Patient testimonials

A local nurse was experiencing pain in her left pinky finger that was only worsening with time. Initially, she had pain seldomly with minimal activities but then it progressed to the point where even jostling the hand hurt. She even gave up playing piano to try to alleviate her pain. Eventually she sought care from another surgeon and received a steroid injection, which did relieve her pain for about three months. Once the symptoms returned, the conventional answer to her pain was to perform a fusion which is what the surgeon recommended as a permanent solution. The obvious downside of such a procedure is to have permanent stiffness in the joint that was causing her pain with any activity. This is where our nurse decided to search online for any other possible solution. 

“I’m in the medical profession and I know Proliance is a trusted group, so I was looking for hand specialists within that company,” she shared. “What I loved about Dr. Galle’s biography was that he was open to alternative treatments.”

Our nurse called into the Proliance Hand Wrist & Elbow Physicians office and was able to schedule an appointment easily. The clinic staff was welcoming and she mentioned how seamlessly they accommodated her being hard of hearing during her visits. 

Her diagnosis was osteoarthritis of the distal interphalangeal joint as confirmed by her radiographs and conservative management had been thorough prior to seeing Dr. Galle. A fusion procedure is very standard in the hand surgery world and our nurse’s finger met criteria to perform such an operation. The challenge is the trade that every patient makes after such a procedure whereby the finger is painful before the operation and after the operation, stiff to the point of no motion at all. It is this loss of motion that is simply too much for some patients to bear, and this is where our nurse found herself. While not commonly performed, a denervation procedure is another option that has been popularized in the hand surgery world and is what Dr. Galle recommended.

A denervation procedure is an operation that focuses on reducing pain and preserving motion in osteoarthritic joints about the hand and wrist. This type of procedure has been performed for many years in the wrist; however the thumb and finger version of the procedure is relatively new to the surgical world, which is why it may not have been considered by the initial physician. The metaphor to best explain the procedure is a car with an engine problem whereby the check engine light is coming on. The engine in this metaphor is the joint which is slowly wearing out and the check engine light is the nerve to that joint sending the pain signal to your brain. These are not the sensation nerves to your skin or fingertips by the way which is important to know before reading on. Now your mechanic would probably not recommend doing this in your car, but your orthopedic surgeon may recommend cutting the check engine light, which is the nerve in this analogy. The benefit of doing this in a patient is to decrease pain and preserve the joint motion as best we can with the understanding that pain relief will likely be partial in nature. And somewhere down the road we may have to address the engine (joint) that is wearing out. Your mechanic is more likely to order whatever engine part that has failed to replace it before it causes early wear on the rest of the engine. If only we had a catalog to order replacement parts for the fingers, but there is no joint replacement available for the distal interphalangeal joint at the time of writing this article. 

After undergoing the denervation procedure, the nurse reported her experience with Proliance Eastside Surgery Center in Kirkland, Washington was excellent. 

“I can’t say enough how well the surgery center staff treated me. And the actual procedure itself was so easy! Dr. Galle gave me local anesthesia and it was no more uncomfortable than getting a flu shot. The surgery center staff even walked me out to my car when I was able to leave.”

At six weeks post-procedure, the nurse has nothing but positive results to share regarding Dr. Galle. In fact, she has already referred people to him! 

“I wasn’t expecting to get back the finger I had when I was 20 years old,” she says, “and while I hoped I would be pain-free, I did expect that I might still have some discomfort. I’m thrilled to say that I’m back to playing piano and folding socks without any trouble. Last week, I visited my grandkids and we held hands without my experiencing any pain at all.”

Another excellent result thanks to an operation at the forefront of medicine on the right patient at the right time. 

A recent patient presented to the Evergreen Health Emergency Department following a fall with ongoing wrist pain. After waiting for six hours, she was diagnosed with x-rays with a broken wrist by the emergency physician on call. The on-call physician personally reached out to Dr. Galle to see if he could see the patient emergently because she was supposed to start radiation treatment for early stage breast cancer the day of her fall. 

Luckily for the patient, Dr. Galle was able to make time in his schedule to see her the following morning. After reviewing her images from the night before, Dr. Galle agreed that surgery was the best course of treatment for her broken wrist. He scheduled her the following Monday so that her cancer treatment was impacted as little as possible.

“I was so grateful to be seen right away by Dr. Galle and to be scheduled for surgery just five days after my fall. I only had to delay my radiation treatment by a week or so. It was completely by chance, but I’m so happy I was assigned to Dr. Galle.”

This particular patient of Dr. Galle’s underwent a surgery on the wrist known as an open reduction and internal fixation. This includes making an incision on the wrist to realign the bones of the wrist so that they can heal in the correct position. Unfortunately many cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy can have complications when combined with surgery such as delayed wound healing and subsequent infections. This is why the timing for this particular patient was so critical to get her wrist treated in an expedited fashion in order to only minimally affect her ongoing cancer treatments. 

The patient recalled her experience at the Proliance Eastside Surgery Center in Kirkland, Washington, being positive. The location was convenient, close to the Evergreen Hospital but out of the hustle and bustle of the hospital. She especially appreciated the cute coffee shop in the entrance of the Proliance Eastside Surgery Center building.  

“The anesthesiologist was very helpful. I will never forget him explaining to me that the nerve block was going to wear off in the middle of the night. So even though I might not be in discomfort, he recommended I take a dose of pain medication before going to bed to help manage the pain overnight.”

Post-operatively, she recalled that the first day or two after her operation she did experience some pain, but by the third day she was much better. Additionally, the patient was pleasantly surprised at how quickly she was able to start moving her hand and wrist. Within a week she was in a splint and working with the Occupational Therapy team to get her range of motion and strength back. Her mobility came back surprisingly quickly, which was a relief since she had broken her dominant hand.

“Dr. Galle really listened to me. I had a pin sticking out of my hand to help hold my bones in place and the skin around it was getting red. It was really adding to my stress level, so I asked if I could possibly have it removed early and he was willing to do it for me!”

As part of some wrist fracture patterns, an open reduction and internal fixation can include many different fixation types such as plates, screws, pins, wires, etc. Most of the hardware is placed under the skin but infrequently a pin can be included that travels through the skin on its way to the bone. These pins are meant to provide extra fixation to the fracture in the early stages of healing. While the ideal timing for pin removal is very much in debate, in this patient it was clearly causing undue distress and so it was an easy win for both Dr. Galle and our patient to remove it as soon as possible. 

“Dr. Galle did a great job. My wrist feels perfect, and you would never know I had broken my wrist except for a very slight scar. I have nothing but good things to say about Dr. Galle, his staff at Proliance Hand Wrist & Elbow Physicians, and the Proliance Eastside Surgery Center.”

Dr. Galle understands the importance of treating patients in conjunction with other care providers to ensure the highest level of care and best end results. His strong connections with Eastside hospitals and primary care providers help patients get back to their lives as quickly as possible.

A Firefighter was recently referred to Dr. Galle through the Ready Rebound program for first responders after injuring his thumb while riding his dirt bike. Getting an appointment through the Ready Rebound program was quick and easy and the patient was able to book an appointment within days of his injury. After meeting with Dr. Galle for an examination of his thumb, he was scanned later that same day in the on-site MRI at Proliance Hand, Wrist and Elbow. Quick access to surgeons and faster access to imaging such as MRIs are just two of the many benefits of the Ready Rebound program described in this blog post and here on Dr. Galle’s website. 

“I had to drive quite a ways to get to the clinic, so it was hugely helpful that I was able to have my MRI imaging done that same day. The results came back quickly, too. Dr. Galle called me on my drive home to give me the MRI results and scheduled me for surgery the following week.” 

This high level of efficiency comes from having an excellent team of integrated support staff at Proliance Hand, Wrist and Elbow Physicians and Proliance Eastside Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 

The patient had sustained a thumb metacarpalphalangeal joint ulnar collateral ligament rupture. This is a fairly common injury and Dr. Galle has talked about UCL injuries on the radio and podcasts. Dr. Galle has also given talks in front of hand therapists on how medical professionals can better manage this particular injury. 

Our Firefighter went on to describe his experience at the surgery center as exceptional. The Proliance Eastside Surgery Center in Kirkland, Washington, was easy to find and offered ample parking. The check-in process was smooth, and the staff treated both he and his wife with a high degree of professionalism and compassion. 

“Every person on the team that day from the nurses to the anesthesiologist and Dr. Galle himself was warm and approachable and put both me and my wife at ease. My post-operative nurse was especially attentive. She helped manage my nausea and even recommended a nearby ramen restaurant when I told her that was the only thing I felt like eating.”

Following surgery, the patient was anxious to return to work as a firefighter and his active lifestyle. He was given the option of several East-side locations to complete his post-operative hand therapy and selected Issaquah. 

“One really cool thing that happened was while I was at physical therapy [for my hand]. My awesome therapist mentioned that she was going to an event that evening where Dr. Galle was discussing updated recommendations for recovery from my injury. My therapist told me Dr. Galle had used a newer surgical technique to fix my injury which resulted in a faster recovery and Dr. Galle requested more advanced, aggressive therapy for me than is typically seen. Because Dr. Galle used cutting-edge treatment, I was back at work as a Firefighter 9-10 weeks post-op while most patients can’t even begin strength-training until 10-12 weeks after surgery.” 

From injury to diagnostics to treatment and finally recovery, Dr. Galle helps make your return to pre-injury activity the priority, and results like these speak for themselves.