Standing his ground: How Jim McIntyre fought to save his leg

At 65, Scranton resident Jim McIntyre doesn't mince words.

"I tell you how it is, and if you don't like it, I don't care," he says matter-of-factly. "That's just who I am." That same directness served him well when doctors told him his leg had to go.

Mr. McIntyre, who retired at 55 to focus on travel, never imagined a twisted ankle would threaten his ability to walk.

A twist no one saw coming

It started simply enough. Mr. McIntyre twisted his ankle one night and it wouldn't heal. A podiatrist diagnosed cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection and started him on antibiotics.

“But it kept getting worse," he says. The podiatrist tried everything she could think of. She even removed his toenail, hoping it would help the antibiotics work better. But the infection kept spreading. "And then finally, she said, Jim, there's nothing else I can do. You have to go to an emergency room."

When Mr. McIntyre arrived at the hospital, doctors ran scans to figure out what was going on. What they found surprised them. The infection had spread extensively up his leg. There was no bone left in his toe, and the toe had turned gangrenous.

"All I wanted was my toe taken off," Mr. McIntyre says. "It had been months."

But the gangrenous toe was only part of the problem. The scans revealed something more serious underneath: severe arterial blockages had cut off blood flow to his lower leg. Without circulation, his body couldn't fight the infection and the tissue couldn't heal.

That's when they delivered the devastating news: his whole leg would need to be amputated.

Mr. McIntyre sought a second opinion.

The choice to keep moving

When Mr. McIntyre came to Geisinger in July 2024, vascular surgeon Benjamin Alexander Greif, MD, saw a different path. The arterial blockage was severe, but Dr. Greif believed he could restore blood flow using minimally invasive techniques.

The first surgery didn't fully clear the blockage, so Dr. Greif made calls, arranged for special equipment and brought Mr. McIntyre back just days later for another surgery.

The second surgery changed everything. Dr. Greif successfully repaired the damaged artery and placed a stent to keep blood flowing. With circulation restored, podiatry could step in. Instead of losing his leg, Mr. McIntyre had a partial foot amputation. He kept everything above the ankle.

"This was a guy who came in to us with nothing, and it took a whole team to get him together," Dr. Greif says. "Vascular surgery, podiatry, cardiology and hematology, all working together."

The stakes were high. Without the vascular repair, Mr. McIntyre's options would have been drastically different. Instead, Mr. McIntyre walks. And for Dr. Greif, that outcome never gets old. "The fact that he is still walking on his leg right now is incredible."

"He saved my leg," Mr. McIntyre says simply. "So today I’m only missing toes. I give him a lot of credit."

A journey continued

Mr. McIntyre still sees Dr. Greif regularly to monitor the stent.

He's honest about how close he came to a very different outcome. But Mr. McIntyre feels the same as he always has. He's back to doing what he loves. He still travels. And he gives the Geisinger team credit for making that possible.

"Their quality of care up there, I cannot say anything bad about it," he says.

When asked what kept him going through everything, Mr. McIntyre's answer is characteristically direct: "It’s my attitude. I just don't let things get me down."

His advice to others facing difficult medical decisions? "I would say trust your instincts because nobody knows your body like you do.”

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