Sports
The unthinkable becomes reality
kira herron photo
A young girl’s heart filled with love for the game of basketball becomes the one obstacle keeping her off the court.
Sophomore Kinsey Van Houten was born with a heart defect called Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) as well as aortic valve stenosis, which means that Van Houten has two holes in her heart, and her aortic valve leaks because it is thickening. The defect had never disabled her from doing anything she enjoyed doing; in fact her yearly checkups were showing significant improvement until her 2009 check up when her hopes of playing high school basketball came crashing down.
Just three days before the first game of the season, Van Houten went in for a yearly check up with her cardiologist.
“It was the same as it always was, I sat in the waiting room then went back with the nurse to do height and weight and chest x-rays. Then I go to a different doctor where he listens to the heart murmur through a stethoscope,” Van Houten said.
Unfortunately the visit quickly went from normal to abnormal when she stepped into the doctor’s office. This time there was a student doctor in the room as well as her normal doctor and as always all of her clothes from the waste up needed to be taken off . Van Houten is now in a room with a complete stranger wearing nothing but an open front hospital robe.
“It was awkward; I was uncomfortable,” Van Houten said.
Despite being uncomfortable Van Houten was not afraid of the outcome of the checkup.
“He almost always gives me good news,” Van Houten said.
After the murmur was checked, Van Houten went back into another room for an ultra sound, meanwhile the doctor analyzed the information from the nurses and his observations. He came back into the office and right off the bat, Van Houten’s uneasy feelings got worse.
“He came in and started talking about how he was going to put some restrictions on me, he was trying to be nice about it, at this point I was scared because I started thinking about surgery,” Kinsey said.
Little did she know that surgery would be the last thing she needed to be worried about.
“He was looking at this piece of paper with my parents, it showed that the leakage in my heart went up by a lot,” Van Houten said.
Van Houten now entered the moderate-range of leakage and this was rewarded with a new list of restrictions.
“I could tell that he was going to take away one of my sports; I knew it would be important to me,” Van Houten said.
The doctor explained how this was the worst part of his job but, he told her that playing basketball would not be a possibility.
“At this point I was bawling; I couldn’t control myself, I couldn’t grasp the idea of not being able to play,” Van Houten said.
Van Houten’s dream of following in her mom’s footsteps playing high school basketball came crashing down.
“I couldn’t think straight, it made me mad at the doctor even though it wasn’t his fault. I told my parents that I didn’t care what he said and that I was just going to play anyway,” Van Houten said.
Van Houten’s parents did not go along with the idea, and they didn’t want to make it worse or even risk death.
Coach Jeff Fleming had compassion for Van Houten. He could see her love for the game.
“She was kind of the heart of the team. She was the first one done with the exercises, and never complained. She was the first one ready for practice and the last one to leave. Kinsey was the best leader on the team,” Fleming said.
Fleming was proud of the way Van Houten handled herself after the event.
“After the initial shock was over she was still the same Kinsey,” Fleming said.
Sophomore and teammate McKenna Brown noticed a change in Van Houten’s self proclaimed outgoing personality in a way that only a best friend could notice.
“She seemed quieter, and she kept to herself more than usual, she didn’t talk much after she heard the news,” Brown said.
Brown was devastated about Van Houten not being able to play.
“I loved having her on the team. She tried harder than anyone. She was a team player and would have done anything to make the team better,” Brown said.
Van Houten was angry about not being able to play, and overhearing the girls talk about the games only made the pain worse.
“My lowest point was watching them play, because I wanted to be out there,” Van Houten said.
Van Houten is now a manager on the basketball team. It’s her job to get ice for injured players and make sure that the team stays hydrated.
“It (being manager) was so I could be part of the team, it made me feel welcome and needed,” Van Houten said.