Caitlin O’Leary was born with hip dysplasia. This means that her hip socket didn’t fully cover the ball portion of her upper thighbone, a condition that allows the hip joint to become partially or completely dislocated. In O’Leary’s case, it also meant that her right leg was shorter than her left.
She was 4 years old the first time surgery was mentioned as an option to correct it, but her mother brought in a specialist who recommended waiting for her to grow into her body.
Flash forward to August 2020. The now 26-year-old O’Leary had grown accustomed to constant hip pain with all the walking she was doing in her new home in New York City.
“I grew up with this, so I just figured out ways to not be in pain,” she says.
The hiking accident that changed her life
But then she came home to Reno to wait out the pandemic with her mom, Cindy O’Leary. She hurt herself hiking in April and tried to push through the pain as she had always done. But she quickly realized her coping mechanisms weren’t going to work this time.
That accident changed her life, as it brought her into Great Basin Orthopaedics — where she met Dr. Travis Kieckbusch. He performed a Conformis hip replacement on her in August 2020, adjusting her right leg length at the same time.
“I felt better the second I woke up from the surgery,” she says. “My legs were so closely aligned for the first time that my body didn’t know what to do with itself.”
She started physical therapy the same week as her surgery, and she was doing single leg squats by the second week.
“I’m doing amazing,” she says. “I’m not back to 100% yet since my body still has to correct itself, however the hip itself is pristine.”
Learning new skills in PT
She says that before the surgery, she could never have done something as simple as a full leg extension without pain.
“That first day in physical therapy, they stretched me that way, and I could do things I’d never done in my whole life,” she says.
“I’m pretty direct and I don’t want any fluff, and he didn’t give me that,” she says about her experience with Dr. Kieckbusch. “He spent time with me and made me feel comfortable answering all of my questions. I never felt pressured to go through with the surgery like I had at other orthopedic centers.”
She says that feeling extended beyond Dr. Kieckbusch to the entire GBO team. “I always felt comfortable with them, like they wanted what was best for me.”
O’Leary says that while Dr. Kieckbusch only operated on her hip, the surgery changed her entire body. “He fully realigned my body so the rest doesn’t deteriorate,” she says. “Having my legs out of balance threw my back out, causing me spine problems as well. Now I finally get to live a normal life.”
You don’t have to live with chronic pain. Give GBO a call at (775) 786-1600 if you would like to discuss your options.