbanks said.
Leatherwood says the staff sees patients with chronic wounds year round. More than 50 percent of the wounds are caused by the numbness and lack of sensitivity that are side effects of diabetes. “There’s a big population who are hopeless for months and years and don’t believe they can be helped,” he said. “It’s not okay to sit around with an open wound. The key is finding out what’s going on and why it isn’t healing. Everyone is not aware they can get help and they get discouraged. The main thing is to save the limb.”
With diabetics, pressure is a big issue. For instance, a
Garden Park Wound Healing Center
Suite 140, Bayou Bernard Medical Office Building 15200 Community Rd., Gulfport 228.575.8000 www.gardenpark.com/service/wound-care
diabetic won’t feel painful pressure because of the loss of sensitivity. Long Beach resident Kirby Carlisle, 69, wore shoes that were too tight, causing a diabetic ulcer. Because he couldn’t feel any pain, the ulcer wasn’t treated and didn’t heal. The unhealed wound messed up Carlisle’s golf game and made his work with the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department difficult.
“A lot of people think wounds will just go away but they won’t,” he said. “I’m getting help here and they make it fun.”
“Neuropathy is permanent with diabetics, and most of it
is caused by loss of sensation,” Leatherwood said. “We urge patients to check their feet closely and to get into diabetic footwear.”
The latest hyperbaric technology is also used at Garden Park, but only for 10 percent or less of the patients. “It’s another tool that we can use,” Fairbanks said.
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January 2016 • SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living 83