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Back on the hill
Life threw Millikin’s Liz Cook a curve, but she’s the one striking out adversity
Life threw Millikin’s Liz Cook a curve, but she’s the one striking out adversity
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By Leilana McKindra
The NCAA News
The NCAA News
About halfway through last season, Millikin University softball student-athlete Liz Cook made the unusual decision to pull herself out of the Big Blue’s pitching rotation — not because she was performing badly, but because of the painful effects of a rare genetic disorder that made even basic daily activities like walking to class difficult to manage.
This spring, after successfully undergoing surgery that could have meant the end of her pitching career, Cook returned to the center of the diamond sharper than ever.
Cook was just coming off an injury during her sophomore year in high school when, while running, she began experiencing sharp chest pains that were at times so vicious that they drove her to her knees. Initially she thought she was just out of shape, but when the discomfort continued over time, she sought medical help.
“They were worried it was something with my heart,” said Cook.
It wasn’t her heart, but that’s exactly what she displayed over the course of the next five years. Cook was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), which is a group of disorders that affect the nerves that pass into the arms from the neck and various nerves between the base of the neck and armpit. Though typically caused by repetitive action, in Cook’s case, doctors determined that the disorder, which affected both the right and left sides of her body, was genetic.
For Cook, TOS brought a constant dull ache along with intermittent sharp pains. Because the disorder was so rare, there was little doctors could do beyond suggesting a stretching regimen. Surgery was discussed, but — in part because she was the primary pitcher for the varsity high school team — she decided against it and continued to play.
By the end of her freshman year at Millikin, though, Cook — a predominantly rise-ball pitcher — had lost so much range of motion in her pitching arm that she could no longer throw her “go to” pitch. She spent the winter developing enough other pitches to retake the mound the following season.
The diligence appeared to have paid dividends. Cook was off to a 5-0 start in her sophomore campaign when she made the seemingly curious decision to pull herself out of the varsity rotation.
“I hadn’t lost a game at that point and I hadn’t pitched terribly, but I wasn’t pitching my best and I didn’t think it was fair to the team to put me out there when I knew I wasn’t throwing to my capabilities,” said Cook, who admitted that when the pain returned she was convinced that surgery was the way to go.
“Once the medicine they injected (during an earlier procedure) went away, the pain came back and I thought, ‘I can’t take it any more.’ I’d struggled with it long enough,” she said. “I loved softball and it was the reason I kept going, but at the same time I needed to not just survive through the day, but actually enjoy the day.”
Although it meant the possibility of never returning to the circle, in June 2006 Cook underwent surgery to remove a rib and two muscles and detach the scaling muscles on the right side of her body.
The procedure worked. Though she was told she wouldn’t be able to touch a softball for at least six months after the operation, Cook was able to mimic her pitching motion within a month and a half and was throwing again after just three months.
Fully recovered from the surgery, Cook is living nearly pain free now. To relieve her discomfort completely, she will have to undergo the same surgery on her left side, something she plans to do after graduate school. In the meantime, she is embracing her new start on and off the field. The junior successfully took the mound for the Big Blue last month for the first time since the middle of the 2006 season. “I throw faster than I have in the last three years. My rise ball is amazing compared to what it’s been, and now that I’ve developed those other pitches, it’s made me a better pitcher in the long run.”
The experience also has strengthened her faith. Cook, who aspires to become a pediatric physical therapist, credits her speedy recovery in large part to strong support from her family and teammates and an unwavering belief in God.
“My family and friends are amazing, but there was that peace of always knowing in the back of my mind that He would bring me through,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever take for granted day-to-day things like living pain free.”
This spring, after successfully undergoing surgery that could have meant the end of her pitching career, Cook returned to the center of the diamond sharper than ever.
Cook was just coming off an injury during her sophomore year in high school when, while running, she began experiencing sharp chest pains that were at times so vicious that they drove her to her knees. Initially she thought she was just out of shape, but when the discomfort continued over time, she sought medical help.
“They were worried it was something with my heart,” said Cook.
It wasn’t her heart, but that’s exactly what she displayed over the course of the next five years. Cook was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), which is a group of disorders that affect the nerves that pass into the arms from the neck and various nerves between the base of the neck and armpit. Though typically caused by repetitive action, in Cook’s case, doctors determined that the disorder, which affected both the right and left sides of her body, was genetic.
For Cook, TOS brought a constant dull ache along with intermittent sharp pains. Because the disorder was so rare, there was little doctors could do beyond suggesting a stretching regimen. Surgery was discussed, but — in part because she was the primary pitcher for the varsity high school team — she decided against it and continued to play.
By the end of her freshman year at Millikin, though, Cook — a predominantly rise-ball pitcher — had lost so much range of motion in her pitching arm that she could no longer throw her “go to” pitch. She spent the winter developing enough other pitches to retake the mound the following season.
The diligence appeared to have paid dividends. Cook was off to a 5-0 start in her sophomore campaign when she made the seemingly curious decision to pull herself out of the varsity rotation.
“I hadn’t lost a game at that point and I hadn’t pitched terribly, but I wasn’t pitching my best and I didn’t think it was fair to the team to put me out there when I knew I wasn’t throwing to my capabilities,” said Cook, who admitted that when the pain returned she was convinced that surgery was the way to go.
“Once the medicine they injected (during an earlier procedure) went away, the pain came back and I thought, ‘I can’t take it any more.’ I’d struggled with it long enough,” she said. “I loved softball and it was the reason I kept going, but at the same time I needed to not just survive through the day, but actually enjoy the day.”
Although it meant the possibility of never returning to the circle, in June 2006 Cook underwent surgery to remove a rib and two muscles and detach the scaling muscles on the right side of her body.
The procedure worked. Though she was told she wouldn’t be able to touch a softball for at least six months after the operation, Cook was able to mimic her pitching motion within a month and a half and was throwing again after just three months.
Fully recovered from the surgery, Cook is living nearly pain free now. To relieve her discomfort completely, she will have to undergo the same surgery on her left side, something she plans to do after graduate school. In the meantime, she is embracing her new start on and off the field. The junior successfully took the mound for the Big Blue last month for the first time since the middle of the 2006 season. “I throw faster than I have in the last three years. My rise ball is amazing compared to what it’s been, and now that I’ve developed those other pitches, it’s made me a better pitcher in the long run.”
The experience also has strengthened her faith. Cook, who aspires to become a pediatric physical therapist, credits her speedy recovery in large part to strong support from her family and teammates and an unwavering belief in God.
“My family and friends are amazing, but there was that peace of always knowing in the back of my mind that He would bring me through,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll ever take for granted day-to-day things like living pain free.”
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