Comments: Dr. Kowalsky is a fantastic doctor - he does great work and is good with patients. I am a 23 year old athlete who had an ACL and meniscus tear, and received from him a patellar tendon autograft and stitches in my meniscus.
My family and I were initially nervous about the surgery and whether we were making the right decisions re which doctor to choose and type of surgery to get. Dr. Kowalsky walked us through all of our options with incredible patience; our discussion to decide which procedure to get took way over an hour; we went into high school biology class-level detail. I had a consultation with another renowned surgeon who specialized in ACL repairs and felt I got half the information, and worse recommendations on how to proceed.
Dr. Kowalsky’s team - Amanda and Jason - was also helpful and responsive. Amanda was so patient in accommodating me, rescheduling my surgery date and answering all my questions and concerns.
One of those concerns was how often Dr. Kowalsky worked with knees, since I noticed his reviews online were predominantly from patients with shoulder injuries. However, when I voiced this to him, Dr. Kowalsky informed me that he performs ACL repairs and other knee surgeries almost every week, and is as confident and practiced with the knee joint as with the shoulder joint. So in case you have a knee injury, and overanalyze reviews as profusely as I do, no worries there.
I am happy with the decision I made to go with the patellar tendon autograft, though it is allegedly the most painful option and takes the longest to heal (the options being hamstring, quad, or patellar autograft, or ACL allograft). Dr. Kowalsky allowed me to choose my preferred procedure after giving me background info and then, separately, giving his personal opinion (which was to go with either the quad graft or patellar graft, the latter of which he slightly preferred bc of its longer track record in the field). It was very nice to feel that I was in the driver’s seat and in control, with a doctor helping me make decisions instead of making them for me. After much deliberation, I went with Dr. K’s recc, and though post-recovery was indeed very painful, I am confident it was the right choice for me given my history, young age, and level of activity (I do combat sports like kickboxing) - I have no regrets.
I am currently 4 months out of surgery and can walk fine with little to no pain, though descending stairs is unpleasant and kneeling on hard floors a no-no. Because of the meniscus stitches, I had to use crutches and a brace for the first 1.5 months, which really sucked, and hindered regrowth of the shrunken muscles on my injured leg. However, today my leg muscles appear almost back to original size and my scars are pretty small - the biggest one down the middle is under 3 inches. By now, the brain fog has dissipated (around ~1.5mo) and the excessive exhaustion has lessened to manageable (around ~2mo), so now I am jumping to get back to my pre-injury lifestyle. This means I look very grouchy and miffed at follow-up appointments with Dr. Kowalsky, as he sternly emphasizes all of the things I still cannot and should not do for my own safety (e.g. jogging, deadlifts, kickboxing). (I think he can tell that I am someone who has trouble with restrictions so he lays it on fairly thick, to my Mom’s delight.) Neverheless, despite my stinkeye, he has treated me with kindness, remembers facts about my life, seems to enjoy seeing me, and says that I am doing very well (but to not push it).
In summary, I would highly recommend Dr. Kowalsky. If you are suffering from a torn ACL and plan on getting surgery I am very sorry, and understand on an uncomfortably deep level your pain. But I can assure you that you can rest easier in Dr. K’s hands, who makes the 9-12 month journey back a little less insufferable. Best of luck!
My family and I were initially nervous about the surgery and whether we were making the right decisions re which doctor to choose and type of surgery to get. Dr. Kowalsky walked us through all of our options with incredible patience; our discussion to decide which procedure to get took way over an hour; we went into high school biology class-level detail. I had a consultation with another renowned surgeon who specialized in ACL repairs and felt I got half the information, and worse recommendations on how to proceed.
Dr. Kowalsky’s team - Amanda and Jason - was also helpful and responsive. Amanda was so patient in accommodating me, rescheduling my surgery date and answering all my questions and concerns.
One of those concerns was how often Dr. Kowalsky worked with knees, since I noticed his reviews online were predominantly from patients with shoulder injuries. However, when I voiced this to him, Dr. Kowalsky informed me that he performs ACL repairs and other knee surgeries almost every week, and is as confident and practiced with the knee joint as with the shoulder joint. So in case you have a knee injury, and overanalyze reviews as profusely as I do, no worries there.
I am happy with the decision I made to go with the patellar tendon autograft, though it is allegedly the most painful option and takes the longest to heal (the options being hamstring, quad, or patellar autograft, or ACL allograft). Dr. Kowalsky allowed me to choose my preferred procedure after giving me background info and then, separately, giving his personal opinion (which was to go with either the quad graft or patellar graft, the latter of which he slightly preferred bc of its longer track record in the field). It was very nice to feel that I was in the driver’s seat and in control, with a doctor helping me make decisions instead of making them for me. After much deliberation, I went with Dr. K’s recc, and though post-recovery was indeed very painful, I am confident it was the right choice for me given my history, young age, and level of activity (I do combat sports like kickboxing) - I have no regrets.
I am currently 4 months out of surgery and can walk fine with little to no pain, though descending stairs is unpleasant and kneeling on hard floors a no-no. Because of the meniscus stitches, I had to use crutches and a brace for the first 1.5 months, which really sucked, and hindered regrowth of the shrunken muscles on my injured leg. However, today my leg muscles appear almost back to original size and my scars are pretty small - the biggest one down the middle is under 3 inches. By now, the brain fog has dissipated (around ~1.5mo) and the excessive exhaustion has lessened to manageable (around ~2mo), so now I am jumping to get back to my pre-injury lifestyle. This means I look very grouchy and miffed at follow-up appointments with Dr. Kowalsky, as he sternly emphasizes all of the things I still cannot and should not do for my own safety (e.g. jogging, deadlifts, kickboxing). (I think he can tell that I am someone who has trouble with restrictions so he lays it on fairly thick, to my Mom’s delight.) Neverheless, despite my stinkeye, he has treated me with kindness, remembers facts about my life, seems to enjoy seeing me, and says that I am doing very well (but to not push it).
In summary, I would highly recommend Dr. Kowalsky. If you are suffering from a torn ACL and plan on getting surgery I am very sorry, and understand on an uncomfortably deep level your pain. But I can assure you that you can rest easier in Dr. K’s hands, who makes the 9-12 month journey back a little less insufferable. Best of luck!