NYC Session 1

Columbus Circle, view from Time Warner Building

Quite a change...from Hakkikat Nagar, Delhi to Columbus Circle, Manhattan, from Jatin to Jason. Jason's in his early forties and has a ready smile. The best part is that he's a tennis afficionado like myself. So the second I tell him what I really want to rehab for is to get back on the tennis courts, his interest is peaked and he guarantees me that I'm in the best hands possible for this endeavor. Of course, I don't tell him anything about a possible regeneration on my ACL. Simply, that Dr. Schell in NYC as well as Dr. Jatin in Delhi feel that I should give 6 weeks of rehab a chance before taking stock of my option for reconstructive surgery.

The therapy center is located in the back of Equinox, a high end gym in NYC. It's probably a nationwide chain. Wouldn't surprise me. What does surprise me is that "high end" for a gym still only gets you basement real estate. Of course, the location is prime--Columbus Circle, with the Trump Hotel right across the street and the Mandarin Oriental hotel adjacent. The reason I'm there, other than the fact that the therapy center takes my insurance card, is the easy commute home after I'm done.

I get a new set of exercises to do at home, similar though different. I do them at the PT center as well. My MCL is still problematic and it turns out that my leg isn't quite as straightened as it should be when straight. Ergo, says Jason, the limping walk. So now I really have to concentrate on striking my heel firmly in the ground before continuing with the rest of my stepping procedure. Even without surgery, it's a long road to rehab. But Jason's confident that he might be able to get me back to playing tennis without surgery.

Let's see. He wants me to step out on the court in about a month's time. By then, I'll know one way or another what the situation is--If am am mobile and don't need immediate surgery, or if I am shaky and need surgery by the end of June.