“I'm very happy with the care I have received and thank you to Operation Access, Dr. Dickinson, and all hospital staff for this opportunity. Because of them, I am now able to walk better.”

William is 40 years old and lives in San Rafael with his uncle. He is married with two children living in the place of his birth, Yucatan, Mexico. Eighteen months ago he fell into a ravine, injuring his right foot and fracturing his ankle. After hobbling for three miles, he was finally able to find help and was taken to a nearby hospital where a cast was put on his foot. Having constant pain and swelling in his ankle and struggling at work, all William wanted to do was rest and recuperate at home. William visited the Marin Community Clinics in San Rafael for a follow-up consultation. Concerned about his ankle injury, the provider concluded the case was urgent. William could hardly walk and needed crutches to support him.

William was referred to our program and matched with Dr. Joseph Dickinson at Kaiser Permanente Oakland. After his examination William was scheduled for treatment at one of our surgery sessions. His surgery was successful.

After he had his surgery and his cast was removed, everything seemed to be healing well, and he was on the path to recovery. His instructions were to start walking with the crutches, followed by physical therapy to improve his mobility.

William has attended all his physical therapy appointments and has followed all the instructions from both Dr. Dickinson and his physical therapist. As a result William has regained mobility. He shared that he can go on half-hour walks now without the support of crutches and he knows that his mobility will continue to improve. He also feels little to no pain in comparison to how he felt before. William feels hopeful and excited that he is on the path to full recovery and soon he will no longer need to use orthopedic boots. William feels deeply grateful. "I'm very happy with the care I have received and thank you to Operation Access, Dr. Dickinson, and all hospital staff for this opportunity. Because of them, I am now able to walk better.”  

Story and photo shared with patient’s permission.