I’ve been a gymnast all my life; starting at the age of six. I was in love with the sport and good at it too. When I was twelve years old I had elbow pain and went in to see a doctor. He told me that I had osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) in the bone of my elbow. I was held back from gymnastics and locked in a brace for nearly a year and a half, hoping that the rest from gymnastics would allow my bone to regenerate blood flow and heal. That wasn’t the case. Nothing had healed and my gymnastics career was looking bleak. I went to plenty of different doctors looking for second opinions or new options, but had no relief.
This is when I found Dr. Lervick; he told me to go back to gymnastics and we would see how my elbow would hold up. I was informed about the risks, that a piece of my bone could dislodge from the original. In that situation I would need surgery. A couple months later, the worst happened and a chunk of bone within my elbow broke free. At this time I was around 14 years old and approaching the State and Regional Championships. I wasn’t able to attend because of my elbow which left me devastated.
A few weeks later I was in for surgery with Dr. Lervick to do a microfracture surgery. He took the loose bone out of my elbow and punctured tiny holes in my bone to create blood flow. It was a quick four month recovery and I was back at gymnastics. Since then my elbow has caused me no pain and no problems. Currently, I am 19 years old and a division 1 gymnast at Iowa State University. I owe a huge thanks to Dr. Lervick and his team. They helped me complete my dream of being a college gymnast. My elbow and I plan on doing big things and it is all thanks to Dr. Lervick.
