Suzanne Duda

In 1999, while playing touch football, I broke my ankle. Although the fracture healed and I had two pain-free years, I suddenly began experiencing chronic deep-seated pain in my foot and ankle that never went away. A biopsy was done and a very rare form of bone cysts was diagnosed. I had two bone graft surgeries and then 5 weeks of radiation, but nothing shrunk the cysts or relieved the pain. Finally, after 2 ½ years of dealing with the pain, the head of orthopedics at Mayo Clinic suggested I have a below-knee amputation, which I agreed to. A local surgeon performed an Ertl amputation on me.

After the amputation I had to have 2 revision surgeries, but the amputation did relieve my pain. I felt very blessed to have been offered a solution to my debilitating pain and lived an active lifestyle as an amputee for 20 years. Although I had frequent discomfort and sometimes minor pain with my prostheses, I always felt lucky because I knew it was far better than the pain I had that led to the amputation.

In April of 2023 I fractured by distal femur and tore a meniscus on my amputated leg. Although the injuries healed, they left me with a crooked leg and great frustration trying to get back to wearing a prosthesis. My wonderful prosthetist did all he could do to make me a comfortable prosthesis, but my crooked leg made it quite difficult.

Then my prosthetist told me about osseointegration surgery, HSS, and Dr. S. Robert Rozbruch. I was immediately excited and wanted to learn more. Ultimately, I flew to HSS in New York City and met with Dr. Rozbruch, where we scheduled an April 2024 surgery. In addition to the osseointegration surgery, he also repaired my crooked femur with a bone graft and hardware.

Osseointegration has been positively life changing for me. The surgeries themselves were by far the least painful of my prior 5 surgeries and I healed well. At about 8 weeks, I got my new prosthesis and was able to begin walking on it with crutches for another month or so. The freedom of no longer having to wear a socket was mind blowing. It felt SO GOOD. It’s truly the next best thing to having a real leg.

Around 14 weeks post-surgery I was walking without crutches and was very comfortable in my new leg. It takes 5 seconds to screw it on, and I wear it ALL DAY in comfort. I used to take my socket off multiple times a day for some relief, but with my new leg I never even think about taking it off. I could wear it while I sleep if I wanted to, but it takes me longer to remove my shoe from the foot than it does to remove my prosthesis from my leg, so I just pop the leg off.

I’ve never felt that my new prosthesis prohibits me from doing anything. Everything I want to do I do. Four months post-surgery I started golfing 18 holes. I love not having to remove my prosthesis to wipe down my sweaty nub numerous times while golfing. Five months post-surgery I hiked over very rocky terrain in the Smokey Mountains. I work out on my rowing and elliptical machines and it’s so wonderful not having the bulk of a liner, socks, a sleeve and socket behind my knee.

After 20 years of sitting on a tub bench to shower, I now STAND in the shower! My prosthetist was able to take one of my old feet and adapt it as my shower leg that I simply screw on. It doesn’t have a foot shell or sock to get wet, it’s just metal.

Dr. Rozbruch is a kind and talented surgeon, and he and his team have changed the course of my life with their medical expertise and care. Having osseointegration surgery has been a real gamechanger for me and is one of the greatest blessings in my life.