Atlanta Schoolteacher Gets Life Back with Help from Wound Care Center at Dekalb Medical

>> Michael Bailey: I'm Michael Bailey, from Lithonia GA, and I'm in my twelfth year of teaching middle school social studies. My Dad is Gerald Bailey so I was given Michael so I wouldn't be called junior. >> Voice Over: Michael was an active, engaged middle school teacher and family man, when he got some mysterious lumps, and sought a doctor's care. >> Nicole Bailey: We'd been married, Michael and I, for one full year when he was diagnosed with hidradenitis. >> Deborah Bailey: You know, we thought it was lance-able, a boil or something like that. And it didn't go away. >> VO: Michael's doctor scheduled him for surgery at another Atlanta area hospital and told him he'd be back to work in 4 to 6 weeks. >> MB: Instead, the disease progressed, and spread throughout my body, and I had to have multiple surgeries afterwards. >> VO: As Michael was discharged, the expectation was that Nicole and Deborah could care for his wounds at home. >> DB: I'm a pretty tough cookie. I was both very shocked at one the size of the incision, and the fact that they thought this was something Nicole and I could do on our own. >> VO: Within a few days, Nicole and Deborah hired Visiting Nurses to care for Michael's wounds twice daily. >> MB: They were here from October 25th until the very beginning of February. >> DB: We got to a point at the end of the year where he was not improving, nothing was healing, his mental state had really deteriorated and we knew we had to do something different. >> MB: One of the nurses that came everyday, his name was Thomas, recommended us to go to a wound care specialist. And he recommended Dr. Dretler because he had heard great things about him in the past. >> Robin Dretler, MD: Mr. Bailey came to us with hidradenitis, the worst case of it that I've seen in 30 years. The usual things, clearly had not worked at all, and he was now unable to function at all. He's a school teacher, he couldn't work, he couldn't walk! >> VO: DeKalb Medical’s Comprehensive Wound Care Center brings together a multi-disciplinary staff who take a team approach to treating patients many in an outpatient setting. Dr. Dretler is part of this team of infectious disease specialists and vascular surgeons. >> MB: When I first met Dr. Dretler for the very first time, I felt like there was going to be an end in sight. >> RD: Mr. Bailey, maybe because he's a football coach, got the idea of team. We were a team, we have to work together, he was great about doing his part. >> VO: Bailey’s case was full of complications but his family and DeKalb Medical’s Comprehensive Wound Care Center continuously supported and encouraged Mr. Bailey, and now, he is back on his feet. >> RD: It took six months to get recovered and back to work and his normal self, he's only had minor adjustments since then. >> VO: DeKalb Medical’s Comprehensive Wound Care Center’s goal is not only to heal chronic wounds but also to preserve limbs and prevent wound recurrence. Highly trained staff employ the most advanced wound care procedures available, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, to heal chronic wounds, reduce suffering and improve quality of life. >> MB: I'll never forget the day I was medically cleared to return back to work by Dr. Dretler. It was August 8th, 2013, which also happened to be my Mom's 60th birthday. So it was very great news to give to her, because we had been through a very long battle for the past 10 months. >> DB: As I look back over the experience, the one thing I wish we had done earlier was find out about this wound care center. >> NB: We're so grateful, we're so thankful for what Dr. Dretler and the Infectious Disease Specialists of Atlanta has done for us. >> RD: I've been doing wound care for years, and I believe DeKalb Medical's Wound Care Center serves the population of north GA better than any other. >> MB: 14 months after my first surgery, I'm back on track. I'm very active, I'm working out again every morning. I'm teaching, I'm active in my daughter's life, my wife and I are going out. So it's great to be healthy again. >> RD: Terrific guy, he's the kind of guy you went into medicine to save! >> VO: For an appointment at DeKalb Medical’s Comprehensive Wound Care Center call 404.501.7455.