I planned to graduate early from high school at the end of this year, but had to miss an entire year of school. It was really tough to be home that whole time and really hard for me to see how difficult this was for my siblings and parents to watch me go through this.
One day my local pediatrician called my mom and told her she had heard of a new pediatric orthopedic specialist coming to Bend. I was pretty skeptical at that point, but we went to see Dr. Roth. His first reaction was actually very positive. After some tests he felt confident that he could help me with a hip preservation surgery and I was scheduled for surgery within three months. I was so relieved I didn’t have to do a full hip replacement. My family put all of our trust in him. I didn’t know it was a procedure that they had never done before at St. Charles until the day of my surgery, but I wasn’t worried and I received the best care. I feel so fortunate. Dr. Roth and my entire care team was amazing. It was a long recovery. The first few weeks were really hard, especially since we wouldn’t know if it really worked until my four-week appointment. When we got the x-rays back, it was such a huge relief. I am so grateful and now I am getting back to everything I can — swimming, biking, walking, and playing with my siblings. I haven’t been able to get back to sports yet, but I will figure out a way to get back to it!