HealthEast® Podiatry Quality Data
“I was so tired of trying to fight this.”
HealthEast® Podiatry Care patient Valerie Spahr
While Valerie Spahr was not happy about the condition that brought her back to Dr. Kenneth Ammons (the podiatry surgeon who had treated her for a cyst a few years ago), she was excited about getting treated by Dr. Ammons again. “He’s the kind of doctor who makes you want to say, ‘Can I have a surgery next week? Because I want to see you again.’ Everybody at his surgery center is wonderful, and you know that you’re in good hands with everyone there.”
Valerie’s return visit was caused by symptoms that puzzled her: Rather than suffering pain, she was experiencing numbness in her feet, as well as what she called “hyper feet” at night. “It came on last fall, when I was trying to walk, lose some weight, get my act together. I would start walking down the street, and my feet would go numb. I was afraid I’d fall down somewhere and nobody would find me. Even just working in the yard was hard, and I had to medicate just to sleep at night.”
Dr. Ammons diagnosed Valerie with tarsal tunnel syndrome. “I was tired of trying to fight this, and I knew that Dr. Ammons would give me relief.” When cortisone shots failed to solve the problem, two nerve decompression surgeries were scheduled to address Valerie’s problem. “I had the surgery on my left foot done at the end of October,” said Valerie, “and the right foot at the end of January. Each time, I felt a difference right away.”
Back on her feet after a full recovery from both surgeries, Valerie is looking forward to gardening, walking, and playing with her new granddaughter. “This is my first grandbaby, and I scheduled these surgeries so I could enjoy being a grandma. Now I’m looking forward to getting that stroller out for lots of walks.”
