University of California San Francisco UCSF Medical CenterUCSF Department of SurgeryUCSF School of Medicine
Patient Stories: Diabetic Neuropathies
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Michael Rubenstein
Hoping to Save Limbs and Toes, California Moves to Curtail Diabetes
Dr. Alexander Reyzelman treats diabetes patient Michael Rubenstein. Photo by David Gorn/CALmatters The word "amputation" threw a chill down Michael Rubenstein's spine. The 67-year-old diabetic from San Mateo still winces at the thought. "They told me I'd need to cut it off right about here," he said, sawing his hand across his left shin. Two months after that diagnosis, he's on an exam table at the Center for Limb Preservation at UC San Francisco, his leg still whole, the threat of gangrene and amputation gone and his mood a lot less bleak and fearful. "Yeah, it turns out I didn't need [...]