Amber Meade expected her foot to heal without complications. She rolled her ankle while pushing a shopping cart, but for six weeks, she continued working on her feet at a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.
As the discomfort grew, Meade, 33 at the time, eventually booked an appointment with the orthopedics specialist at her hospital. An X-ray revealed that she had broken an extra bone in her foot. Surgery was required to both remove the bone and move her tendon over.
But during the procedure, which took place in 2017, an anchor screw used in the repair pressed on a nerve in her foot, causing excruciating pain that left her unable to stand or work.
"As soon as I started waking up in the operating room, I knew there was an issue," Meade, now 41, says.
For nine months, Meade’s foot swelled, turned purple and left her debilitated. Doctors came up with a myriad of explanations: She needed to push through the pain before it got better. She was "getting older," her surgeon suggested.
