A family fear a Scots grandmother may lose her leg after a seeping ulcer turned green months after she was taken off medication to control her diabetes. Margaret Mcavoy, from Hurlford in East Ayrshire, has Type 2 diabetes and had been taking insulin and tablets to manage the condition for two years.
Her family claim doctors at Crosshouse hospital stopped the pensioner's medication in December 2021 and told Margaret it was no longer needed. In January 2022, the 76-year-old began suffering from a painful 'rotting' wound on her leg.
Six months, on the seeping wound has turned green, leaving her family fearing she could lose the limb. Granddaughter Leighann Devlin told the Record: "My gran is in excruciating pain. Her leg has deteriorated rapidly.
"At first her skin was red but a blister has now eaten away her skin and it's rotting. The wound has turned green and black.
"We fear she might have gangrene. I'm worried she might lose her leg."
Margaret was rushed to Crosshouse Hospital on Thursday morning after a visit to her local GP with her daughter Susannah when her wound began to turn black. Susannah said: "We've had district nurses coming in twice a day to redress the wound because there was so much fluid coming out of it.
"I am glad that she has been taken to hospital. She should have been in hospital days ago.
"We don't know what will happen. But this has only been escalated when I got involved out of desperation."
The pensioner has received eight rounds of antibiotics in the last week to treat the painful wound but an infection has continued to fester. She has been taking painkillers since the wound appeared and has also been prescribed a powerful dose of morphine to ease her discomfort.
Around four weeks ago she visited Crosshouse Hospital and was sent home with a dressing for the wound and put back on her diabetes medication.
Susannah added: "Her medical notes said the wound is likely to be caused by poor control of her diabetes.
"She was only put back on the tablets a few weeks ago after being taken off them in December last year.
"It got to the stage where I needed someone to help and I didn't know what to do so I contacted my local politicians.
The family got in touch with Provost Jim Todd who escalated the matter to NHS Ayrshire & Arran health chiefs.
Craig McArthur, Director of East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership and Primary Care Lead for Ayrshire, said: "NHS Ayrshire & Arran takes all patient feedback, comments, concerns or complaints very seriously.
"We are sorry that a patient’s family has felt they had to raise concerns about the care provided however we are unable to comment on individual cases.
"We would encourage anyone who is unhappy with our services to contact us directly with any concerns they have. This is the only way that we can properly involve patients and families in the process and provide feedback."
The Daily Record contacted Jim Todd's office for comment.
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