Foot Fracture Testimonial

times in my life.

It all began somewhat innocently with a fall while hiking in Colorado. I broke my ankle (a severe fracture) and had surgery performed immediately at the hospital in Colorado. Everything was going well with my recovery for the first two weeks. Then, without any warning signs, I developed a staph infection. The doctor immediately did surgery to remove the pins and plate he had inserted to fix my broken bones.

Following the surgery, the doctor started me on IV antibiotics (three times daily) hoping to avoid any further spreading of the infection. It was a very discouraging time for me, unsure of what could happen next, and my doctor was not too sure himself. For a while it appeared the medicine was working, and my outlook improved. However, little did I know the worst was still to come.

After returning to Houston, I began making plans to resume a “normal” routine which lasted about one week. Again, without any warning, I woke up one morning and my ankle was about the size of a softball. I quickly headed over to Texas Orthopedic Hospital and was seen by one of the specialists in the Fondren Orthopedic Group. The doctor admitted me and scheduled a surgey to debride (clean out) my infection. Following the procedure, I was sent home, told to keep my leg elevated, and was again started on antibiotics. Three weeks went by and the doctor checked the ankle and found the infection was still inside the ankle “hiding” in a bone. He then told me he wanted me to see one of his partners who specializes in this type of problem. “What type of problem?", I asked. His response, in so many words, was the kind of problem that no other doctors work on! Obviously, not a comment I could ever have imagined hearing.

Enter Dr. Brinker. When I had my first appointment with him and asked what was his specialty, he calmly replied, “My practice is heavily weighted to complications of trauma...I treat the worst of the worst.” All I could think of after that was that I was going to lose my foot or part of my leg. Dr. Brinker was very upfront and honest with me from the beginning and told me there was a possibility that I could wind up with an amputation, just like the other two doctors had said. But he was the first one to say, "I think I can fix your problem," and that was music to my ears.

So for the next 6-7 month I put my hope and trust in Dr. Brinker. I had a series of three debridement procedures which included packing antibiotics into my infected ankle. Following the completion of the debridements, Dr, Brinker constructed an external fixator around my ankle, foot and leg which was used to fuse my ankle. I wore the fixator for six months allowing the bones to fuse. It was no fun walking around with one leg looking like an erecter set. My mental and emotional state was about as low as I could ever remember, but seeing Dr. Brinker during that period was “the best medicine” I had going. He was always encouraging me and never let any of my questions go unanswered. No matter how busy he was, I always felt like I was the only patient he had whenever I saw him. Thanks to him, my ordeal finally came to a positive conclusion and everything Dr. Brinker told me throughout the process was exactly the way it went. He fixed my ankle, helped me emotionally, and made me feel “human” again. Dr. Brinker really does things that other doctors can’t!!!

- Steve B.