As a physical therapist and owner of Pieton Physical Therapy, Christine Pieton has made health and wellness an important part of her life. Not only is she active in her work, Christine is also a marathon runner and beach volleyball player. In December of 2015, Christine was hiking in Hawaii on the Nepali coast with her family. The trail was muddy and she lost traction and slammed her knee against a rock. Having a strong understanding of injuries, Christine did her own physical assessment. She had full range of motion and was able to put weight on her leg, so she hiked out.
Two days after her hike there was very little swelling, so she began her own knee rehab program and monitored the results. She was doing well, was back to all her activities without any major limitations but was still having suspicious swelling 6 weeks after her fall whenever she performed higher impact activities. Christine knew something wasn’t right. At this point, she felt it necessary to visit an orthopedic surgeon for further evaluation. As a physical therapist, she had developed a good professional relationship with Dr. Yau. “I had never met Dr. Yau in person; however, I worked with a lot of his patients in physical therapy, so I knew a lot about his style of care and surgical outcomes,” said Christine.
ACL Injury Diagnosis with Dr. Yau
Christine met with Dr. Yau in February 2016 for a physical evaluation. After discussing her case, both Dr Yau and Christine felt an MRI was needed in order to best determine what was causing her residual symptoms. The MRI confirmed that she had a complete tear of her ACL. “We were both very surprised by the results. It is very rare for an ACL tear to present in the way mine did,” Christine said. “My mechanism of injury and my presentation was very atypical for an ACL tear which was why we didn’t think it was that serious in the first place. I was fortunate for the strength I had in my right leg which helped minimize the typical ACL tear symptoms.”
Since the symptoms of the ACL tear were not completely limiting her day-to-day activity, she held off on surgery for a few weeks to prepare her patients for her absence. “I knew exactly what my limitations were and cut back where I needed to, and then six weeks later I had my ACL surgery with Dr. Yau.”
Post-Op ACL Surgery Recovery
“The surgery went great,” said Christine. “The MRI was correct, I had a complete ACL tear with no other concurrent injuries to neighboring structures. During surgery, Dr. Yau used my hamstring graft. Everything went smoothly.” Four days after surgery, Christine started physical therapy. “This time I was the patient. It was a humbling experience. I really got to see and feel what it is like to be on the other side.”
One of Christine’s close friends was her physical therapist for the manual treatment. “My clinic, Pieton Physical Therapy, combines pilates with traditional physical therapy interventions to help people recovery from injuries and improve their quality of movement. We address each patient as a whole system since the body works together as a unit rather than single parts. Since that is a focus that I apply in my own fitness, I felt like I had an advantage when I began my own rehab journey. ” Christine saw her physical therapist two times a week, while also doing an hour of strength and mobility work each day from April through July. She continued with her strength program and then backed down her physical therapy visits to once a week in August.
“One of the hardest things I faced during my rehab was the mental aspect,” said Christine. “There were three things that got me through my rehab. (1) I fully trusted my medical team; since I had previously worked with Dr. Yau, I had a really good understanding of what to expect. (2) I had one of my close friends as my physical therapist, who was so encouraging and a great motivator. (3) I saw a psychologist for the mental portion of my recovery.”
“Seeing a psychologist was one of the best things I did for myself during my recovery,” said Christine. “Being active was is a huge part of my identity and when that was taken away from me, I really struggled. Unfortunately, our society doesn’t always support the idea of seeking care for mental health challenges. It’s very stigmatized. I know that my recovery would have been very different without pairing the mental rehab with my physical rehab. I felt like it helped me become stronger both mentally and physically during and after my recovery.”
Full ACL Recovery
Christine successfully returned to running by late August 2016 and by mid-November felt confident enough to return to beach volleyball. “What I appreciate most about Dr. Yau is his bedside manner,” Christine said. “He really listens to his patients and makes it a point to understand their recovery goals. He makes sure to discuss all possible options and informs you of everything to consider. It is a collaborative dialogue, so I really felt like we were making decisions together as a team.”
“The advice I would give other patients who have sustained an injury like mine would be to build a medical team that you can trust. Your physician and PT are your MVPs. I highly recommend working with Dr. Yau! He was an integral part of my medical team and I am very appreciative for having had the opportunity to work with him. It is also important to be compassionate with yourself during your recovery. Don’t be afraid to seek out a psychologist to help with the mental rehab. You will come back even stronger, guaranteed.”