Camille

Walking into the Center for Hip Preservation at Hospital for Special Surgery in my freshman year of high school, I remember feeling deep uncertainty about my future as an athlete. While athletics had always been an important part of my identity, an intense pain at the top of my hamstring radiating into my pelvis had made competition difficult for several months.

Having gone to several specialists at different hospitals to get diagnosed, I learned that I had a congenital hip problem that had also resulted in a torn labrum. Without attention, doctors projected, I could further tear my labrum, develop bone spurs, or calcify certain tissues in my hip. In a matter of months, my mom became an expert on the hip in her attempt to better understand what I would undergo with different suggested surgeries.

I grew truly frightened when one doctor suggested a Periacetabular Osteotomy, a surgery that would involve splitting my pelvis into three pieces to rotate the pieces to a better angle that would allow me to walk without pain. This operation and the uncertainty of its results, furthermore, could bar me from playing the sports I so loved indefinitely.

From our first meeting, HSS’s Dr. Bryan Kelly explained the mechanics of my hip problem to me with patience. Completely understanding of my family’s distress at choosing between different ways to remedy what had become a life-changing pain, Dr. Kelly organized a conference call between the doctors I had seen in order to brainstorm the best procedure for me specifically.

Dr. Kelly’s constructive approach and his amazing results with professional athletes made him the obvious choice for me. Dr. Kelly’s team of coordinators and physical therapists rallied to make sure I knew exactly what was happening at every stage of the process.

After a successful surgery in which my femur was shaved down, portions of damaged tissue were removed, and my labrum was reconnected to my hip socket, I began my frequent appointments at the HSS Physical Therapy center. My trainer, Eilish, compassionately helped me progress safely and efficiently through my challenging recovery.

Within 6 months, I was able to run again, and within 8 months, I was back on the squash courts. I finished my high school career with eight varsity letters, four in both squash and tennis. Now a freshman in college, just three years post surgery, I have joined the Women’s Squash Team as a walk-on and am able to train pain-free every day. Thank you, HSS and Dr. Kelly, for giving me the chance to maximize my athletic potential and join truly inspiring teams.