Karen Koved's Testimonial

Comments: He told me what to expect and closely monitored my recovery. His physician's assistant and his office staff are highly organized and focused on the patient. My first surgery was on a Friday night and took a good 6 hours. My husband received updates while he waited and when it was over, Dr. Ellis came into the waiting room and sat down with him to tell him how things went. Dr. Ellis performed surgery to correct stage 4 flatfoot deformity on each of my feet (first in April of 2018, the second in February of 2019). I was 58 years old and could barely walk one city block from where we parked our car to his office for my first appointment. I retired early from teaching because I couldn't stand on my feet anymore. I was born with knock knees and I had flat, hyper-pronated feet (pointed out). A family photo I came upon recently reveals that my ankles and the arches of my feet were already collapsing by the time I was five years old. Five years since my first surgery, I have no pain in my feet. I didn't know that I had lived with chronic foot pain my entire life -- until it was gone! Now I walk 4 miles regularly and that includes hiking on trails -- even uphill. I won't sugar coat it -- each of these surgeries involved several procedures. My ankles are fused in 3 places which means that I have to avoid high impact sports. Recovery from each of my surgeries was long -- 8 weeks each before being able to put any weight on each foot -- about 7 months after my second surgery to being able to walk comfortably on both feet. I took my physical therapy seriously -- did all of my home activities and still do exercises every day. I have lost a total of 60 lbs.(beginning prior to my first appointment) which I have maintained for 4 years now. My body was telling me it couldn't carry all that extra weight anymore. I was also fortunate that despite being obese, I had no diabetes and no heart condition. I have low blood pressure and no major health issues. As for pain management, I received a nerve block post-surgery that lasted two weeks -- which would have been the period of the most intense pain without it. It was all worth it! I would be in a wheelchair today instead of being out and about actively enjoying my life if it weren't for these surgeries.