swimmingly
“Her kneecap kept dislocating, and every time it happened,
it was causing her some injury,” Dr. Greer says. “At that
point, we needed to surgically address that. Her kneecap
would roll out to the side, and when that happens, the
ligaments tear. It had happened too many times, and those
ligaments were stretched out. So she no longer had the so
tissues that were competent to hold her kneecap in place.”
e day before anksgiving 2013, Catherine underwent
a surgery known as medial patellofemoral ligament
reconstruction at Waccamaw Community Hospital.
A erward, she spent more than three months out of the
pool recuperating. She wore a leg brace that extended
from her hip to her ankle until mid-January. In March, she
was released to swim again and worked hard in therapy
sessions and water aerobics to return to her winning ways.
Back in the pool
Catherine’s case is a perfect example, Dr. Greer says, of how
the free sports injury clinics can aid student-athletes and
their families. And he stressed that every situation won’t
require surgery. Sometimes, simply evaluating an injury
and putting a plan of action in place is all that’s needed.
“By and large, the cases we see at the clinics are
non-surgical—the vast, vast, vast majority,” Dr. Greer says.
“It’s more of a screening. e folks who I think have a
problem where they should be o the eld or need further
work-up, I’m going to ask them to come back to my o ce
for a more formal appointment.”
As a former student-athlete himself—he played
linebacker at Harvard—Dr. Greer once attended similar
sports injury clinics to those he now hosts. From personal
experience, he says, he knows how valuable early screening
of potential problems can be to athletes who simply want to
perform to their highest potential.
“ e public should know that there really is no issue
too small or too great to come in,” he says. “Sometimes it’s
going to require further evaluation, but more o en than
not it’s simply going to o er reassurance that is just as
valuable, I think.”
‘Outstanding’ care
Amy Condon says she found that the care her daughter
received, both at the sports injury clinic and in the
following weeks as a patient at Waccamaw Orthopaedics
and Waccamaw Community Hospital, was “outstanding.”
“Dr. Greer and his sta have been very clear in their
actions that Catherine comes rst,” she says. “ ey talked
to Catherine about the decisions that needed to be made.
It’s very evident that they put her as their primary source
of contact and responsibility. at makes me feel good that
they value her in that way.”
What the clinic is like
In addition to Dr. Greer, the sports injury clinics are sta ed
by Gavin Vaughn, MD, a board-certi ed sports medicine
physician, and Shantae Seifert, a certi ed physician
assistant, both with Waccamaw Orthopaedics. e free
clinics are open to any student-athlete.
“ e Saturday clinics have been born out of a necessity
to see these injured students on a day when their mom and
dad may not have to miss any wages and children aren’t
missing any school time,” Dr. Greer says. “A lot of events
in school culminate at the end of the week, so when we
o er a clinic on the weekend, there’s not a lag time between
the student having an injury and being seen the following
week. We can institute treatment quicker and not wait, and
ultimately, the goal is to have a safe return to what they
want to do.”
Education, Dr. Greer says, is key to staying healthy and
active for student-athletes, and the sports injury clinics can
be a valuable resource.
“ is is an environment that is great,” he says. “I don’t
have 50 people on my schedule that day. It’s a casual
environment. If it’s hot out, I’ll be wearing shorts, and I won’t
be in this tie. We can sit down, and we can talk about what’s
going on. For me, it’s a lot of a er-hours stu , but I enjoy it.”
And for Catherine, she’s enjoying time in the pool
again. Sitting by the YMCA pool on a summer day earlier
this year, she pointed to the scar on her knee before
taking a dive into the shimmering water. A few days later,
she traveled to Beaufort County to compete in swim
competitions, placing in the top three in an individual meet
and helping her relay team take a second-place nish.
“Swimming means a lot to me,” she says. “It means my
whole college career. It means so much to me that I can
swim again and be competing.”
Bill Greer, MD, and Shantae Seifert, PT
5
Come to a
free sports
injury clinic!
Waccamaw Orthopaedics and
Georgetown Hospital System
are once again o ering free
sports injury clinics for student-
athletes this fall.
The clinics are held every
Saturday from to a.m.
atWaccamawOrthopaedics,
Highway Bypass,
Suite , inMurrells Inlet, and
the Georgetown Outpatient
Therapy Center,
ChurchSt.,
in Georgetown.
The free clinics will continue
through Nov. . No appointment
is necessary. Call
- -
for more information.
