Lee, Mass. resident Bill Roche is featured in a story on the growing number of people who have undergone a total ankle replacement. Bill, who lived with severe ankle pain for decades, bottomed out a few years ago when he couldn’t walk more than 50 feet without assistance. Today, he is pain-free and spent the summer of 2014 on an Alaskan vacation that never would have been possible before his new ankle.
Also included in the story is Bill’s physician, Dr. Thomas McDonald at New England Orthopedic Surgeons in Springfield, Mass. Dr. McDonald provides an overview on the evolution of ankle replacements, touches on the downside of ankle fusions and summarizes the ideal patient.
These results are specific to this individual only. Individual results and activity levels after surgery vary and depend on many factors including age, weight, and prior activity level. The opinions of Dr. McDonald and Bill Roche are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Wright Medical.