Brooke is a 46-year-old post anesthesia care nurse at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. As a nurse, she spends 12 hours a day on her feet. Around eight hours into her shift, her feet would start to hurt. While the pain never kept her from doing her job, orthotic pads didn’t alleviate her foot pain. Her only option during her workday was to sit down, whenever possible, and slip her feet out of her Dansko shoes.

Brooke had a bunion; a bone deformity caused by an unstable joint that allows the big toe to drift out of alignment and progressively worsen over time. The bunion also “made it hard to find shoes that were comfortable.” Brooke loved hiking and running for stress relief but became “not as active as before” and the Columbia, Maryland resident only “walked instead of running a lot.”

Brooke is also a mother of four children with very active schedules. Her children swim year-round and “as a US certified swim official there is a lot of standing that has to happen on the pool deck.” She didn’t volunteer much on deck this year because “it was hard to find comfortable all white tennis shoes.”

Since this wasn’t her first experience with bunions, Brooke opted to “put off bunion surgery as long as possible.” Seventeen years ago, Brooke underwent a traditional 2D bunion surgery on her left foot, but the bunion wasn’t corrected. “I made up my mind that I wasn’t doing that old surgery again. My bunion came back and that recovery was not a great experience,” she explained.

Brooke was referred to Dr. Franklin Polun at National Foot & Ankle in Potomac. “I knew of Dr. Polun from patients in the hospital. His name came up and I made an appointment with him.” Since she had seen ads for the Lapiplasty® Procedure, she discussed this surgery option with Dr. Polun. He told her “Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ would be the realignment of my toe, putting it back into position and he would correct the bunion in all three dimensions.”

In September, Brooke underwent the Lapiplasty® Procedure on her right foot. “I was non-weight bearing for two weeks after my Lapiplasty® Procedure because I was out of town, so my first post-op visit was pushed back later than expected,” she explains. But, I was back at work two weeks and two days after surgery.”

Her recovery differed greatly from the traditional 2D bunion surgery she went through, previously. “During my first surgery, I was six weeks non-weight bearing and I remember crying two weeks after the old surgery because I put my foot down at church and it was so painful. I had to elevate my leg and lay down in an empty room at church. It was a very limiting recovery,” she shares.

Seven weeks after the Lapiplasty® Procedure, Dr. Polun cleared Brooke for all activities. He also used additional biological advanced techniques such as bone marrow aspiration concentrate, amnion chorion membrane, and bone growth stimulators in her recovery.

“I didn’t feel limited with the Lapiplasty® Procedure. I wasn’t consumed by pain – I only took Extra Strength Tylenol for two days – so I wanted to do things. My family thought I would be ‘down and out’ but I was still part of the family. I drove the kids around. I was functional around the house.”

For those considering Lapiplasty® Procedure for themselves she says, “I would recommend Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™. When people saw me in the boot, they would ask me about my surgery and once I described the procedure the fact that I was back to work two weeks later, they are ready to see Dr. Polun.”

Only a surgeon can tell if Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ is right for you. As with any medical treatment, individual results may vary and this experience is unique and specific to this patient only. There are potential risks with surgery and recovery takes time. Potential risks include, but are not limited to: infection, discomfort from the presence of the implant, loosening of the implant, and loss of correction with nonunion or malunion.