Beyond Expectations

Still feeling stiff and achy. I’m back to doing 90% of what I would normally do - building my hiking back up. Bruising is all gone now and I have a few incisions that are left to heal. The swelling is still there - more on my left side. Still can’t get my left foot into most of my shoes. Feel really good overall!

Three weeks post and there is still bruising but it’s faded quite a bit. I also had about 12-14 incisions on each leg and most of those are still healing as well. I’ve only had a few of the scabs fall off - really wish this could be sped along so I could shave my legs :) Swelling is about the same as week two - but my left foot is more swollen and uncomfortable than a week ago. I’m guessing it’s because I’m doing a lot more. There really isn’t any pain - except around my ankles - and it’s minor. Overall feel great and excited to see how they look once swelling is gone!

I had cankle and knee complex surgery by Dr. Su, and the entire experience exceeded my expectations. I was an out of town patient and communicated solely through emails. I had been following Dr. Su for the past few years and have probably read every review as well as spoken to some of his past patients (by way of email). I felt like I had a very thorough idea of what the process would be like and felt confident about Dr. Su's experience. The office staff was followed through on each step of the process making sure all paperwork was correct and all my questions were answered.
On the day of surgery I was quickly taken back to a room when I arrived at the office. I can not say enough about how amazing my nurse Essence was. I was anxious and extremely nervous and she quickly put my fears to rest. She spent an hour getting me prepped and explaining the entire procedure. I feel like she played a key role to my comfort and ease throughout the process. Previous reviews have explained the procedure so I won't go into the details - but I arrived at the office at 10:00 and left at 3:30. Dr. Su spent hours working on my cankles and knees - stopping at times to make sure everything looked the way it should and communicating with me the entire time. I am truly in awe by how much he cares about his work. I LOVED the way my legs looked when he was finished. I felt like they looked even better than the pictures he did the drawings on.
A little about my experience from the past two weeks:
The day after the procedure I returned to the office to have everything checked out. As other people have stated the first 24 hours are the most painful, although I found that if I took the time to walk a little bit it helped with the pain. Some people had problems with passing out or feeling like they would pass out. I was lucky to not have this happen to me, although I made sure to eat some fruit and carbs before getting out of bed the first four days.
4 days after the procedure I flew back east. I actually felt pretty good in the airport, but the swelling made walking a bit awkward and I had a wheelchair take me to the gate, (someone who had previously had the procedure recommended this and it was really helpful).
6 days after the procedure I was still sore but walking would help and I was getting around well.
11 days after the procedure I returned to work. I believe if I had a desk job I could have returned on day 4 or 5, but my job requires a lot of running around. The day I returned to work I had put 17 flights of steps on my Fitbit and three miles. It was a bit too much for the first day and I swelled a lot that evening and was exhausted. Now I'm at day 14 and feel really good. Even with the swelling my legs look better than they did before the surgery and besides feeling stiff there isn't really any pain. I still have a lot of bruising - but much less than I would have expected. I always tend to bruise a lot and it takes me forever to heal - so I'm pleased at where this is right now.
I can not recommend Dr. Su and his office enough. The whole process was better than I expected and I wish I had done it years ago - so I would definitely contact them if your thinking about it.