Leg and Foot Surgery During COVID-19: Jody’s Story
I was on a ladder cleaning my fixture and fell off and broke both my leg and my foot. My insurance coverage is for the NorthShore system. My neighbors did not want me to go in an ambulance with COVID-19 so they drove me on Saturday afternoon to the Highland Park ER since there were no urgent care centers open. The Highland Park hospital was non-COVID-19. They were able to take x-rays and put a supportive brace on my leg.
The very next day at 7:00 am, Dr. Waxman took me in at the last moment. He was professional, supportive, took a lot of time to explain to both my sister and I how he was going to proceed. I was rather panicked and in pain and Dr. Waxman calmed me down and took more x-rays and explained more details about my injury. I was very frightened with COVID-19 and terrified about how this was to be handled. We had another meeting and Dr. Waxman said in order to try and avoid arthritis in the knee as much as we could he suggested we operate. We had another teleconference with Dr. Waxman and I was operated on 4 days later after being seen by a cardiologist and a teleconference with my primary physician. Dr. Waxman performed a ORIF tibial plateau feature. The operation went smoothly, I was treated with the utmost professionalism at the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute. All nurses, receptionists, anesthesiologists, and physician assistants were great.
I went home and Dr. Waxman has seen me 4 times since the operation every 2 weeks. I hardly wait and again Dr. Waxman and his staff, especially Sarah, are wonderful and comforting. In 2 weeks, I will be able to put weight on my leg and foot.
During a very terrifying ordeal with this COVID-19 and the first instance of a broken bone, I could not have been handled better. My leg and foot feel almost 100% better thanks to Dr. Waxman. Thank you all for being open during COVID-19 and thank you for handling this case with such care and compassion.
Bryan Waxman, MD, is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who specializes in treating disorders of the foot, ankle and knee, including sports injuries, trauma and the various forms of arthritis.
