Dean Bruno

I've always been athletically inclined my entire life and I ran my first marathon in 1993 at 23 years old. In 2002, I qualified for the Boston Marathon and ran Boston for the first time in 2003. By the fall of 2003, I was having numbness in both calves and my primary care doctor suggested that I go to HSS.

I contacted Dr. Jordan Metzl and he diagnosed me with compartment syndrome. Dr. Answorth Allen performed fasciotomies on both of my calves. My initial experience with HSS was excellent and the surgeries went better than expected and I regained my ability to run at similar paces before surgery and requalified for Boston quite a few times.

In May of 2010, I was diagnosed with Nodular sclerosing Hodgkin lymphoma at the University Hospital at Stony Brook and after surgery and six months of chemotherapy, I was in remission thankfully. 9 months after finishing chemotherapy, I ran a marathon.

By 2015, I had taken up triathlon and I completed my first Ironman Lake Placid. I was hooked on Ironman and completed Ironman Lake Placid again from 2016 through 2019. During the late fall of 2020, I began to have significant Achilles tendon aches and pains. After massage therapy, acupuncture and active release therapy, a friend recommended that I see Dr. Drakos. I met with Dr. Drakos' team virtually and we continued therapies for about a month or so without improvement. An MRI showed significant Achilles tendon damage. I met with Dr. Drakos in Uniondale, NY in late February 2021 and I immediately took a liking to him. He was kind enough to Facetime the appointment with my wife and he put us both at ease. Dr. Drakos conveyed that I needed Achilles tendon debridement and repair. Surgery was performed on March 11, 2021 in New York City and the recovery went better than expected.

By mid April I was cycling in my basement and swimming at my local YMCA by late spring. By August 2021, I was running again and by early September I completed a sprint triathlon.

As the months went by, by Achilles felt normal and feels normal today. On July 24, 2022, I completed Ironman Lake Placid for the 6th time in a 40 minute personal best - in 11 hours, 32 minutes and 1 second. I finished 12th overall in the male 50 to 54 age group and 196th overall out of over 2200 starting athletes. Based on my time, I qualified for the Ironman World Championships which took place in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii on October 6th.

The Ironman World Championships was the hardest race that I’ve participated in with ocean swells on the swim and heat/humidity/significant wind and rolling hills through the lava fields on the bike and run. Thankfully my Achilles tendon and heel held up just fine.

I can't thank Dr. Drakos and the HSS team enough for correcting serious ailments and helping me to reach new levels of fitness and achieving a goal that I never thought remotely possible by qualifying for the Ironman World Championships.