While coaching, I reached out to an orthopedic surgeon for another opinion on my diagnosed congenital defect. When I was first diagnosed in college, I was told there was nothing that they could do for me other than a full fusion of the ankle joint, which would leave me with extremely limited range of motion. I had decided against such a radical option and decided to live with the pain for years. Then, I met Dr. Lai, who after seeing my records and looking at my scans, told me that my case was operable and that he could potentially correct the defect without a fusion. So, I went through with the surgery in June 2019, recovered fully, and could finally run and play again.
Then, in December 2019, I was in a near-fatal car accident, which resulted in a distal radius fracture in my right wrist, among various other injuries. Over time, I started to experience severe pain, weakness, and loss of grip strength in my right arm and hand, making everyday tasks challenging. I received several different diagnoses and treatments, and after months of occupational therapy, did not see any improvement, but started having nerve pain shooting through my elbow and down through my fingers.
After more tests, I was diagnosed with ulnar nerve entrapment and had corrective surgery in December 2021. After three more months of occupational therapy, my progress plateaued, and I did not get any better. From there, the pain started creeping into my upper arm, shoulder and neck. We did more tests and tagged in specialists, but nothing was “diagnostically” wrong with me. I was released from my doctor’s care and went almost a year without maintenance for my pain, even though it was increasing in intensity. It got to the point where I had a significant tremor, had lost a significant amount of grip strength, and could not raise my arm over my head without assistance. I was in pain every day but had no answers as to why. While this left me disappointed and angry, I was not willing to give up searching for answers. In the meantime, I tried to continue living my life and managing my pain the best I could.
After coaching, I was encouraged to look into umpiring. Since I had experience playing and coaching, I was told that I had a unique understanding of the game that would help me be an effective official. I reached out to my local umpire chapter in the spring of 2023 and was put into touch with our second-year cadet trainer, Victa.
To say that training under Victa’s guidance and support made me fall in love with the sport again is an understatement. Every time I took the field, I knew she’d be there to give me constructive criticism. I followed her to every game she officiated that spring and summer to prepare for the fall high school season. My local umpire chapter welcomed me with open arms, and I was lucky enough to be given game assignments that challenged me to become a better official. Fifty-five regulation games later, my first high school season as an umpire came to a close.
By USWNT
