Susan Walsh

After having gone through 18 months of misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment for chronic hip pain, I was lucky enough to see Dr. Bryan Kelly. I ran my first marathon a decade or so prior and had been healthy up until persistent hip flexor pain limited my running, my mobility, and ultimately my life. The obvious thing about chronic pain is that it's constant. Sometimes greater or lesser, but always there. It's hard to understanding what daily life is like with it, until you have it. Running became limited to 10 miles a week from 50-60. Stairs were a challenge. Sitting became increasingly difficult. Work was affected. And, of course, your mood, emotions and relationships suffer.

Dr. Kelly diagnosed me with a torn labrum and resulting inflammation. He was able to locate a bone spur that caused the tear, surgically removed it and sewed up the cartilage. I was in rehab for 2.5 months under exceptional care from his team as well as the physical therapists at HSS. This was 2010, now six years ago. After a controlled recovery plan, I ran my first post surgery marathon in Berlin, 2012. I achieved a life goal of qualifying for Boston, which I ran the following April. That was the year of the marathon bombings, and Dr. Kelly called me personally to see if I was okay. That fall I ran the New York Marathon. The next year, Boston again and Chicago. I've ran 15 minutes faster for the marathon distance than before my surgery. My hip is doing great and I can't be more grateful.