For Wanda, every morning in Bartlett, Tennessee starts with a visit to the gym for her favorite classes and the spin bike. She also plays tennis and often walks a lot in the park with a friend. As a result of her active lifestyle, she spent “about 10-12 hours a day” on her feet. However, due to worsening foot pain, the Tennessee Senior Olympian found herself no longer able to make it through these activities she loved so much and her brand-new spin shoes sat, unused, in the back of her car.

Wanda had an increasingly painful bunion; a bone deformity caused by an unstable joint that allows the big toe to drift out of alignment and progressively worsens over time. “I started hoping I could just make it through to the end of my tennis matches, instead of playing through as I normally did,” she shares. Wanda was no stranger to bunions having seen how her mother coped having them on both feet.

After Google searching “bunion surgery” while on her stationary bike, Wanda learned about Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ and looked for a doctor in her area. She met with Dr. Daniel J. Tucker of OrthoNow in Memphis for a bunion surgery consultation. Dr. Tucker gave her a brochure and referred to a foot anatomy model while explaining that “Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ would correct her bunion in all three dimensions and use special titanium plates to secure the unstable joint— which allows patients to quickly bear weight in a walking boot after surgery. She also looked online to learn more about the procedure.

With a few 5Ks coming up as well as tennis and the Senior Olympics, Wanda tried everything possible to alleviate the pain from her bunions until she could fit the Lapiplasty® Procedure into her schedule. Gel pads around her big toe and increasing the width of her shoes no longer really helped, so Wanda “suffered through the pain until November.”

After being told by her doctor that “most patients are able to get back on their feet quickly in a walking boot”¹ and that a successful correction could result in “less pain”, Wanda was determined to get the Lapiplasty® Procedure done as soon as there was a break in her upcoming activities. “Recovery time was a big thing for me. But I was also happy to hear that with Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™, my surgical correction wouldn’t be just a cosmetic fix,” she says.

Wanda had the Lapiplasty® Procedure done on her right foot in November 2019. For the first two weeks after surgery she got around with the assistance of a knee scooter. Her husband took her to and from appointments. He also “made sure I didn’t do something I shouldn’t do during recovery.” Six weeks after surgery Wanda was out of the walking boot and back in tennis shoes. Wanda is back to all her classes and, with tennis starting back up in May, Wanda says now that she’s had the Lapiplasty® Procedure she’s a “happy little camper.”

Wanda recalls friends telling her their traditional bunionectomy experience. “They said they never had so much pain in their life, so they won’t get the other foot done. But I’m beyond happy. I believe Lapiplasty® 3D Bunion Correction^™ was the best surgical choice I could have made,” says Wanda. “Traditional bunion surgery was not going to correct the true root case of my bunion. Now, my foot looks amazing; you wouldn’t believe it was the same foot.”

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.