Rebecca Schindel

Although no one wants to end a ski vacation with a torn ACL, I feel very fortunate and grateful to have had such a fantastic team at HSS for my surgery and recovery. Dr. Altchek and his entire team are incredibly talented, comforting and responsive. Dr. Altchek fit me into his schedule almost immediately, and he did a terrific job with the surgery. I texted with Keith Williamson regularly leading up to and following my surgery, and he was always available and willing to answer my questions. Keith also set me up with Jessica Hettler for my PT, who was terrific to work with and so accommodating. I became pregnant a month after my surgery, which made my PT and recovery more complicated. Jess was unfazed and able to modify my PT plan to help me recover without some of the tools and techniques that would usually be at our disposal. And once I entered my third trimester, Jess put me in touch with Pam Geisel. I can’t rave highly enough about Pam! Pregnancy is incredibly taxing on the body, even without an underlying knee injury. By the time I started working with Pam, I had already started to develop diastasis recti and some pelvic and hip pain. Pam developed a full-body regimen for me that eliminated my pelvic and hip pain, maintained strength in my knee, protected me from worsening my ab separation, and built strength in other key areas. She clearly cared very much about my well-being, and I credit her entirely for preparing my body for labor and delivery and the postpartum period. Anyone who is pregnant—with or without an underlying injury—would benefit from her care and expertise.