Sean Maloney
Knee Patient - Sports Injury
Knee Patient – Sports Injury: I was an active 15 year old who enjoyed snowboarding, playing basketball, football, and baseball. During my first high school basketball game I tore my meniscus. I had a large bucket handle tear in my left knee and at fifteen I didn’t know what that meant except surgery and a long recovery. When I met with Dr. Foad he explained to me as well as my parents what was wrong with my knee, what he was going to do to fix it, and what I needed to do to let it heal correctly. After surgery and throughout rehab, he would continuously check in, to make sure everything was well and that I was not having any complications. Surgery went well and I was ahead of schedule on my recovery. As eager as I was to get back into sports and being active again he was there to stress how important it was to let it heal correctly with time. It was a long 8 months but soon enough I was running around and playing sports again.
Sophomore year football and basketball came and went and so did junior year sports. Fast forward to senior year. It was one week before playoffs, our last regular season football game and I tore it again; a large bucket handle tear in my left knee. Dr. Foad and I became a lot closer after being operated on a second time. Each time I would go in for a check up he was just as interested about my life as he was the progress of my knee. He was not only my doctor but my friend too. At my last check up he wished my luck at college and told me to treat my knee with care because if I tore my meniscus again there may be no saving it.
First semester of college was going well and I was home for winter break when I decided to hit the slopes and go snowboarding with my friends. Everything was good and it wasn’t until February when I started having problems. Every now and then my knee would get sore and it would go away and then one day it swelled up and knew something was wrong. I came home that weekend, got an MRI, and saw Dr. Foad. There was good news and bad news. The bad news was I had tore it again. The good news was it wasn’t as major as my previous two and there was hope in salvaging my meniscus. I had surgery over spring break and Dr. Foad was able to save what was left of my meniscus. Once again surgery was a success and I am back to feeling great again.
Dr. Foad has not only successfully operated on me but my brother as well. My brother ruptured his ACL playing football and had a successful recovery thanks to Dr. Foad. Looking back, it is unfortunate that I have been operated on for three separate injuries, but I am beyond thankful to have gone through the process with someone who was able to be my surgeon and my friend. After these injuries I hope I am done with surgery, but if another unfortunate event may happen in my life, I know who I can turn to for help. With complete trust and confidence, I would highly recommend Dr. Foad for your surgical needs.
Video shows Sean Maloney doing a 57-inch box-jump eight months after having a revision meniscal knee repair.