“The consults we were getting during my fellowship were things I had never seen before,” she says, explaining that orthopedics and sports medicine were never on her radar. “Gathering enough clues to piece the puzzle together is super fun for me vs. dealing with the mechanics of an injury like a broken wrist.”
Still, skating will always be in her life. This year, she began competing at the adult level and recently won her first competition at the State Games of America. (Shhh! She says she nabbed first place because no one else competed at her level.) “When I step on the ice, it feels like I’m home,” she says.
Dr. Bettendorf says her 7-year-old son now shows promise as a figure skater, whereas her 5-year-old daughter prefers to dress up in her mom’s costumes rather than skate.
Carol Patton, a freelance writer based in Las Vegas, writes the Rheum After 5 column for The Rheumatologist.
