A very personable surgeon whose bedside manner allows most to overlook his lack of skill and…read moreexperience, especially in regard to proper infection care for open fractures.
Please allow me to share a brief summary of my story. I fell from a ladder, sustaining a compound tib/fib ankle fracture, where my tibia literally planted in the dirt (an important fact to remember). Dr. Nemitz installed an XFix to prepare my bones for plating. A day later, I was discharged from Lee Memorial and sent home with no antibiotics. Over the next 2+ weeks, I called his office nearly every day and he even saw me in the office a few times to address my concerns regarding possible infection and constant fevers. The responses summarized: "it's normal", even though the wound was very red and oozing puss. Dr. Nemitz finally agreed the wound looked "angry", and agreed to perform a debridement surgery. During pre-OP, he again made his skepticism known by stating, "I don't care if the Infectious Disease team laughs at me when the cultures come back negative". The cultures came back double positive for soil-based bacteria.
While being treated for infection, Dr. Nemitz installed the plates. After months of expected healing, he determined I was a non-union (bone never started to heal). I believe he finally realized his error and he quickly rushed me to Dr. Leach. After speaking to him, I decided to get a more experienced 2nd opinion outside the Ortho Specialists practice.
Through research, I found Dr. Sanders at Florida Orthopedic Institute (FOI). During my 1st surgery at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), Dr. Sanders found leaves, grass, and soil still embedded in my tissue near the tibia. The cultures at TGH also found a 3rd bacteria which likely wasn't found because Dr. Nemitz didn't take deep enough samples, as he didn't believe I had an infection. The infection degraded over 2 inches of my tibia, and took 6 more surgeries, and a bone graft, to correct the mistakes made by Dr. Nemitz and Lee Memorial. 10 months later, I was finally able to start walking again. While I still have months of rehab and healing to go, I am grateful to Dr. Sanders and the Tampa General team.
I'll leave you with the words of Dr. Sanders, when he first met me. After only a few seconds of examining my Xrays, he asked: "who did this to you?". Had I not gone for the 2nd opinion, I likely would have lost my lower leg, to infection.