Luckily, the Hospital of St. Raphael opened a Wound Care Center opened last year. Leavitt had monthly appointments from August through December. The medical staff there provided her with a couple of different ointments, and the wound is well on its way to disappearing.

"It's almost completely closed over, but the skin around it is still affected by the deepness of the wound," she said, showing off a slight indentation on her calf to a reporter.

Leavitt Scudder, who lives with her husband David Scudder (in the background of the photo) in Hamden, is a licensed psychotherapist who has worked at the South Central Connecticut Agency on Aging for the past 20 years. She said she got excellent care at the Wound Care Center, and would recommend it to anyone in similar need. But, she added, "It was unsettling because who needs to go to a wound center when you have a sore?!"

Dr. Antoine Ferneini (pictured) is a vascular surgeon in private practice who was asked, as part of a team of surgeons and infectious disease specialists, to start the Wound Care Center at the hospital. He said 70 percent of patients have diabetes, and most are elderly and low-income

"Age, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking all contribute to poor healing," he said, explaining that that cleaning a wound promotes healing. Another factor is critical -- having enough blood flow to the injured area. If it doesn't, the medical staff works up the patient, including an ultra-sound, then provides treatment ranging from minimally invasive procedures to bypass surgery. Diabetics have poor blood flow

Ferneini said anyone who has a wound that doesn't improve in three to five days should seek attention from their doctor or the wound care center, especially if the person has diabetes and has an open wound on the bottom of the foot. They have poor blood flow

"They often come here for treatment of last resort, but it would be better if they came in earlier," he said, adding that he finds his work at the center more gratifying than providing cosmetic treatment for a younger person, for example, by treating varicose veins. "We can sometimes save a patient's leg," he said. "I love it."