After knee surgery, Liz came back stronger

Her lifetime passion for skiing was jeopardized by a torn ACL. Liz wasn’t ready to let a knee injury keep her from conquering the ski slopes.

Racing down ski slopes trying to keep up with her husband, Liz suddenly got caught in a rut. She tumbled down the mountain, tearing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

“It was a nasty fall,” recalled Liz, knowing immediately her injury was serious.

Within days of her injury, Liz saw orthopedic surgeon Craig Tifford, MD, who had performed her husband Jim’s rotator cuff surgery.

“Dr. Tifford was super committed to getting me back to a level of activity that I wanted and to not limiting what I could do. That’s why I knew he was the right fit,” said Liz, of Stamford.

Growing up an avid skier, Liz was familiar with the slopes and her competitive nature drove her to try to keep up with her husband, which ultimately led to her painful knee injury that required surgery.

Dr. Tifford performed an advanced, minimally invasive ACL reconstruction procedure at Greenwich Hospital. During her surgery, which needed only three small incisions, donated tissue was implanted to replace the torn ligament (an allograft procedure). During recovery, she went to Long Ridge Medical Center in Stamford for follow-up visits with Dr. Tifford, as well as imaging tests and physical therapy.

“Patients can come in, they can see a doctor in a number of different specialties. All their imaging can be done here — ultrasound, X-ray, MRI, CT scan. Then, they can come back and they can see their physician,” said Dr. Tifford, medical director, Yale Medicine Orthopedics at Long Ridge Medical Center. The location also offers occupational therapy.

“Elizabeth’s experience was great. Her operation went flawlessly. I saw her at regular intervals that we see patients in the post-operative period, up until she was about a year post-operatively. At that point, she was doing fantastic. She’s back to skiing out west multiple days a year and really doing everything that she wants to be doing.”

Liz said she feels confident in the strength and mobility of her knee and went back to the slopes. “I can’t believe I’m standing here on skis about to perform better than I ever have. I’m really feeling like a comeback kid.”