In November of 2010, I tore the ACL in my left knee for the first time playing soccer in the finals at CASL as a freshman in high school. I had it replaced by a cadaver ACL the following month by another orthopedic surgeon in Jacksonville and began the long rehab process. I resumed play 9 months later in September of 2011. October was when the new injuries began. The first was a meniscus tear, followed by multiple bone contusions in my knee, a strained MCL and finally a more serious meniscus tear in January. When the injuries began, I was concerned, so I sought consultation from my first surgeon who gave my claims very little attention and wrote my injuries off as being related to some type of kneecap problem. Not impressed with the level of seriousness with which my injuries were being addressed, I went in search of a second opinion.
I had heard Dr. Kaplan’s name mentioned by other athletes who’d had him for a surgeon and who were more than satisfied with their results. He, unlike my other doctor, was very intrigued and concerned with my description of what had been occurring with regards to my knee over the past month or 2. He determined that all of the injuries that I had suffered since I resumed play were ACL related, meaning that typically the ACL’s purpose in the knee was to prevent the very instability and injuries that I was experiencing.
The obvious assessment then would have been that my ACL was torn, however, he had already determined that my ACL was in tact, so there had to be some other issue. He soon discovered after performing a pivot shift simulation on my knee in his office that although my ACL was not torn, it also was not functional. Somehow the ACL was not serving its purpose inside my knee and so no matter how hard I worked to rehab it, my knee would never be safe to play on as long as I had this unstable ACL. Dr. Kaplan being the generous man he is and understanding my plea, gave me permission to finish out my high school post-season that year in a brace (which paid off because I ended up starting in the State Finals). Then it was time for another surgery, this time a reconstruction surgery where my new ACL would be constructed out of my own patella tendon. Dr. Kaplan knew that after what my knee had been through and the amount of cartilage that I had lost over the course of those 2 and a half years, my future as a player was pretty uncertain and potentially pretty bleak, but he never ever discouraged me. I did all my rehab at the JOI facility, during which time Dr. Kaplan would sometimes stop in just to check up on me and also insisted that he see me at least once every month so that he could see for himself how I was doing. This was a level of care and concern for my knee that I had not experienced before.
Dr. Kaplan is truly one of a kind in how thorough and serious and concerned he is with each and every patient. I ended up leaving PT with a 0.0% deficit between my right and left quad muscles which is a testament in itself to Dr. Kaplan and the PT department. Dr. Kaplan was also amazingly accessible. When I was at state cup and the officials were giving me a hard time about my knee brace Dr. Kaplan personally called the tournament director to speak on my behalf. Also, I could always text him with my concerns and he would always respond right away and reassure me. Lastly, he really cared about how everything turned out for me and he made a point to come watch me play a game even though I know he has an insanely busy schedule. To sum all of this up, being a patient of his was an amazing experience, and I owe the fact that I got to play my first full season of high school soccer this year entirely to him. I was able to captain my team to the Final Four, make the local all-star team, the all-star team for the whole state, 1st team for the First Coast area, and MVP of my team thanks to Dr. Kaplan. I would recommend him to anyone and everyone.
ACL Reconstruction
In November of 2010, I tore the ACL in my left knee for the first time playing soccer in the finals at CASL as a freshman in high school. I had it replaced by a cadaver ACL the following month by another orthopedic surgeon in Jacksonville and began the long rehab process. I resumed play 9 months later in September of 2011. October was when the new injuries began. The first was a meniscus tear, followed by multiple bone contusions in my knee, a strained MCL and finally a more serious meniscus tear in January. When the injuries began, I was concerned, so I sought consultation from my first surgeon who gave my claims very little attention and wrote my injuries off as being related to some type of kneecap problem. Not impressed with the level of seriousness with which my injuries were being addressed, I went in search of a second opinion.I had heard Dr. Kaplan’s name mentioned by other athletes who’d had him for a surgeon and who were more than satisfied with their results. He, unlike my other doctor, was very intrigued and concerned with my description of what had been occurring with regards to my knee over the past month or 2. He determined that all of the injuries that I had suffered since I resumed play were ACL related, meaning that typically the ACL’s purpose in the knee was to prevent the very instability and injuries that I was experiencing.
The obvious assessment then would have been that my ACL was torn, however, he had already determined that my ACL was in tact, so there had to be some other issue. He soon discovered after performing a pivot shift simulation on my knee in his office that although my ACL was not torn, it also was not functional. Somehow the ACL was not serving its purpose inside my knee and so no matter how hard I worked to rehab it, my knee would never be safe to play on as long as I had this unstable ACL. Dr. Kaplan being the generous man he is and understanding my plea, gave me permission to finish out my high school post-season that year in a brace (which paid off because I ended up starting in the State Finals). Then it was time for another surgery, this time a reconstruction surgery where my new ACL would be constructed out of my own patella tendon. Dr. Kaplan knew that after what my knee had been through and the amount of cartilage that I had lost over the course of those 2 and a half years, my future as a player was pretty uncertain and potentially pretty bleak, but he never ever discouraged me. I did all my rehab at the JOI facility, during which time Dr. Kaplan would sometimes stop in just to check up on me and also insisted that he see me at least once every month so that he could see for himself how I was doing. This was a level of care and concern for my knee that I had not experienced before.
Dr. Kaplan is truly one of a kind in how thorough and serious and concerned he is with each and every patient. I ended up leaving PT with a 0.0% deficit between my right and left quad muscles which is a testament in itself to Dr. Kaplan and the PT department. Dr. Kaplan was also amazingly accessible. When I was at state cup and the officials were giving me a hard time about my knee brace Dr. Kaplan personally called the tournament director to speak on my behalf. Also, I could always text him with my concerns and he would always respond right away and reassure me. Lastly, he really cared about how everything turned out for me and he made a point to come watch me play a game even though I know he has an insanely busy schedule. To sum all of this up, being a patient of his was an amazing experience, and I owe the fact that I got to play my first full season of high school soccer this year entirely to him. I was able to captain my team to the Final Four, make the local all-star team, the all-star team for the whole state, 1st team for the First Coast area, and MVP of my team thanks to Dr. Kaplan. I would recommend him to anyone and everyone.