ACL Injury/Reconstruction

PHOTO CREDIT: Scott Clause (USA TODAY Network)

December 17, 2018

Dear Dr. Emblom,

On October 26, 2017, we walked into Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopedic Center devastated. We had driven 7 hours from Lafayette, Louisiana for a third opinion about Zachary's knee. You read the reports, looked at the MRI, then walked in the room to meet us. The first words you spoke to us were "This is not a football ending injury." For the first time in a week, we were able to exhale.  We scheduled the surgery for the very next day. 

Dr. Benton Emblom and his staff are phenomenal. My 15 year-old son tore his ACL, PCL, MCL and medial meniscus in a Friday night football game.

On the Saturday morning after the injury, we saw Dr. Ryan Palmer at EAMC. Once it was confirmed Max had a torn PCL, Dr. Palmer said he didn't feel comfortable doing the surgery and he referred us to Dr. Emblom. Dr. Palmer's honesty was overwhelming.

Before going to Andrews we were told Max's chances of playing sports again was slim to none. Once we saw Dr. Emblom he assured us Max would come back.

My name is Tiffany Robinson Chandler and Dr. Jeff Dugas is one of my most favorite people.

I first met Dr. Dugas in 2003 when I had UCL surgery on my left elbow. Little did I realize that God had many more opportunities for Dr. Dugas and me to cross paths. In 2004 I had my first ACL surgery while doing gymnastics at Auburn University, but it wasn’t then that my relationship with Dr. Dugas started to form. I transferred my junior year, in 2006, to Troy University to cheer.

My name is Sam Hudson, I’m 18 years-old and will be graduating from Montgomery Academy in the spring of 2017. I grew up playing a variety of sports, including football, which I started playing when I was 5 years-old.  Fortunately, God blessed me with a large, athletic frame. I stand 6’ 4”, could run a 4.7, was a solid receiver with dreams of playing college football.   

In Sept.

In August 2013, I was 13 and I tore my ACL and meniscus in my right knee while tumbling. I was devastated! I thought I would never cheer again!!

I had surgery, and Dr. Sam Goldstein told me the only way I would be able to get back to competitive cheer that season was if I worked my butt off in therapy. Unfortunately, I got released a few weeks after our last competition, but I knew I would come back better than ever the next season.

Seventeen years of competitive and collegiate cheerleading were slowly coming to an end during the last semester of my senior year and 4th year cheerleading for the University of Alabama. Thankfully, I had never had an injury other than a minor sprained ankle here and there.

Since I was 9-years-old, I have pitched and played softball year round. It was always my dream to play softball in college. After my 7th grade year, I moved to another school in my county. I had to sit out a year from playing because of eligibility rules. I continued to practice with the softball, basketball and volleyball teams.

I was 13yrs old when I had an accident on my dirt bike. I planted my foot and hyperextended my right knee causing my ACL to be ripped loose from the bone. 

I’m not a world- class athlete. I’m a mom, a wife and a financial planner. I happen to enjoy Crossfit and weightraining because they help me feel in tune with my body and stronger in all other areas of my life.