For Patients

I had carpal tunnel and trigger release surgery with Doctor Penny. He is a fine doctor...

He knew I was scared about having surgery but he was supportive, comforting and encouraging...Thank you Dr. Nelson so much.

I would like to take the time to commend Dr. Adam Hall for his surgical excellence. Dr. Hall removed the contracture in my Left Hand (LH) pinky finger, which was at ~90 degrees contracted. One month post surgery, and my LH is at 7 degrees!

On December 17^th, 2019 I had a total knee replacement done by Dr. Jason Hanna and his team at FWO in Auburn. I wanted to take the time to commend Dr. Hanna and the people of Dekalb Health for the fantastic care I had during this procedure.

Was referred to Dr. Rahn for a back issue. I actually saw his Nurse Practitioner, Abbey. I was really impressed by her. She is very professional and has a 'let's get on with it' attitude, but is also very personable.

I was seen by Dr. DeTommaso yesterday to assess my right heel spur. He was beyond professional, informative and had amazing bedside manner.

I developed a severe case of plantar fibroma in both of my feet at the same time. I put it off until I could no longer bear the pain from them in my feet. I contacted FWO and they were courteous and very kind and set me up with an appointment right away. I was introduced to a wonderful Doctor, Dr. Gauge Caudell.

Because of the onset of sudden, unexpected pain in my left foot, I self-treated for about a week. I finally took my wife’s advice and went to Fort Wayne Orthopedic’s OrthoStat walk-in clinic.

I just have to write and thank you again for doing the surgery on my right hand on March 14^th. And how quick it healed. Within one month I had full use, with about 40% pain. Within two months, about 10% pain. Now there is NO PAIN, just a little numbness on the two fingers, which you told me to expect.

Bobby Gregory’s knees had bothered him for years. But the 70-year-old Kosciusko county farmer was hesitant to go through surgery – until the pain interrupted his favorite activities. “I do a lot of hunting at night, out in the woods,” says Bobby. “After awhile my knees got so bad that was afraid I couldn’t get myself back out of the woods. I’d be back there by myself, and they’d start hurting bad.”

On June 25, 2013 I had outpatient surgery on my hand. During the surgery, my heart started doing some funny things and I had to be admitted for observation. Dr. Niles Schwartz is a great hand surgeon, and he explained just what was wrong and how it would be fixed.

After previous family experiences with Fort Wayne Orthopedics, it was only natural for Sharon Lovell to bring her 78-year-old mother Nell Tays to Fort Wayne from Alabama when she needed back surgery in early 2012. Nell had undergone back surgery four years earlier, but was enduring debilitating pain as her condition deteriorated.

Linda Honegger came to a gradual realization that she would need a hip transplant. “About 3 years ago, I started noticing that I couldn’t move my legs apart as far as I used to,” says the Bluffton native. Surprisingly, she never experienced pain in her hips or back… only in her thigh muscles. “As time went on, my thighs started hurting, and it got the point where I could hardly sleep at night because my legs hurt so badly."

“After I finally had my surgery, I thought, ‘Why did I wait so long?!’” Ellen Mock of Peru, Ind., had been suffering the effects of spinal stenosis – neck pain, accompanied by weakness and numbness in her arms – for years. At the end of the day, wiped out, she would return home from work totally depleted, with no energy to tend to her home or enjoy other activities.

For Colleen Mankey, surgery was the only real option. Her rotator cuff was torn and not repairable and this had caused her shoulder to wear out. This left her in pain and unable to accomplish simple tasks, so she opted for a reverse shoulder implant (a unique treatment for a difficult problem).

Dr. Jack Dyer struggled with back pain and knee problems for years. A longtime Fort Wayne physician and FWO patient, Dyer tried several back pain treatments and underwent arthroplasty procedures on both knees.

When his back and spinal pain worsened several years ago, he turned to FWO for emergency surgery.