Gymnast Recovers from ACL Tear & Knee Surgery at Physical Therapy

Each month, Iron Physical Therapy highlights a special patient to tell their inspiring story…because we know recovery is more than just going to appointments! We want to honor people who go all in - body, mind and spirit. They show us what’s possible. - that you can move on from a setback energized to do amazing things...to challenge your body, to chase your dreams, to address future pain in a healthy way, to #getbetterbebetter. Read Callie’s story below and then click here to read more inspiring patient stories.

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This October, Callie is Iron Physical Therapy’s Patient of the Month from our Caldwell, NJ clinic! Callie works in film and writing for TV shows, living in NYC until coming back to NJ to recover from this injury! She’s also a very strong gymnast…so strong that she continued training for a while before finding out the severity of her injury because it "wasn’t that bad.” As you will read below, Callie is an extremely hard worker and loves to set goals for herself (and achieve them)!

What brought you into physical therapy?

I started physical therapy following knee surgery. I tore my ACL, meniscus, had four fractures between my knee and femur and because I'm hyper-flexible, they cut into my IT band to further anchor/secure my ACL.

How did you stay positive during the long process of PT?

I owe a lot of my recovery process my DPT at at Iron PT. She completely understood me from the moment I walked in and knows how to get the most out of me. I also have the same two appointments every week so getting to interact with the Clinic Assistants, front desk women and even the other patients who are there every week has been motivating and so helpful.

What would you say to someone who is in pain and putting physical therapy off?

Go!! Before I knew the extent of my injuries, I tried to ”self PT” and might have made things worse. If not, I certainly didn't help them.

Any advice for others who are recovering from an injury/surgery like yours?

Once my surgery date was set, I spent every day leading up to it pre-habbing like crazy. I did everything I could to make my legs, arms and core as strong as possible. I think that discipline really helped my recovery.

However, the biggest lesson I'm learning in physical therapy is probably patience. I'm still not great at it, but I've gotten way better. It's a long, slow, repetitive recovery and the last thing I want to do is re-injure myself.

What accomplishment in PT are you most proud of? What lessons from PT will you bring to the mat?

Biking. My friend who had the same surgery a year before me always talked about how horrible the first time back on the bike is. The first time I tried, I could only do half moons. For weeks after that, I biked so slowly that the machine at the gym didn't even register I was on it. Now I bike about five miles a day and the machine actually picks it up!

My PT really pushes me. Sometimes I think her circuits are harder than ones I ever did before surgery. After PT, I will challenge myself the same way!