"Drama-Free" ACL Repair with Dr. Tomas Pevny

Dr. Becky Steinbach, dentist and owner of Elevate Dental Wellness in Willits, had never had a single surgery before Dr. Tomas Pevny of ValleyOrtho repaired a tear in her ACL three years ago. “It was one of the least exciting events in my life,” she said because it was drama-free, easy, relatively painless, positive from start to finish and one hundred percent effective. She said she expected a major surgery on such an important ligament to be more impactful or crippling on her mind and body.

She tore her ACL on a Christmas Day making a turn on a blue ski run. Once she heard the pop, she knew it was serious. Her friend Jamie Britt is Dr. Pevny’s nurse and Becky said, “She was always talking about how amazing he is and how much she loves working at ValleyOrtho. I called other friends to get recommendations and Dr. Pevny’s name came up again and again. I just heard, Pevny, Pevny, Pevny.”

She didn’t know what to expect as a first-time surgery patient and said she felt cared for and fully informed throughout the entire process. “Dr. Pevny was so kind, approachable and communicative,” she said. “I felt like I could have been talking to my neighbor of 15 years, yet I had just met him.”

As a medical professional herself, she said she knew sometimes surgery doesn’t always go as planned and she was prepared for that because people are imperfect but, in this case, she got perfection.

“They gave me a great playbook that outlined everything I needed to do before, during and after the surgery and it was a great reference throughout the process,” she said. And she felt like she always mattered to the team.

“I had never been in the medical system for my own health before, and I loved how personal it felt at ValleyOrtho. I didn’t feel like I was in a big hospital system where no one knew who I was. I got top notch, best of the best care in a small-town environment,” she said.

It didn’t hurt her impression of her experience either that the surgery and recovery wasn’t painful.

“Truly, when I say I had not an ounce of pain post-operatively, I mean it,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I was anticipating a significant recovery. I took two Tylenol and an ibuprofen and I healed perfectly. I assume it was due to Dr. Pevny’s surgical skills. It was nothing but a pleasurable experience and now my ACL is the strongest part of my body. It’s bullet-proof.”