Getting Young Athletes Back to the Sports They Love

A track star since high school, Batavia native Kathryn Warner has always been extremely active. While competing in the most physically-demanding collegiate track events- including pole vaulting and hurdling- Kathryn starting noticing pain develop.

Her senior year of high school, I met with her to see if I was able to correctly diagnose her. Luckily I was able to get to the root of the problem and found that she had impingement in her left hip. The pain got significantly worse through the course of the season, and at end of season it was so painful she couldn’t walk. We made the decision together to perform surgery on Kathryn’s left hip on June 16, 2010, right before her freshman year of college. Three short months later, I am proud to say that Kathryn was back on the track and competing in all the same events pre-surgery at East Carolina University.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of our story. Only one year later, Kathryn started feeling pain again, but this time in her right hip. Back in my office for the second time, I knew I had to not only help her with her pain, but get her back to the sports she loves to play as quickly as I could. Kathryn underwent her second surgery on June 3, 2011 at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital. Though currently in rehab, she has hardly any pain and is confident that she will be back competing by this fall.

I love treating patients like Kathryn, helping them get back to the activities they love most. Her determination is why she continues to be able to compete at a Division 1 level university. In fact, she placed fifth in pole vaulting at the Conference USA Championships this past year.

Knowing what it’s like to be an athlete, I share in the love of sport with my active patients young and old and strive to show them that you can be active again after surgery- it does not have to debilitate you or keep you from what you love doing.