Greta S.

In December 2024, I was performing a dance and went into the splits. I landed with too much force too fast, and upon landing felt a huge snap and pain in the back of my thigh. After an MRI, I discovered that my semitendinosis and semimembranous (hamstring) had completely torn off from my pelvic bone.

When my diagnosis came back I was told about how severe this is and that surgery to reattach the tendons is mandatory. As a dancer, runner, and person who loved physical activity my whole life, I can't even begin to tell you how much darkness I felt in this moment. I remember laying on my stomach in my bed and trying to lift my foot up into the air. It didn't move.

This horrifying feeling of telling your leg to move and it just laying there is something I will never forget.

The day after this, we went to the HSS for my evaluation. I waited in the room, laying on the bed with extreme stress and helplessness. Then Dr. Nawabi came in. He had a medical mask on but I could tell he was smiling. He introduced himself and asked me about how I was feeling and how it happened. He was so calm about the whole situation. And with ease he examined my leg and simply said, lets get you into surgery next week.

With this kind of injury, each day and week you wait for surgery the worse your outcome is. So him coming in, easing my stress, and making my leg a priority despite the last minuteness of the situation and his busy schedule, was more than I could ever ask for. I could tell that he knew what he was doing, and that I just got the most competent doctor I could get for my injury.

After the visit, I was optimistic, calmer, and even happy and smiling. I was ready for the long and painful recovery that was waiting for me and excited for surgery.

So a week later, I went in and everyone at HSS - from the desk secretaries to nurses to the anesthesiologist - were so kind and professional. Dr. Nawabi came in as well and reassured me and explained to me what was going to happen. I was put to sleep and woke up with my tendons reattached to my pelvis with titanium anchors, a huge brace on my leg, and after a few minutes Dr. Nawabi came in. He smiled at me and said everything went perfectly and that he's very happy with the surgery.

The next few weeks that followed were nothing but easy, but after 6 weeks I went in for the removal of my brace. Again, Dr. Nawabi was calm, happy, answered all my questions, and had confidence in me when I took my first few steps on my leg without the brace.

I am now 7 months post-op and the progress I've made is amazing. I know that because of the precise and quality work Dr. Nawabi performed during my surgery, I have wonderfully and successfully reattached/regrown hamstring tendons to my pelvis. Obviously Dr. Nawabi's surgical work is the key point, but I want to highlight how his calmness, competency, and confidence throughout the whole experience made me a happier patient, ready to take on the grueling recovery that hamstring avulsions require.