Well, Dr. Kiernan is a very cool guy and obviously learned. He absolutely confirmed my tear. He showed me the MRI and pointed out the space where the two ends of my ACL do not meet. In some instances you will see them together and difficult to tell whether the ends are still attached… but not here. Not that it matters as, from my understanding, once it is partially torn chances are it’s weak enough to warrant reconstruction as repair is impossible.

Interestingly enough he knows Dr. Zambetti but his specialty is doing hamstring autografts. He feels that they are of less shock to the knee than the patella. He would suggest this procedure in my case and thinks that they are just as strong and results just as good. There is great assurance with him but I’m not sure that I care to go this route.

Dr. K has this very natrually “cool” demeanor, BTW. Wears a bowtie but has long hair and seems like he could have been a bit of the smart hippie still left in him but with that New England sense of dignity and class (or some might call it snobbery, lol.) But he’s good. Was nice enough to see me before surgery and explain what he saw and also deft and being accomodating as a person looking for a second opinion, not trying to pilfer a patient. Highly recommend Dr. K. if you are thinking of a hamstring graft.

Well, I’m having a heck of a time trying to pick my OS. I really like Dr. Zambetti as a person and think he is probably a very good doctor but my aunt has had some prior experience with Dr. Kiernan. Oh… what am I to do? I’ll have to figure this out soon…