Bowen Pak

I had an accident and had a surgery done on my left ankle in 1980. After about 30 years, I started having osteoarthritis pain. Since my wife and I love to travel, this was a major concern to us because sometimes the pain prevented us from traveling (especially if the trip involved hiking or trekking through the mountains) . I investigated many different options, including stem cell therapy, and visited many different doctors, but none of the treatments were permanent.

One day in 2013, I was having dinner with a fraternity brother of mine from college and he was bragging about how much he enjoys dancing again after having both hips replaced at HSS. Well, that evening I decided I would also look into a replacement surgery to get rid of my ankle pain. I made an appointment with the Foot and Ankle Department at HSS and met with Dr. Demetracopoulos. He was great. He explained two different options, replacement vs. fusion, and I chose to go through with replacement option. I had my surgery on 12/30/2013, recovered very quickly, resumed traveling again in 6 months. Most recently, I traveled to Patagonia and had no pain hiking through rough terrain. Thank you Dr. D and HSS.