When Our Patient Wrote “Dr. Volkmann has, in every sense, given me my life back,” It Brought Us to Tears, This Is Ryan’s Story.

Written by: Dr. Bob Baravarian and the UFAI Education Team on February 23, 2017

We love it when our patients are happy (which is the reason we exist) and good reviews on Yelp, Google or our own patient satisfaction surveys are tremendously gratifying.

But for the first time we are going to make an entire blog post from a review we recently received on Yelp because it literally brought us to tears.

It is a story of care written by Ryan, a patient of Dr. Volkmann (in UFAI’s Valencia office).

This is Ryan’s review:

Ryan with his wife and daughter.

This is going to be a little lengthy, but I beg anyone whom has been bounced around looking for the proper doctor, PLEASE READ.

Before I met Dr. Volkmann, I was a 25-year-old that, at times, had to crawl to the bathroom in the morning because of the pain I was in. I was unable to run with my daughter, or even walk around the mall……Now, just 8 short months after my first appointment, I have another chance at life. I can do all the things a dad is supposed to do with his daughter.

Dr. Volkmann has, in every sense, given me my life back.

Roughly 10 years ago, at the age of 14, I broke both legs, feet, and ankles in a motocross accident. While my right leg healed relatively well, my left leg/foot/ankle began to deteriorate rapidly a few short years later.

I had seen several specialists over the years searching for answers as to what I can do to fix my ever-worsening ankle, only to be told that I needed to, in essence, take Tylenol and stretch. I was in an out of those offices in 5 minutes, a few hundred dollars poorer and no hope of getting my ankle fixed.

After years of living with pain and a foot that was becoming a legitimate hindrance to everyday life, I decided to give one more specialist a shot and scheduled an appointment with Dr. Volkmann.

Within my first 5 minutes of meeting with Dr. V, I had been given more information in regards to the health of my ankle than I had been given by my previous 4 specialist combined.

Dr. Volkmann never once made me feel rushed, never once made me feel like I was wasting his time, and he legitimately seemed to be concerned for what I was going through. Dr. V. actually cared about helping ME, a stranger at the time, get me back to a normal life.

After two appointments with Dr. V, and going over literally every single option that is available, we settled on an ankle fusion as the best remedy for getting me back on my feet.

Dr. V made it abundantly clear that this decision was up to me…his job was to educate me on my options so that we could come to a mutual agreement on what was best for me and my family. The feeling I had knowing that I had a Dr. whom was actually looking out for my best interest was incredible empowering, and one I had NEVER felt with any Dr. in the past.

***This is where my experience with Dr. Volkmann goes from great to indescribably incredible***

24 hours after ankle fusion, the pain of my surgery really began to set in. I was in bad shape (I do NOT have a very high pain tolerance) and I was looking for answers the nurses couldn’t give me. Dr. Volkmann somehow got word I was struggling with the pain, and what does he do? SHOWS UP TO THE HOSPITAL AT 8:00 PM TO HELP ME. Long after he should have been home and enjoying his evening, he shows up to speak with the nurses and figures out what can be done to help me get through the night, and the days going forward……Dr. V had zero responsibility to come and help me that night, but he did. From that moment forward I was at ease with my healing process, because I KNEW that I had Dr. that was going to be there every step of the way.

Ryan Story and Yelp Review, University Foot and Ankle Institute

“I have another chance at life. I can do all the things a dad is supposed to do with his daughter.” – Ryan

The months that followed, all the way to the present, Dr. V constantly checked in on my well-being. Not just at my appointments, but over the phone and email as well just to make sure that I was doing OK.

After 6 months of healing and physical therapy, I am so proud to say I am walking better than I ever imagined possible. I get out of bed in the mornings with little to no pain, I can walk in a straight line, and most importantly, I can keep up with my little girl again. I never imagined that after my ankle fusion that I would be able to walk this well, and it’s only going to get better as I adjust to the movement I have.

There aren’t enough words to describe what Dr. Volkmann has done for my family, so I will just say, thank you. Thank you, Dr. Volkmann, for allowing me to be a person again.

Best regards,

Ryan.

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Dr. Bob Baravarian and the UFAI Education Team

For almost fifteen years, University Foot and Ankle Institute and their nationally recognized physicians have been providing the most technologically advanced medical care for the foot and ankle with the highest success rates in the country.

As a teaching institution, University Foot and Ankle Institute’s Fellowship Program is among the most advanced in the nation.

We at UFAI are driven to get our patients back to their normal activities with the highest level of function, in the least amount of time, using the least invasive treatments possible. From start to finish, we are with you every step of the way.

The UFAI Education Team works to help empower our patients and website visitors with the most up-to-date information about foot and ankle conditions, treatment options, recovery and injury prevention. Our goal is to pass on truly useful information to our readers.

We hope you enjoy our work and find it of value. Please let us know!