Shelley, 64, is a retired schoolteacher. But, in her own words, “I don’t sit around in retirement; I’m a very active person. I work out and volunteer. I garden, hike – and my passion is Pure Barre. I hope to never be someone who simply sits around.”

That’s why, when bunion pain began to prevent Shelley from raising up on her toes during Pure Barre and kept her from being able to flex her toe while gardening; she began to suspect that she was going to have to do something soon to correct the problem.  Shelley tried conservative treatments, but they eventually proved ineffective for her. The final straw came when she woke up in the middle of the night, kicking covers off, because even the touch of the sheet against her bunion hurt. “I knew it could be fixed and so … let’s get it fixed! After all, I didn’t want to give up everything I love just because of a bunion.”

Her husband, Dr. Daniel Hatch, performs Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction® in his practice in Greeley, CO so Shelley was familiar with the procedure and had a behind-the-scenes peek into the excellent results he was achieving with the procedure. He knew that Shelley, as a lifelong educator, would appreciate digging in and learning more from the clinical studies backing the Lapiplasty® Procedure, so he provided her with several research articles to read. “I really feel like I dodged a bullet being able to be treated with a procedure that can be done as an outpatient procedure, as I remember both my grandmother and my mother having horrible bunions and, when they had their bunion corrected, it was major surgery requiring a hospital stay and long recovery.”

Her husband recommended Drs. Paul and Mindi Dayton of the Midwest Bunion Center in Ankeny, IA for her Lapiplasty® Procedure. And, he accompanied her as she flew from Colorado to Iowa for surgery on Shelley’s right foot on November 15, 2019. After an overnight stay in a hotel, they then rented a car and did the long car ride back to Colorado with Shelley’s foot iced and elevated. Admittedly, that long of a car ride was a little rough and Shelley was glad to be home again where she continued to elevate, ice, and repeat during her recovery; managing pain by taking only three Oxycodone and then weaning away to arthritis-strength Tylenol.

Though Drs. Dayton felt comfortable that Shelley could begin weight-bearing in a boot within a week of her surgery, all doctor’s post-operative protocols can vary and her husband was now overseeing her post-op care. Dr. Hatch felt more comfortable prescribing a knee scooter and walker for Shelley until the middle of the second post-op week when she was then put into a protected walking boot. It was difficult not being able to drive for those weeks while her right foot healed and she relied on friends for help with groceries, etc. But, she was released to begin short driving errands at six weeks using a driving shoe and then, at nine weeks, she transitioned into comfortable tennis shoes with an orthotic. For Shelley, moving away from the protected boot was a mental thing and she found herself (even before Covid-19) trying to keep a couple meters away from others and holding her foot up, or tucking it behind her, to protect it. Dr. Hatch instructed her to trust her foot and to stop protecting it so her confidence grew, and she found that she could do more and more, without pain. By six months, post-op, she was fully back to tending her perennial gardens – pulling weeds, doing the “gardener’s bend” with her toe again – and it was as if issues related to bunion pain and the surgery “had all faded away.”

Now, that a full year has passed, she looks back at her journey which started with her limping, in pain, triple bunion pads in ruined shoes and contemplates “Now I feel perfect. I never have pain in my foot now. Nothing is messing with my workouts now! I recently bought the cutest pair of new boots – and my new foot just slid right in there. It’s really surprising to me how much improvement I’ve experienced with the quality of my life within one year.”

Today Shelley keeps photos of her before and after xrays to refer back to. “Seeing the difference in my before xray and my first post-op xray literally made me cry tears of joy. It was like a miracle, the bunion was gone.”

Shelley encourages others who are considering the Lapiplasty® Procedure to be compliant patients – listening to and following their doctor’s instructions – understanding that swelling takes a while to go down as healing takes time and rest. “Overall, I can’t say enough good things about Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction®. It’s the future of all bunion surgery. For me, it was the right thing to do. My foot is beautiful and straight. I’m 100% back to normal.”

Lapiplasty® is a surgical procedure. Only a surgeon can tell if Lapiplasty® Procedure is right for you. This experience is unique and specific to this patient only. Individual results may vary depending on age, weight, health, and other variables. There are risks and recovery takes time. For more information about recovery from the Lapiplasty® Procedure, see the recovery information and discuss the post-surgery recovery process with your doctor. Risks include infection, pain, implant loosening and loss of correction with improper bone healing. For more information on benefits, risks and recovery, visit www.Lapiplasty.com. 

Please note that this patient is the spouse of a paid consultant of Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. The operating surgeon is also a paid consultant of Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.