Most days, you’ll find Rockville, Maryland, native Kim Razick mixing finger paints, teaching letters and numbers, and helping her 3- and 4-year-old students learn and grow. As a preschool teacher for 40 years, her days are active, with lots of bending, lifting, and running around the playground. When she’s not at work, she enjoys spending time outdoors and going for walks.
So, when she got out of bed one Sunday morning and couldn’t put any weight on her right foot, she immediately knew something was wrong. She hadn’t injured her foot and had been fine while running errands the previous day.
“I wasn’t sure what to do,” says Kim. “My foot wasn’t swollen and there was nothing obvious wrong, so I ordered a knee scooter and an orthopaedic boot and went to work as usual on Tuesday.”
But when her foot didn’t improve after a few days, she worried it was something serious. Evan Argintar, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, part of the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute—and also the parent of one of Kim’s students—recommended she make an appointment with Nick Casscells, MD, a fellowship-trained orthopaedic foot and ankle surgeon within the Institute at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Dr. Casscells examined Kim and ordered blood tests and imaging, which uncovered an infection in a tendon in her leg. After an initial surgery found that the infection was extensive, he referred her to the Wound Healing Institute at MedStar Georgetown, where she underwent additional treatment.
“Even though I was dealing with a serious problem, I felt calm because I trusted Dr. Casscells,” says Kim. “He explained everything clearly and was honest with me, so I knew I was in good hands.”
Because the infection had caused serious damage that made her tendon unrepairable, Kim had a foot drop (trouble pulling your ankle upward, which can cause your foot to drag). To correct this, Dr. Casscells performed a procedure called posterior tibial tendon transfer.
“The surgery requires four small incisions,” explains Dr. Casscells. “I moved a tendon from the front of her leg and rerouted and reattached it so it took the place of her damaged tendon in the back of her leg. Because the transferred tendon normally helps the foot point, not flex, Kim had to undergo physical therapy to train the brain to use the tendon to lift the foot. We also arranged for Kim to get an orthotic insert to provide extra support for her arch. She’s doing very well and has good strength in her foot and no foot drop.”
Kim’s tendon transfer surgery was a resounding success. After six months of physical therapy at the MedStar National Rehabilitation Network clinic near her home, she’s happy to be back out on the playground and able to keep up with her students.
“My whole experience with MedStar Georgetown, the doctors and staff while I was in the hospital, and the outpatient physical therapists was very positive,” Kim adds. “I feel blessed to have the MedStar Georgetown team on my side.”
To learn more about our orthopaedic specialists at MedStar Georgetown, click here or to make an appointment with one of our orthopaedic specialists, call 202-444-8766.
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is part of the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute, with 50 orthopaedic surgeons at 19 locations throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Visit MedStarOrthopaedicInstitute.org for a complete listing of physicians and locations.