After years of constant pain, spinal fusion surgery has Carmel pitcher back in the game

CARMEL — Chelsea Bennett was wrapped up by teammate Ellie Goddard as she exited the circle, a mini-celebration for the Carmel sophomore pitching a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts against softball powerhouse Roncalli. Chelsea's parents refer to the moment, captured by IndyStar photographer Joe Timmermann, during a phone interview last weekend. But they say nothing of her performance. They're focused on her emotions, the joy, the happiness.

When Roger and Melanie ask their daughter how she's feeling after games and practices, she tells them how much fun it is being back with her teammates. She's loving it.

Everything has been brought full circle, Roger said. Chelsea was in a New Jersey hospital recovering from spinal fusion surgery last February, and was living in constant pain up until late last year, her softball career in serious doubt.

Regardless of what happens from here, Roger continued, Chelsea is playing softball again and having fun. That's all that matters. "Her smile makes it worthwhile for us."

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Chelsea was throwing a ball in from the outfield when it first happened. A loud POP! followed by a sharp pain. That was weird. She finished out practice, but the pain persisted.

It hurt to even breathe, she recalled. "It was like I was being stabbed. A really intense stabbing pain."

A chiropractor diagnosed the then-12-year old with a subluxated rib.

Chelsea returned to softball right away, but the pain never went away and the rib subluxations became more common occurrences (every 3-6 months), always with the same one or two ribs at the top of her rib cage — except for an instance four months before her surgery when one on the other side popped out and she had three sublexed ribs at the same time.

The pain only intensified and began impacting Chelsea's daily life, Melanie said. She was hunched over and struggled to get out of bed in the morning, let alone make it to class. Even riding in the car was difficult, with the slightest bump causing intense pain.

Chelsea recalled a rib popping out during a travel tournament. Unable to get to the chiropractor, she returned to the hotel between games and laid on a softball in an attempt to pop it back in place (it didn't work). Roger and Melanie noted their daughter's last travel tournament in Nov. 2022 when she sneezed and jarred a rib loose.

It was constant aching and soreness, Chelsea said, then when a rib came out, the intense stabbing pain returned, making it difficult to breathe.

"I got so used to it I didn't remember what it felt like to not have rib pain anymore."

Scheuermann's kyphosis

Dr. Jason Lowenstein took one look at Chelsea's x-ray during a Zoom call and knew exactly what she was dealing with and the appropriate treatment plan.

Chelsea had Scheuermann's kyphosis, a relatively rare condition wherein the front edge of some vertebrae in the upper back grow slower than the back edge. These vertebrae become wedge shaped and cause the spine to curve out. Chelsea's spine was growing one degree per year, Roger said, a process which would continue even after she stopped growing. If left untreated, she would be completely hunched over by college.

The only solution was spinal fusion surgery. Doctors would attach two rods along Chelsea's spine spanning from around the base of her neck (T2 vertebrae) to her lower back (L2 vertebrae), then cover it with ground-up bone, with the expectation the bone will fuse and that section of her spine will become one bone.

After years of fruitless research and doctor visits, including one to a rib specialist in Milwaukee, Chelsea and her parents finally had a concrete solution to improve her quality of life.

"It was really frustrating because my parents had done so much research and even I researched to see if this was happening to anyone else and there was nothing about it," said Chelsea, who only found information about softball players dealing with unrelated injuries like floating ribs. "When (Lowenstein) said this would help my ribs and everything, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is amazing.'"

Chelsea had a virtual appointment with Lowenstein on Jan. 4, 2023.

On Feb. 20, she was in New Jersey being prepped for the eight-hour surgery.

"Her organs were restricted because her shoulders were hunched over, so there was no reason to wait," Melanie said. "The sooner (she had the surgery), the sooner she could heal."

Melanie admits she was unsure if the "Herculean effort" required to return might dampen Chelsea's love for softball. She and Roger recalled their daughter's motivation waning as she spent the first three weeks after her surgery cooped up inside a New Jersey apartment, laid up in a hospital bed for 20 hours a day.

Chelsea was still in pain and uncertainty was beginning to creep in.

Then a week before they flew home, five of Chelsea's travel teammates visited, spending basically the entire weekend at her bedside. It was motivating, she said, a reminder of why she wanted to play softball again. There was an immediate change in mentality from there, a renewed determination, Roger added. "That was a game changer."

"(Those 36 hours) were transformative. They brought her back to herself in a way," Melanie said. "It got her mind off things and back to thinking: 'Oh yeah, there are fun things happening outside of this.'"

'An amazing, resilient, positive spirit'

Chelsea's teammates huddled around her along the first base line. She was in Florida with her travel team, eight months removed from surgery, preparing to pitch for the first time. 1-2-3 Chelsea! They yell before running onto the field, their parents cheering her on from the bleachers.

It was an emotional scene, Chelsea said. Everyone was in tears, herself included.

"It was such an amazing moment," she continued. "Everyone was so supportive and I knew it didn't matter how I (performed). It was just a huge milestone to even be out there and to get that first pitch."

"She's an amazing, resilient, positive spirit," Roger said.

Chelsea wanted to attend softball practice the night they returned from New Jersey. It was the first time she wanted to do anything since her surgery, Melanie recalled, and while she couldn't play, maintaining a presence at the diamond aided Chelsea's recovery.

Limited to walking and unable to twist, bend or lift anything above five pounds for six months after her surgery, the incoming freshman helped her dad call pitches for her travel team during the summer, then stepped in as a team manager with Carmel in the spring.

Though not always the easiest — especially as her travel team enjoyed a successful summer — staying involved helped Chelsea push past the doubts that crept in as she eased back into softball activities.

"The hardest part mentally is telling yourself you can do it," said Carmel senior outfielder Katy Smith, a longtime family friend who underwent a similar surgery for scoliosis entering her freshman year.

Smith has been Chelsea's "biggest inspiration."

A multi-sport athlete (softball and cheer), she related with her teammate on a different level. Smith knew what Chelsea was going through — the pain involved and the patience required — and provided constant support, fielding all of her pre-surgery questions and regularly checking in during recovery.

"There are definitely hard days, bad days, but it's a mental game," said Smith, who needed a year before she felt entirely back to herself. "If you put your mind to it, you can do it — similar to softball."

After pitching through pain for so many years, it's hard to say what 100% might look like for Chelsea. But there are specific areas she's hoping to improve like spin rate and velocity, and she's pitched beyond four innings only once this season, a seven-inning, 119-pitch appearance vs. Avon on April 20.

Right now, though, none of that really matters.

Chelsea Bennett is back doing what she loves.

And she's doing it pain-free.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Carmel softball pitcher Chelsea Bennett back after spinal surgery