Exploring Health with Wali: Wali has surgery!

Authors: Delroy Daley, Cris Hernandez, Dr. Colin Michie of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine

Hi friends! It’s me, student Dr. Wali! If you love sports like I do, I must tell you about a time my love for baseball led me to the doctor’s office, where I learned some cool things about surgery and recovery. Believe it or not, I was quite the pitcher for my Sint Maarten little league club. I had a pitch that would swing the batter out of their socks! While practicing my curveball, I heard a POP! When I looked down, two things were curved: my pitch and my arm.

At the hospital, I got the bad news that I had torn a ligament in my elbow. Ligaments are flexible structures that hold bones together and normally form a joint. Do you know what else joints are? Your knees, ankles, shoulders, wrists, and many more bendy parts of your body. Whenever you flex or stretch, you are using your joints. As for my elbow joint, I needed reconstructive surgery.

Did you know that “Tommy John surgery” is common for pitchers who hurt their elbow? Tommy John was the first major league pitcher to have the surgery on his elbow – and it was a success!

I tore my ulnar collateral ligament to be exact. To fix it, my doctors would need to get a new one from my body or from a donor. Donors are people who donate their organs to others in need. It is a really good deed! Did you know some donors are animals? The most common animal donors are pigs. Wow, now that is interesting!

So off to surgery Wali went. My doctors used a special medicine to put me to sleep so I wouldn’t feel any pain during my repair. In the picture, you can see how my ligament looked before and after my surgery. Cool; right! Often, doctors have to use metals, screws and wires during surgery. I promise I am not a robot… haha.

I woke up from surgery in a cast. My doctor said not to worry, that I will be back on the field in about six months. Once my elbow healed, I worked it back to its full strength. The best part of my recovery was that I got to work on another part of my game – Wali coaching! I hope you learned a lot, friends, because I sure did!

Until next time! See you later, out on the pitch!

The Daily Herald

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