The right doctor

My doctor is a magical ninja-wizard who can move mountains and part seas.

OK, the above description might be a slight exaggeration about Dr. Daniel Pereles, who will reconstruct my ACL on Friday morning. But to hear me and other patients talk about him, he’s not far removed from being a magical ninja-wizard, though he doesn’t deal in mountains and seas so much as ligaments and bones.

I’ll keep this gushing section post, as I’ve gushed at length in previous posts. Just a few facts about him ahead of my surgery on Friday: He’s a former college swimmer who’s finished multiple marathons and triathlons, is an expert skier, has been on the Runner’s World advisory board, and appears regularly in the Washingtonian’s list of top doctors in the area.

Like I said: He’s a magical ninja-wizard.

Some highlights in my two-year doctor-patient relationship with him:

• In early 2009, he helped me figure out that my ancient, packed-out ski boots were to blame for my persistent ankle problems. I remain the only person I know who’s been under doctor’s order to get new ski boots.
  

  I *had* to get these new boots. My doctor told me to!

• Later that year, when I asked him if I could run the Marine Corps Marathon in three months despite a nagging hip injury, he asked if I had a time goal, cringing as he waited for an answer. I told him I hoped to run it in less than four hours. He waved his hand dismissively, saying, “Oh! I thought you were going to say you wanted a BQ. You’re fine.” Then, he laid out my training plan. I followed it, and finished the race.
• Multiple times, when I saw him for aches and pains that would have led other docs to issue one-size-fits-all recommendations of six weeks of rest, his final advice was: “Don’t stop running or anything.”

I just want to say that, if you have to have someone cut into a section of your leg, take something out, and put it back somewhere else to fix something that’s broken, you probably want it to be this dude.

I won’t be posting on Friday, as I’ll be in surgery. I’ll be updating my Twitter page once the surgery’s done. Wish me luck, and stay tuned for my return to action—first in physical therapy, then in training for the 4.4-mile Great Chesapeake Bay Bridge Swim on June 12.