Emily Atassi

Emily is an avid athlete who plays soccer, golfing and swimming with soccer being her main sport. She has been having pain in her foot for about six months. In December I felt her foot and something did not feel right. We took her to a local orthopedic surgeon and had an MRI done. It showed a tarsal coalition of the tarsal bone in her foot. We decided to get another opinion from another doctor and was referred to HSS. Just walking into the hospital we knew we made the right choice, the staff greeted us with kindness and the nurses were great with Emily. We sat down with Dr. Scher and he explained everything about the diagnosis with us, he made us feel comfortable and advised us that for Emily to not encounter pain anymore, that surgery was the best way to go. Dr. Scher answered all our questions and provided us with the answers we needed. Our brave Emily agreed because she was already missing soccer practices, gym classes, and Winter tournaments.

Surgery was set for the end of January, 2016. She was able to attend her Sweetheart dance with her dad four days after surgery. Emily recuperated and recovered without any problems. With physical therapy done locally, she was able to get rid of her crutches by her third PT session, putting weight on her foot with a boot. I was amazed of the improvement she was making, and the next step was getting rid of the boot. A few more sessions of PT and the boot was off.

With two months after surgery and a visit with Dr. Scher, Emily was given the clearance to go back to soccer slowly. Ten weeks after surgery and physical therapy, Emily played her first game and said she felt fantastic. As her mom, I was afraid to watch her play but at the same time felt relieved. With just ten days after being cleared to play, Emily scored her first goal in her second game since surgery. Her foot never gets swollen anymore and we are grateful. She still will continue with the physical therapy for some time.

We would like to take the time to thank Dr. Scher and all the staff at HSS for providing Emily with the best care needed. To all the nurses, thanks for being there for Emily when she rang the bell. To the pain management team, you did a fantastic job! Once again, a big thank you to Dr. Scher.