For many parents, a child breaking a bone can be a stressful and anxious experience – especially if that child is an athlete. So many questions can roam around a parent’s mind. What’s the best treatment option? Who’s the best doctor in town for this kind of injury? Will my child be able to play sports again?
For one Forsyth County, that exact scenario played out a few years ago. Robin Beer’s son Seth broke his thumb while playing high school football. He was also a baseball player with dreams of playing in college and going into the MLB. Robin asked around and quickly learned that Dr. William Littlefield at Peachtree Orthopedics was THE go-to doctor for hand injuries.
“These are the things that I found that are really good,” said Beer. “First and foremost, expertise in the area. They’re hand specialists. That’s what they do. They do it all day long. I thought that was great. But the second part was really quality of character…They mention personable things, and I think that’s important. So to be an expert, but to still have empathy and care for other people is important. The third part, we saw their charity. That they take time and take their expertise to people who can’t afford.”
After meeting with Dr. Littlefield, Seth underwent surgery. “My son felt really at ease. He said I remember mom looking at him thinking and just being in awe, because it was a really bad break that he could still repair that.”
Seth went on to become the first round draft pick for the Houston Astros and still to this day has not had an issue with his thumb or hand. After the success of Seth’s surgery, Robin has also been a patient of Dr. Littlefield’s throughout the years for carpal tunnel and trigger thumb.
“When I came in for carpal tunnel, I loved it. He brought in a drawing, a sketch; and he walked me through a sketch of how this works, why it’s not working and this is how we can fix it… He had a lot of empathy too. Because he would relate stories back to how injuries and things have affected him…It’s like he is sharing information with us, not talking down to me to dumb down the subject.”
But for Robin and her family, it isn’t just Dr. Littlefield’s expertise and bedside manner that matters to them. It’s also the way Peachtree Orthopedics operates altogether.
“It’s the best of both worlds. You have the benefit of a large medical group so if you really do need a referral for something specialized like my husband needed a referral for back surgery. It was great. It was all under one umbrella. However, it has that intimate of a small practice.”
