Donna Bailey is a 57-year-old woman who just went through an ankle correction and fusion surgery. She has dealt with 17 years of pain because of her ankle and the point of this surgery aims to fix her ankle and eliminate the pain. James Bailey, who is also 57 years old and the husband to Donna Bailey, has been helping her out throughout the process of recovery. 

[Asking Donna Bailey Questions] 

Q: Have you had any surgeries prior to this one? If so, what were they for? 

[D] Yes, I have. I have had nine prior surgeries on my right leg due to a car accident. And [in] those nine surgeries I had titanium implants; I had a rod, a plate, and fifteen screws. I had to get bone grafted off my right hip to build a right kneecap that I lost from the car accident. 

Q: What made you want to have this current surgery done? 

[D] I have struggled with this problem for seventeen years, walking on the right side of my ankle bone. The problem was getting worse, the pain was getting worse. I was becoming more limited on what I could do in everyday life. I would get tired quicker because of the pain. And I wanted to get the surgery done before I got any older so the recovery would be easier for me. 

Q: What was the purpose of the surgery, what will it do to your foot and ankle? 

[D] The purpose of the surgery was to straighten my foot back out to where it would go flat on the floor, and it [the surgery] was to take out the arthritis that was eating away at my bones. I had already lost all of my cartilage due to walking on the right side of my ankle bone. And it [the surgery] was to eliminate the pain that I had been in and fixate my ankle. 

[Q] What did you mean when you said ”fixate your ankle”? 

[D] It means I will be losing the up and down mobility of my foot. I will still have the mobility to be able to move my foot from left to right, but I will no longer be able to move my foot up and down. 

Q: How has the recovery been so far? 

[D] Recovery has been good and bad. I’ve had some good days, I’ve had some bad days, some extremely painful days and not so painful days. The recovery has been long. I knew it was going into it. The recovery has limited me, as far as mobility to be able to do a lot for myself right now. I do have to rely on family to help me with a lot so yes, the recovery has been a struggle. 

Q: What stage of recovery are you in right now, were there previous stages of recovery before this one and what has it been like? 

[D] Well, I’m probably in the middle stage of my recovery. Prior to the stage I’m in right now I had what was called a Halo around my leg with twelve pins. And I wore that for ten weeks, and then that was surgically removed. And I had another screw implanted at the top of the nail that was implanted in my first surgery, and that was done as outpatient. And then a cast went on, and I am currently in a cast, my second cast. 

Q: What are checkups like, what are the processes you go through when getting a checkup? 

[D] When I had the Halo and the pins, my checkups mainly consisted of X-rays to see how the bones were fusing together and lining up, and just to see overall how the leg looked and how the alignment of the foot was going. My current checkups from my second operation the cast had to be cut off for X-rays to be done. I did have stitches removed from my screw implant. Then they [casted] my leg [again]. 

Q: When do you think you will start Physical Therapy? 

[D] I’m not really sure. I go back to the doctor in another two weeks and the cast will be cut again for X-rays to be done [and] at that time depending on where I am in the healing process of the bones on the top of my ankle will determine if I will be [casted again] or if I will get the boot cast. From that point I don’t know how long I will wear the boot cast before I go into therapy. Once I get the boot cast, they may say I could start therapy within a few weeks. So, I don’t know. 

Q: How long do you think Physical Therapy will be, do you think it will be difficult? 

[D] I’m going to take a guess that therapy could possibly be three months or longer. I do think in the beginning therapy is going to be hard because they are going to have to do some stretching. They’re going to have to try to get some mobility back into my ankle, what little bit they will be able to get. So, I think the beginning therapy is going to be painful. I think ya’know the longer I’m in therapy I think the easier it will get. I am going to be taught how to walk with a fixated foot that does not move like a normal foot does [her foot cannot move up and down due to the fusion]. So, I think it’s gonna be a very uncomfortable experience in the beginning. 

Q: Do you think this surgery will be beneficial to you later on? 

[D] Yes, very much I will be out of pain. And I feel like I will be regaining a better quality of life that I have not had for the past seventeen years. 

[Asking James Bailey questions] 

Q: What has it been like helping your wife through this process [recovery of ankle fusion]? 

[J] It hasn’t been too hard. Just making sure she has everything she needs. 

Q: Have you had to change parts of your daily schedule to help or be more available to help? 

[J] Yeah. I gotta be close by in case she needs to get up or go somewhere, do something. In case she needs something to eat or drink. 

Q: How has it affected you by helping your wife through ankle fusion? 

[J] It really hasn’t affected me, just keeping me more busy. Having to help her out versus not having to help somebody out all the time. Shes getting better. She’s doing more on her own.