Roxanne's Story: Specialty Care Close to Home

Whenever Roxanne Streets needed new shoes she would buy two pairs of the same shoes but in different sizes.

“That’s because the Wyoming, Iowa woman had developed a bone spur on the top of her right foot and her usual size wouldn’t fit    A traumatic injury years ago on that foot was the cause of the growth. Over the years it became progressively worse. Shoes were a tough fit  and it was very painful — she admits it was easier to go barefoot most of the time.  

“I toughed it out for a while but it finally got to the point where I couldn’t take the pain anymore and I went to see Dr. Hemmes at Jones Regional Medical Center,” explains Streets. “We tried several things to deal with the issue but eventually surgery was recommended.” 

“The main cause of bone spurs is joint damage from osteoarthritis,” explains David Hemmes, DPM, Foot & Ankle Specialists of Iowa. “Many individuals can manage with conservative treatments but in Roxanne’s case the only thing that was going to give her relief was to remove the bone spur.”

SURGERY AVAILABLE

Dr. Hemmes is one of several specialists from the Cedar Rapids area that have specialty clinics at Jones Regional Medical Center (JRMC). He sees patients at the Anamosa hospital every week and performs surgery there two to three times a month. 

“The surgical team at Jones Regional is great,” says Dr. Hemmes. “The facility is really nice and they have the same equipment as the operating rooms at St. Luke’s. Roxanne’s condition is fairly common, so her surgery was pretty straight-forward and took less than an hour.“

I am so glad to have such great care close to my home in Wyoming,” says Streets. “I had wonderful care at Jones Regional. Dr. Hemmes and the nurses were so good to me.”

PAIN FREE

“After surgery Roxanne had to wear a boot on her foot and resumed activities as she was able,” Dr. Hemmes says. “Down the road she many need another surgery but this should take care of her issue for some time.” “I still have a little pain but this surgery did wonders,” says Streets. “I am so glad I had it done. I am able to ride bikes again, plant flowers and do other things I hadn’t been able to do because of the pain.”