I had bunionectomy surgery done by Dr. Radovic December 2014. My foot ended up worse than it was before, it has never healed; it never will. I live with foot pain being able to walk very little.
My bunion was not the problem, it did not hurt, but it pushed against the second toe causing pain to that toe, the theory was that by fixing the bunion (straightening it out) and fusing the second toe it would help relieve the pain. The first solution the doctor offered which was a custom orthotic did not help.
The first failure of this office was that I was not prepared before hand for what was to be done to my foot, this was a hard learned lesson, I know better now. I woke up with pins in my foot and the big toe pointing up 45 degrees. I though this was odd, but what did I know, I trusted the doctor. As time went by I also realized that the big toe had not been straightened out; if you look at images and youtube videos of the before and after results of this type of surgery the big toe is brought back to a straighter position.
The second failure was that very little post-operative instructions were provided, only a one page document with some confusing and misleading information. Various follow up calls to the office for explanation led to even more conflicting information, I would be told one thing one time and another the next time.
I gave it close to a year before going back to Dr. Radovic because a lot of the comments I read about this surgery is that it takes time to heal, often over a year. I went back to the doctor seeking relief for the pain twice. Both times the doctor just told me how well the surgery had come out almost as if proud of his work. However no explanation as to why I was in pretty severe pain.
On the first visit seeking relief the doctor said that a new orthotic was needed because since the shape of my foot had changed the old one would not work (this did not make a lot of sense) since my insurance did not cover the cost it would have costed me $500 which I could not afford. I opted for having the old one refurbished for $75.00.
On the next visit I told the doctor that the toe pointing up was causing problems because this led to the support of the toe not going to the floor and the weight that the toe would normally support was taken over by the ball of my foot, he said it was ME who was forcing the toe to point up, no explanation given as to why I was in pain. This is absurd, I was forcing my toe to point up for over a year?
I ended up consulting with 2 podiatrists, both agreed that the surgery had a problem and both agreed that trying to fix the problem would most likely not result in a positive outcome and that I may end up in worse shape.
One question that came up from both was if I was ever offered injection to try to ease the pain before going down the surgery road. It was not, I wish this was suggested by Dr. Radovic but it was NOT.
I noticed that in all the sites where the doctor has received a negative review he has replied denying there might be a problem, ever single response seems targeted and discrediting the patient and putting the blame back on them.
In one of my posts in Google reviews the doctor claims that I went to see him at his office some time ago with a traumatic injury to my foot and that I failed to follow up with him because my insurance had changed, this is a blatant lie, I asked the doctor to provide evidence of this happening which of as expected it went unanswered, I am still waiting.
In the end I am sorry I ever set foot in the California Foot & Ankle or Footfixer like the doctor likes to call himself, for that mistake I live in pain for the rest of my day. Every day when I put my shoes on I think of the doctor. read more