- March 19, 2020 Throughout the years, swimming has always been a very important part of my life. Ever since the age of two, the sport stuck with me. Growing up, I was a successful swimmer who balanced my love for running at the same time. Though as I reached the summer going into 8th grade, my body seemed to take a turn for the worst. This marks the start of my long and painful journey of my shoulder injuries. Everyday for a whole year I continued to go through the pain I felt. Local doctors here in the small town of Indiana I live in said my shoulder pain was not serious and shouldn't be something to worry about or be a reason to cut back on the activities I was doing at the time. Throughout the entirety of my 8th grade year, my parents and I eagerly traveled throughout the country to find a doctor who could tell me what had been causing me so much pain. I ended up going to over 15 different doctors and having 4 MRI’s completed, all coming back negative of problems. I was beginning to slowly lose hope and often pondered why such a thing was happening to me. That summer, I attended a camp where I became very good friends with a girl. She one day said to me that she thought her father could help with my injury, which at that point I was open to anything. Looking ahead, her father was Dr. Brian Cole, the doctor that I will never be able to thank enough. Out of all the doctors and specialists I had gone to, he and his staff were definitely the best. When I talked to him, he listened to me and knew how to help right away. He discovered that my pain I felt was actually something to worry about and I ended up having two arthroscopic shoulder stabilization surgeries. Throughout my entire journey, I was tested both physically and mentally, which in the end made me a stronger person.Without the help of Dr. Cole and his awesome team, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Currently, I just finished my sophomore year of swimming for my high school and now back to swimming year round. Again, I can’t express how thankful I am for the experience I had with Dr. Cole and blessed to continue my athletic career.
