Kick-
starting
the healing
process
After his toe was removed,
Zwirschitz began hyperbaric oxygen
therapy at Aspirus in an attempt
to promote healing after surgery.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments
over an extended period of time can
stimulate healing by delivering oxygen in
a pressurized environment to tissues that
aren’t getting enough oxygen naturally
because of poor blood circulation.
Zwirschitz also underwent a vein
grafting procedure where doctors
6
aspire
Winter 2014
FOR
most people, noticing a small
crack or cut on their toe wouldn’t be
much cause for concern—it’s likely to
heal in a few days. But for Jon Zwirschitz,
the small crack that developed on one of
his toes had him on the verge of losing
his entire foot.
Zwirschitz, who has diabetes, went
from having to deal with what was
seemingly an insignificant cracked toe
to facing the possibility of having his left
foot amputated in a matter of months.
It all started when he noticed his toe
was not healing.
“About a week after I first noticed the
crack in my toe, I went to the doctor
because it didn’t seem to be getting any
better,” said the 61-year-old Mattoon,
Wis., resident. “We tried some different
salves and medicine, but nothing worked,
and I dealt with it always throbbing for
nine months.”
Zwirschitz’s doctor informed him
that his toe wasn’t healing because of his
diabetes, which can cause circulation
problems. His foot was not receiving
enough blood flow to help his toe heal.
After those nine months passed without
any improvement, his toe became
infected, and doctors had no choice but
to amputate.
attempted to reroute blood flow in his leg
to improve circulation.
“Within a day or two, my doctor could
tell that the vein graft had failed, and he
even told me that he had never seen one
fail so quickly,” Zwirschitz said. “Right
after that, the other four toes on my foot
became infected, and they all had to be
amputated.”
The second amputation occurred
Jon Zwirschitz
The healing power
of hyperbaric
oxygen
therapy
