Madyson Smithhart (second from right) and her friends gear up for a winning basketball season.
“Because of her young age and continuing
normal growth on her opposite side,
thinking through this problem required
the expertise of a pediatric and trauma
orthopaedist. It also required the
experience of pediatric anesthesiologists
and radiologists. It was a team effort.”
—Robert Probe, MD
20
The Catalyst November 13 | sw.org
shoulder; she would eventually have
three such cysts removed before second
grade. Madyson’s left arm was visibly
shorter than the right one, and she had
difficulty raising her arm over her head.
This was a big problem as she entered
junior high, because Madyson wanted
to play basketball on her school’s team.
A visit to an orthopedic specialist at a
children’s hospital in Houston in 2011
left her in tears when she was told she
would never again be able to play the
game. It was then that her mother,