Optim Healthcare - Doctor Led, Patient Focused

It was Monday night 9/26/2011. I was warming up for a weightlifting session by jumping rope. Unfortunately I was set up on a weightlifting platform and not paying attention to what I was doing. The end result was that I strayed off the platform and came down halfway on and halfway off. My ankle rolled and there was a nice crisp “pop”. Ouch. Something wasn’t right. I tried to walk it off but it didn’t help. It was swelling and the pain was getting worse. I drove home and showed the damage to my wife. We decided that I needed to get in to see a doctor as soon as possible. I feared the worst. My wife and I had planned a big vacation to India in six weeks and who knows what I had done to myself or to our plans.

The next morning we drove to Optim Orthopedics and checked in. Within a half hour I was in a patient room and being briefed by Dr. Kamaleson. I had x-rays taken and then awaited the diagnosis. It came back that it was a break, or rather an avulsion fracture of the 5th metatarsal. This was bad news but not the worst thing in the world. I needed to take it easy and wear an “air cast” for 6 weeks. I didn’t have to miss work and I could still get myself around. I received my air cast and was on my way. The whole ordeal took about two hours.

Five weeks later I went in for a follow up appointment and everything had healed perfectly. I could start to walk around on my own without the air cast. A week later I was walking unassisted and we were on our way to India.

The care and precision that I experienced at Optim was impeccable. Dr. Kamaleson took immediate action for my fractured foot. The staff at provided efficient and excellent care to which I cannot thank them enough.

– Grant Etheridge, March 2013

I suffered with heel pain in my left foot for many years thinking the way I walked was the cause of the pain. After mentioning my heel pain to my primary doctor, I was referred to Optim Orthopedics. Since Dr. Jaakkola specializes in the foot and ankle, I made my appointment with him. He diagnosed me with “Plantar Fascitis”. After many months of trying to heal the pain, through cortisone shots, exercises, a boot and a night brace, Dr. Jaakkola finally completed the Plantar Fascitis release on July 8, 2004. Oh, such joy to be pain free! Two years later, believe it or not, the pain began to occur in my right foot. Again, after trying again to correct it without surgery, I had my 2nd release completed on September 12, 2007, Although the recovery was worse the second time because I was unable to drive, I had a full and complete recovery after both releases.

In June of 2011, I began to experience a different pain on the ball of my foot right under my second toe. Knowing my foot history, I did not waste a day and went right back to visit Dr. Jaakkola. He diagnosed me with “Morton’s Neuroma”. On a follow up visit, Dr. Jaakkola noticed that my second and third toes were separating slightly. Over the next four months, the separation worsened and my second toe started becoming a hammer and looked totally disfigured. Dr. Jaakkola wasn’t 100% sure he would be able to flatten it all the way, but we decided that surgery was my best option. On, January 13, 2012, I visited the surgery center at Optim and had my toe corrected by shortening the bones, inserting pins and removing the Neuroma. Even though the recovery was difficult and painful, a year later, I can wear ANY shoe I wish without pain. I can walk and exercise as well as get up on my toes with no pain at all. The scars are minimal and I’m thankful to Dr. Jaakkola for straightening and flattening my toes to look normal again.

Dr. Jaakkola is extremely thorough and compassionate and was knowledgeable and patient when answering my questions. He understood my pain and worked hard to alleviate my issues before attempting surgery. He was eager to show me my x-rays and how the changes occurred in my foot between the x-rays.

I believe seeing a specialist is the only way to correct a problem. I would much rather see a doctor who has a great amount of experience correcting particular problems in specialized areas. As they say, “practice makes perfect” and the specialists get plenty of practice at Optim.

I would definitely recommend Optim Orthopedics to family and friends. The office is clean, organized and the staff is friendly It’s extremely helpful and convenient to see your doctor, get necessary x-rays, complete your MRI, have surgery and Physical Therapy, if needed, all in one building. I like the use of pagers compared to a nurse calling my name out loud and “Check In and Out” is efficient. Overall, I believe Optim employs the best Orthopedics in Savannah.

– Beth Buttimer, February 2013

My back pain started about 10 years ago, and over the last couple of years, the pain had gotten so bad that I could barely stand up straight. I knew that there was something I had to do because I relied on hot pads to take away my pain and that was not the way I wanted to live. In April 2010 (Macon, GA), I finally had surgery on my back, and almost instantly I could tell that there was something wrong. I was in the hospital for nearly a month and the pain had not changed at all since before the surgery. In fact, in some ways, it was worse. The surgeon had told me there was nothing further they could do for me. Not only had the surgery not been a successful one, I had also gotten a Staph infection in the days following.

Early this past summer (2012), I finally decided to research a Spine surgeon again to see if there was anything that could be done to relieve me of this pain. I was referred to Dr. Gumidyala and was told that if anything could be done to fix my spine, he would be the one.

I traveled from Dublin, GA to Savannah to see Dr. Gumidyala. He was confident that my back was fixable. He believed that he could get me walking straight again, and that the pain would be significantly reduced. I was a little nervous about getting another Staph infection as well, since my chances were very high of getting it again after my surgery. Dr. Gumidyala recognized the threat and was extra careful with my post op to make sure that I steered clear of any infection. My surgery was on October 9, 2012 and I could immediately tell the difference. I now have very little pain, and I am not hunched over when I walk. I know there is still some recovery and therapy ahead, but I truly feel that what Dr. Gumidyala did for me has been an absolute miracle. When I never thought that I could be relieved of my pain, he believed he could help me. I am so happy that I have already come so far, and cannot wait to be 100% recovered.

– Patricia McLamore, January 2013