IBJI Podiatrist Fixed My Broken Ankle: Renee D’s Story

It was six in the morning on October 8th, 2019, when Renee, 79, was bringing art supplies downstairs from her studio. As she approached the bottom of the stairs, she misjudged where she was. Renee thought she was on the last step but her view was obstructed from the supplies she was carrying, and in reality she had one more step before reaching the ground floor. 

“When I landed I knew [it was broken]. I managed to limp over to the bedroom, with my swollen ankle, to wake my husband to go to the ER.”

Renee and her husband went to Good Shepherd Hospital where they x-rayed her leg and applied a temporary cast. Renee’s husband had seen IBJI’s Dr. Gross in the past and informed the hospital that they would go across the street that day to get an opinion from an IBJI orthopedist.

This was Renee’s first time at IBJI. They initially went to IBJI’s Barrington Physician Office to see Dr. Gross, but were directed to Dr. Steven Jasonowicz as he is a podiatric surgeon with board certification in foot and ankle surgery. Luckily that day Dr. Jasonowicz had a time slot open where he could assess Renee’s injury.

He determined that surgery was needed and had her re-casted, to accommodate her swelling while they awaited her surgery date.

Renee went in for her surgery on the morning of October 18th. She said that Dr. Jasonowicz was very nice about explaining everything. “He wanted to make sure it would heal properly and that I wouldn’t have any problems with it. [Dr. Jasonowicz] had a wonderful reassuring bedside manner. He was making sure that he was taking good care of me as if I was his own grandmother.”

After surgery, Renee used a wheelchair and crutches for roughly two months. Utilizing this equipment and with assistance from her husband, she was able to maneuver around the house. During this time, Renee said, “There was a fear that I would need to continue to use the wheelchair and not be able to walk normal again.”

After her cast came off, Renee was put into a boot for about three weeks and then had a brace bandage for another month. During this time she was attending physical therapy at IBJI’s Wauconda Physical Therapy location with Leslie Ferrigan, PT, DPT. She had a great experience at physical therapy and had known of Leslie before this experience.

“My husband and I have been in the area for several years. Leslie is the daughter of a doctor that we knew, I remember her when she was in high school. I was concerned about how painful physical therapy would be. But they did an awesome job and Leslie was great. I just recently finished my visits.”

Now, Renee says that she is in no pain and back to normal. “Right now I’m not doing a ton of walking but I’m feeling great.”

Since her injury, Renee knows of two people who also broke their ankles and had the same procedure with Dr. Jasonowicz. “They also praised the great job that Dr. Jasonowicz did on their ankle surgery.”

Steven Jasonowicz, DPM, is a podiatric foot and ankle surgeon providing diagnosis and treatment for the full spectrum of foot and ankle disorders.