I injured my ACL playing indoor soccer. A male player and I were both going for the ball, and he hit me on the inside of my leg. My knee went out and in, completely rupturing the ACL. Dr. Mook performed a hamstring autograft reconstruction of my ACL, and I underwent 5 months of physical therapy (PT), 2 days a week, with Jennifer Cox, Michelle Zarnegar, and Neil Parry at the Herndon OrthoVirginia physical therapy facility. After I was released from PT, I participated in the Return to Sport program with Austin Johns for another 3 months, working on strengthening my knee, hamstrings, and VMO quad muscle to perform needed actions for sports.

Throughout my recovery, Dr. Mook worked collaboratively with me, my PTs, and my insurance company to obtain needed medical equipment and to address any recovery and rehabilitation issues. Due to muscle atrophy in my quad, I needed to use an e-stim machine at home, as well as utilizing a fairly new technique, called BFRT (Blood Flow Restriction Therapy) at the clinic. Although I desired to return to sports quickly and was sometimes impatient and frustrated with my seeming lack of progress (according to where I thought I should be), Dr. Mook always knew what steps to take, what exercises I needed to be able to perform adequately, and patiently reminded me of my end goal and encouraged me to keep up the good work. Ultimately, I was fully released to play sports and go back to flying trapeze on March 26, 2020 (just under 8 months post-op – surgery was August 1, 2019). However, due to Covid-19, of course, by then, everything was closed. Therefore, I was finally able to return in July 2020.

As an athlete, I would highly recommend Dr. Mook for all of your orthopedic needs and concerns. He has a wealth of experience with other athletes involved in various sports, listens to your concerns, has a good sense of humor, and is professional, responsive, kind, and caring.

– as told by Becky, Dr. Mook’s patient