Adena Podiatry Helps Patients to be Pain-free With Each Step

As your body’s shock absorbers, your feet rely upon a complex network of bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments to keep you moving forward. It’s easy to ignore your feet and lower legs until they hurt or something goes wrong. This is where the podiatrists and experts with Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute can help.

Adena Podiatry offers specialized care in podiatry, diabetic wound care, and nail care.

For patients Frankie Wile and Cindy Loomis it meant care they could trust to get them back on their feet.

Frankie’s story

Frankie Wile cherishes her family-like relationship with Caleb McFerren, DPM with Adena Podiatry.

In 2015, Frankie was involved in a bad car accident that landed her in emergency surgery. Her ankle required reconstructive surgery with rods, pens, screws, and two metal plates. Fast forward a few years and Frankie began experiencing issues with swelling and walking on her repaired ankle. That’s when she came to Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute for a second opinion.

It was determined Frankie would need to have a second surgery on her ankle. On the day of her procedure, the scheduled surgeon was caught up in an emergency surgery and it looked like Frankie’s surgery would be delayed. Just as she was about to reschedule for a different day, Dr. McFerren volunteered to step in and perform the surgery.  

During the procedure, Dr. McFerren realized the screws in Frankie’s ankle had been stripped and one of the metal plates had broken, causing her pain and swelling. The surgery that was only supposed to last a few minutes ended up taking three and a half hours as a result, but Dr. McFerren was able to successfully treat the ankle, providing Frankie with the relief she so desperately needed. After surgery, Dr. McFerren even offered to take her on as one of his own patients, and they’ve had the best relationship since.

“Dr. McFerren has always been truthful, even if it was difficult to talk about,” Frankie said. “He is very honest and up front about his experience and capabilities and has the best bedside manner.”

As their relationship developed over the years, Frankie, her mother and Dr. McFerren became like family as the women have quilted baby blankets and made diamond paintings for the doctor’s children when they were born. Frankie is glad she came to Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute to find the answers and relief for her pain, and in the process gaining a lifelong friendship.

Cindy’s story

Last summer, Cindy Loomis started experiencing ankle pain and decided to seek help at Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute. Following an initial evaluation and x-rays, her doctor decided the first step was treatment to address arthritis.

The following month, an MRI was ordered and physical therapy was prescribed, with her physician seeing Cindy roughly every two weeks for monitoring.

“My doctor was very helpful and kind seeing surgery not as a first resort, but as the last,” Cindy said.

At the conclusion of her physical therapy, Cindy was placed in a boot for six weeks as a final effort to avoid surgery. When surgery became unavoidable, her doctor performed a Tenex procedure, which is used to treat chronic tendon pain from tendinosis.

Since the procedure, Cindy said she hasn’t experienced any additional trouble with her ankle. She appreciates the fact that the experts with Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute made every effort possible to treat the problem without surgery.  

What also impressed her was the way her doctor treated her as a person, not just a patient, and as a partner in her care. They shared photos of their children and grandchildren, and Cindy said her care team is very personable, listens well, and takes their patients’ opinions and feelings into consideration with their treatment plan. That’s important to her, and she’s since recommended others to Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute to experience that level of care for themselves. 

Adena Podiatry sees patients in Chillicothe, Circleville, Greenfield, Washington Court House, and Waverly. If you are experiencing leg or foot pain that is keeping you from the activities you love, let Adena Orthopedic and Spine Institute help. Schedule an appointment by calling 740-779-4598 or visit Adena.org/AOSI.