UArizona Athletic Trainer & Orthopedic Surgeon Score for High School Athlete
Quick care and thoughtful treatment were a home run for Tanque Verde High Schooler Ryan Ruskay
When Tanque Verde High School varsity baseball outfielder and pitcher, Ryan Ruskay, was hit by a pitch during an intersquad game, our athletic trainer Jenna Scheeland was there to help!
She quickly examined Ryan’s hand and called his parents, Chris and Melissa, suspecting that the hand may have been broken. Jenna recommended immediate imaging, which confirmed that Ryan’s hand was broken.
Unsolicited, the family shared their appreciation:
Jenna was awesome! Not only did she take great care of Ryan at the field, she offered to make an appointment for Ryan with Dr. Greg DeSilva, Banner – University Medicine elbow, hand and orthopedic surgeon. Amazingly, she was able to get us an appointment the very next day.
Jenna certainly went above and beyond for us. She genuinely cares for the student athletes and their families. She really helped make this difficult situation a whole lot easier. The families at Tanque Verde High School are lucky to have Jenna as the Athletic Trainer.
They also shared praise for Dr. Greg DeSilva, who ended up treating Ryan’s injury:
... we went into the appointment expecting that Ryan would need surgery to fix his broken bone. Dr. DeSilva helped us to understand that he could likely manipulate the bone back into place and avoid surgery.
While we had some initial hesitancy thinking of him physically moving the broken bone, we all agreed. Dr. DeSilva was indeed able to set the bone without surgery and get him immediately on the road to healing. With the local anesthetic, Ryan didn't feel any pain during that process.
The family especially appreciated our discerning approach to when non-operative care is something to explore:
Something that Dr. DeSilva said really stood out to us was when he said, ‘I am very aggressive about not being aggressive.’ Meaning, if we have a good chance of avoiding surgery, let's do it.
He made it clear that one of his primary goals is to return athletes back to their sport as quickly as possible. After he was done and new x-rays were taken, we were amazed at the result.
“Dr. DeSilva thanked us for trusting him. We feel lucky that he was Ryan's doctor and that Jenna was able to facilitate this for us. Overall, this whole experience exceeded our expectations!