糖心传媒

Wendy Quivey suffered a complex leg fracture while celebrating a friend鈥檚 wedding in Mexico. Stanford orthopaedic surgeon Michael Gardner was able to get her back on her feet.

By听Mandy Erickson

In Mexico for a friend鈥檚 wedding, Wendy Quivey took some time before the ceremony to explore the state of Guanajuato. She rode a bicycle along dirt roads, steering around cows and trucks, and drove an all-terrain vehicle through rivers and up mountains.听

Then, during the wedding reception, she broke her leg doing the limbo.听

An ambulance took her to the nearest hospital, where doctors wrapped her leg in bandages and gave her some pain medication so she could fly home to San Mateo, California. Still, she said, the flight 鈥渨as hell.鈥�

鈥淚 could feel the bones moving around, and the pain medication wasn鈥檛 strong enough,鈥� she said.

Another ambulance took her from Oakland Airport to her local hospital, where the doctors said the break was so severe she needed the expertise of the surgeons at听糖心传媒.听

Arriving at听Stanford Hospital听on the night of March 9 was 鈥渁 relief,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he emergency doctors and nurses jumped right in, getting me ready for surgery.鈥�

The next day, Michael Gardner, MD,听professor of orthopaedic surgery, spent three hours re-assembling her lower leg with the help of metal rods and screws.

Quivey鈥檚 shin and ankle bones had both broken into several pieces. Such a severe injury from a dance move is 鈥渁 little atypical,鈥� Gardner said. 鈥淚t was something about the way she was positioned. She twisted and fell on just the right spot to cause the fracture.鈥澨�

Quivey spent another night in the hospital, then went home to rest and start physical therapy. Orders for Bay Area residents to stay at home and stem the spread of the coronavirus were issued days after her surgery, and Quivey was furloughed from her job. But that gave her plenty of time to rehabilitate the leg.听

鈥淭he physical therapists are so impressed with my recovery,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 all gone really well.鈥�

Quivey returned to Stanford Hospital for X-rays, then had follow-up video visits with Gardner.听

She has since returned to work and is riding her bicycle, as well as lifting weights. Gardner expects that she can start running again next year.听

鈥淚 feel so lucky to have found Dr. Gardner,鈥� she said.听