Brian Cantin

My original problem with my ankle happened about 4 years ago when I injured it. I was told that I have tendonitis in the ankle and required physical therapy. After success I was back on my way until one night while I was sleeping my ankle woke me up with unbelievable pain. Having no idea why the pain started I went back to my original foot doctor and he had no answer after a new MRI was done. Frustrated with this road block I went to 3 other specialist in the foot and ankle field. All had no clear cut answer even looking at my MRI and knowing my history. All they could do was suggest aspirin, heat or ice and that was it. One doctor even suggested to see a pain specialist. Finally one day, my regular doctor suggested I see Dr. Mark Drakos. I had nothing to lose so I made the appointment. I was thrilled to hear that Dr. Drakos was affiliated with Hospital for Special Surgery as this was the hospital I wanted to go to, but could not get an appointment with any doctor for at least 6 months. When I had my appointment with Dr. Drakos he took a look at my swollen foot, saw my MRI and immediately suggested to drain the fluid he saw. I was excited to hear some progress about to be made (but was not excited for the draining procedure). As soon as he got fluid out he already knew someone wasn't right. 4 days later he informed me that I had an infection and needed surgery right away to take care of the problem. I had the surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery (this was my first surgery of any kind in my life) and 4 days after it I was home. I really enjoyed my stay at the hospital. Everyone has their own stories about hospitals and how it can be boring or bad, but I did not have a bad experience what so ever during my stay. Now I am on the road to recovery and hope by the summer time I can get back to doing the things I loved to do. Bike rides, handball, football, anything to tell you the truth. Since then I've been telling all my friends and co-workers that if they ever need anything done or checked out, first check out the doctors at this hospital. If there comes a time where I do need surgery again the first place I will check out is Hospital for Special Surgery.