James S.

In February 2021, I had just gotten back from a golf outing with friends in Florida, and I told my wife that I must have sprained my ankle. It was swollen and warm to the touch. I saw multiple different doctors who diagnosed me with a Charcot deformity in my left foot, and I was placed into a walking boot. I had developed a wound on the left foot that did not close up over a couple months’ time, and I was at risk of losing my foot. My foot deformity progressed over several months, and bone was about to come out of my skin, so my orthopedic foot and ankle specialist referred me to Dr. Jeffrey Loveland in Sparta, Tennessee.

Fast forward to March 1, 2022—my first visit lasted 3½ hours. The surgeon explained to us in detail about Charcot foot, which is what I had. I was dealing with a sore on the bottom of my foot that would not heal for six months. During our first visit, he introduced us to another one of his patients that had the same deformity and was recovering from surgery. They too answered every question we asked and spoke very highly of the surgical process. When the surgeon told me that a reconstructive surgery could fix my foot, I looked at my wife and said let’s do it ASAP. Stryker’s Salvation® 2 system including the midfoot nail, beams, and external fixator was used to complete the reconstruction of my foot.