Oxygen's Healing Power

After 40 years of service at AT&T, Thomas Noftzger, like many other long-term workers, was more than ready to retire. He was excited to fill his time exploring his interests and traveling with his wife, Tawna. But he never anticipated spending his first year of retirement in and out of hospitals seeking relief for a foot injury that wouldn’t heal.

“I tried everything and went to many different doctors and specialists,” Thomas, 67, said. “It all seemed to make it worse.”

Painless Horror

In August 2022, Thomas of Excelsior Springs, stepped on a utility flag hidden in the grass while mowing. Due to nerve damage in his feet caused by his diabetes, known as diabetic neuropathy, he didn’t notice anything until he finished mowing. The wire had gone through his shoe into the bottom of his right foot and exited through the side near his fifth toe. He visited his primary care doctor to get a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics. However, the wound gradually worsened, forming a deep, 4-inch long hole in his foot.

While traveling with his wife, the skin around his wound became red and inflamed, and his leg started to swell. Thomas went to a nearby emergency room, where they removed the growing infection in his foot. When they returned home, he visited a podiatrist who began grafting pig cells to help the wound heal.

Over several months, Thomas spent countless hours in local emergency rooms preventing infection and having his wound bandages replaced.

Light in the Dark

Desperate for relief, he sought other treatment options. A friend’s recommendation brought him to North Kansas City Hospital and Meritas Health, where he checked out their Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Center. He met with James Maturo, MD, internal medicine physician with MH Briarcliff, who suggested hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) to help the wound heal.

“This treatment speeds healing dramatically,” Dr. Maturo said. “The patient lays in a pressurized chamber that forces pure oxygen into their tissues, which kills bacteria and stimulates blood vessel growth.”

After two surgeries on the wound at other hospitals, HBOT was the catalyst for it to start healing. Along with HBOT, Dr. Maturo used collagen dressings to help his wound heal more seamlessly. These treatments help grow new tissue to heal wounds, making previous treatments, like skin grafts, nearly obsolete.

A Fresh Start

After 40 HBOT sessions and many dressing changes, Thomas’ foot wound healed completely, leaving behind a small scar on the side of his foot. It took 367 days from the day he stepped on the utility flag until he completed treatments for it to heal.

“Until I came to NKCH, I didn’t think my foot would ever heal,” Thomas said. “Everyone in the center believed they could care for me, which helped me feel confident in the treatments. This experience convinced me and my wife to come to NKCH for all our care from now on.”