Alex Martocello

My name is Alex Martocello, I am a 30-year-old male who started with HSS in May of 2020. My experience with HSS from the beginning has been nothing short of life-changing. The impact of the level of care I received from everyone at HSS has allowed me to take my physical life back in a direction I never thought was possible to return to.

When I first came to HSS I believed that my knee was ‘beyond saving’, and I was expecting bad news about the future of my knee and the activities I might have to ultimately give up as a result. I could not have been more wrong. Working with Dr. Quirolgico and Christina Rodriguez at HSS has restored new life and optimism to my outlook on what my future life and activities look like.

I wrestled throughout high school and college and sustained several injuries to both my knees during that time. By the time I was 18-years-old I already had the majority of my lateral meniscus removed from my right knee. After my competitive years were over it seemed like every year after I could do less and less of the activities that I loved. Eventually the pain from just walking around the block was bad enough where I thought it would be best to seek advice on what could be done, if anything. In May of 2020 I scheduled my first telehealth appointment with Dr. Quirolgico. After a follow up appointment and assessment of my knee, she recommended that I begin physical therapy.

When I began physical therapy with Christina Rodriguez she explained to me my situation, spoke to me about the plan on how to get me back into action and what my outlook truly was if I was willing to put in the work. As she would tell you, I was very skeptical at first when told me that I would be able to return to activities like running, playing recreational sports, and other things I loved to do. Honestly, the work to get my leg and knee strength back was grueling. I had not realized how much atrophy had occurred in my leg and the muscles that help support the knee. I knew that I was still strong, but I was not strong where I needed to be. I went every week, did all my home exercises, and sure enough, 3 months after starting PT, Christina suggested that I start running. The reward of being to return to running was slow in the beginning but has continued to improve every month. I am now able to run further and further without knee pain.

After about 10 months of physical therapy my pain is down about 80% from what it was when I started physical therapy, while at the same time I have restarted activities that I have not been able to do in years. My leg and knee continue to grow stronger and I am excited to see how much more progress I can make! I am humbled and so grateful for the help and care of Christina Rodriguez, Dr. Quirolgico and everyone at HSS, it has truly made a huge difference in my life. Thank you!