My name is Kyle Wright, and I just finished my freshman year of high school at Plainville High School in Connecticut. I am a left-handed pitcher and also play 1st base. The summer before my freshman year, I was pitching and had pain in my arm. I rested it for a few weeks, but the pain returned when I pitched. My parents took me to a family friend who is an orthopedic surgeon here in CT. He took X-rays and did an MRI on my left elbow, and then referred me to Dr. Ahmad right away. He wanted me to have the best care possible and go to a doctor who specializes in elbows and working with young baseball athletes.

I had my first appointment with Dr Ahmad a few weeks later, and we knew we were in very good hands after meeting with him and his athletic trainer, Frank Alexander. They both were incredibly calm, professional, and thorough. Subsequently I had a couple of appointments with Dr Ahmad in the following weeks and months to monitor my elbow growth plates. After a particular X-ray of both elbows, the right growth plate had completely fused together but the left elbow growth plate still had not. Dr. Ahmad explained that this scenario is not very common, but that a very simple surgery with a high success rate would be the best option to allow me to pitch again pain free. Without the surgery I wouldn’t have been able to pitch, but rather only play first base. Since pitching is one of my favorite things to do and it’s always been my goal to pitch in college, my parents and I decided surgery was the best option. We decided the best time to do it was during the Fall of my freshman year so that I’d be ready to pitch again in the Spring.

The surgery was scheduled for early October and was very successful. Dr. Ahmad and his entire team were great. After what seemed like no time, I woke up from surgery with a brace on my arm. I started physical therapy a few weeks after the surgery, and taking off the brace during physical therapy was refreshing. The growth plate took 3 months to fuse together, and I knew ahead of time that I couldn’t do any baseball activities until at least January. Since baseball is one of my passions and in order to stay around the game, I volunteered at my hitting coach’s clinic for younger kids. Just being around the kids and my coach every day was really helpful during my recovery and rehab. Dr. Ahmad gave me a structured and detailed rehab program, and the physical therapy exercises allowed for the muscles around my elbow to get stronger. My physical therapist had worked with other athletes in the past and had great experience rehabbing baseball players. Talking with him daily about sports rehab and hearing how all this was going to make me stronger really helped my attitude. Along with the amazing support network, I found that helping the young kids sharpen their baseball skills made the rehab process go by so much faster each day.

As I felt as though I was getting closer to playing baseball again, I stayed positive during the Fall and Winter and my parents reassured me on days that I got frustrated, that this journey was going to make me stronger. Once winter workouts started with my travel team in January, I attended those regularly to see my coaches and teammates again. This was a huge boost in morale, getting me through the winter months. Every day it became apparent that I was closer to starting to resume baseball activities once again. I was so happy when I could start my hitting rehab program and then my flat ground rehab, and then finally my mound rehab program. Spring arrived, which meant high school tryouts. My high school coaches knew me and understood where I was with my rehab and my restrictions. They were very supportive the entire season. Because I was so much stronger from the physical therapy, I was back to hitting like I was before my surgery. I made the varsity team. I was a DH most of the season, and also played some first base. I also started pitching relief in mid-May and was confident on the mound. Our high school team made it to the state quarterfinals and we had a good year.

Now that I’m fully recovered, I’m so happy to be pitching every weekend with my travel team and have had some very good outings. Even in a recent outing where I didn’t have my A-game, I was able to get the win and did not allow any earned runs. My elbow feels great and I’m extremely happy that I had this surgery when I did. Dr. Ahmad and his team were so supportive during my entire journey, answering questions, encouraging me, and generally being amazing. I know they wanted the best for me, setting me up to reach my goals of playing baseball at the next level.