Patient Profiles : Dr. Charles Webb’s Profile
Dr. Charles Webb’s Profile
Making the Most of Life with One Leg
In April of 2004, Dr. Charles Dr. Webb’s right leg was amputated below the knee down due to peripheral arterial disease (PAD). While some facing these circumstances may have become depressed and limited one’s activity, Dr. Webb decided to keep a positive outlook and not let the loss of his leg get him down. He likes to keep things light by smiling, laughing and joking with his patients.
Sixty-six year old Dr. Webb is a family practice physician and chief of staff for South Point Hospital in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, where he has a busy practice and sees on average 40 patients a day. Despite the loss of his leg, he keeps active and stays fit by playing golf and working with a personal trainer regularly. He uses his prosthesis as a teaching tool and says that he has no problem taking it off in front of his patients to educate them about vascular disease and helping them learn how to take better care of themselves.
Dr. Webb’s circulation challenges started in 1985 with claudication (symptoms that occur when the leg muscles do not receive the oxygen rich blood required during exercise, causing cramping in the hips, thighs or calves). He noticed pain and cramping in the leg when he played tennis and ignored it. “As a doctor I knew better and ignored it,” said Dr. Webb. “Had I gone to the doctor when I noticed the pain right away I might have been able to save my leg.”
That is the loudest message Dr. Webb can send to anyone experiencing claudication or any type of leg pain or cramping; get to the doctor, preferably a vascular specialist, right away. In Dr. Webb’s opinion there are many things that can be done to prevent worsening of the disease with medications or using a stent to improve circulation or delay amputation.
Dr. Webb’s journey began when he moved to Ohio from California. He was having trouble with his right leg and foot, including numbness and pain that kept him up at night. It was that pain that drove him to the doctor who didn’t recommend anything other than a circulation medicine. The only affect he noticed from the drug were terrible headaches so he stopped the medicine.
Finally in 1999, Dr. Webb was diagnosed with PAD. If he had been diagnosed with diabetes, which he was not, the progression of PAD could have been much faster. Eventually his doctors performed a full-knee replacement surgery in 2001 to help alleviate his arthritis pain.
In 2003, Dr. Webb found himself in the emergency room with severe chest pains, discomfort and burning. Thankfully he did not have a full-blown heart attack, but did have ischemia (an organ that is not getting adequate blood flow and lacks vital oxygen and nutrients). As a result of this episode, a coronary stent was placed in his right coronary artery followed by a prescription of anti-platelet medication. After his ischemia attack, he began an exercise regimen of playing golf on a regular basis.
When he noticed the pain in his leg getting worse in 2003, his doctor performed a femoral-popliteal bypass (a procedure to help improve circulation and blood supply by routing the blood from the groin around the blockages to arteries). Unfortunately in Dr. Webb’s case his PAD had progressed to a more severe form called critical limb ischemia (see definition below). The bypass procedure was not successful and the pain in his leg continued. The doctors then recommended “step procedures”, which start by taking the patient’s toes, and then several months later half of the foot and so on. Being a physician, Dr. Webb was familiar with the procedure and felt in his case it was better to have an amputation below the knee.
After his amputation he started working with a personal trainer three times a week for 35-40 minutes a session. “This has made a world of difference for me,” said Dr. Webb. “It took about a year and a half to two years before I noticed improvement, but now I feel great!”
Even his doctor agreed that exercise is making a difference in Dr. Webb’s health. He started to notice pain in his left leg and the regular exercise has improved his circulation and pain. When his doctor saw him just a few months ago, was surprised at the reduction of pain in his leg just from exercising.
“I tolerate the prosthesis very well and keep a positive outlook about the loss of my leg,” said Dr. Webb.
