Nothing prepares someone for a car accident situation, let alone the injuries that may follow.
When a semitruck pulled out in front of Melissa Raymond’s car, she was taken to our trauma unit at Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center. There she met Benjamin Boothby, DO, (pictured above) the orthopedic surgeon who later played a pivotal role in her recovery.
At the hospital, Melissa found out she had a compound fracture with a dislocated elbow. The next day, she was taken to surgery.
“Dr. Boothby has been wonderful. I couldn’t have asked for a better surgeon, to be honest,” Melissa shares. “He took his time explaining everything, so I knew what was going to happen. He was also so down to earth. He didn’t just speak in medical terms – I felt like my time was valuable.”
Since surgery, Melissa has recovered well with minimum scarring, something she credits entirely to Dr. Boothby and his team. She attends physical therapy twice a week and has been able to gain movement back she didn’t expect to have again.
“I can extend my arm now, which, to me, is a big feat considering it was nearly locked at a 90-degree angle for six weeks,” she shares. “Therapy can be painful, but I feel very lucky to have the trauma team and Dr. Boothby to be able to fix it as well as he has.”
To Melissa, her care team has been able to not only ease her pain and give her back her mobility, but also make her feel nurtured.
“They did such a wonderful job at caring for me as a person and not just an injury or number – that is not always common,” she explains. “I’ve had a handful of injuries and sometimes they just move you through the motions. For example, Dr. Boothby’s care team and staff made sure I had my medicine and went out of the way to get the correct brace for my arm. If anyone has a serious injury and Dr. Boothby is available – I cannot recommend him enough.”
Learn more about the orthopedics and sports medicine services we offer at Mercy Health.
