Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The ISKD and Me

Today, I want to share a bit about myself. While I do provide consulting services for medical practices, I am also well experienced as a patient. For those of you who know me well, you may know this story, but not perhaps the whole story.

At the ripe old age of 18 months, I underwent orthopedic surgery to correct the congenital knock knee of my left leg. Sadly, post-operatively, I developed an infection that nearly took my life, and, certainly created more problems with the leg. At the age of 13, and 15 surgeries later, we discovered that the leg was not growing at the same rate as right leg. At age 20, the left leg was 2 inches shorter than the right and I required an orthotic lift to somewhat correct the discrepancy. I wore that lift for about 35 years.

In late 2005, I became interested in lengthening the leg. Though I was doing fine at the time, I wanted to ensure I could continue to do well. I did my homework and reached out to Dr. Robert Bruce, Emory Orthopedics. I met with Dr. Bruce in early January 2006. At this consult, Dr. Bruce introduced me to the ISKD device from Orthofix. My wife and I discussed the procedure, the time element for recovery, and the "nursing" care she would have to provide. In short, we decided to move forward. My surgery was scheduled and performed on January 25, 2006.

Fast forward four and a half years. I am doing fantastic as a result of the leg lengthening procedure. Today, I am completely pain free...no more aspirin...no more Advil! In fact, my wife and I are running the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta on July 4th.

Last week, our local NBC affiliate, 11Alive News, and ABC affiliate, WSB-TV, interviewed me and my wife about the surgery I had and my participation in the Road Race. I am personally excited about how this piece of medical technology has changed my life. I want to thank the reporters Jennifer Leslie and Don McClellan for doing the story. There are other folks in our community who could benefit from this technology and medical providers. In my simple way, I am trying to highlight my problem and the success I've had in so that others might benefit.

If you interested in spending another minute and a half, please watch this video from 11Alive.





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