Softball: Loudoun Valley Senior Richardson Battles Back After Chronic Migraines Sideline Her Junior Year

Loudoun Valley senior softball player Kelsey Richardson talks about her comeback attempt after medical issues sidelined her entire junior year


(Dec. 31, 2011) - Loudoun Valley High School pitcher Kelsey Richardson had gotten headaches before so when she developed a migraine on the bus ride her sophomore season to the VHSL state quarterfinal softball game at James Madison High School in Vienna she didn't think twice about it. Only this time, the headache didn't go away. It didn't get better. In fact it got worse and essentially turned into a debilitating 18-month fight against her toughest foe yet: chronic daily migraines.

The soft-spoken Richardson, not only couldn't play softball after that June day in 2010 but she basically missed her entire junior school year at Loudoun Valley as the migraines forced her to be homebound for her studies as the light and noise of school was too much with her painful condition.

"The next few days after that game I woke up and still had the headache ... and there was no cure for it all," said Richardson. "I was sensitive to lights, sounds, smells ... I had to lay in the dark and nothing really makes me feel better.

In addition to the migraines, Richardson also has an aneurysm in her cerebral artery that doctors are monitoring. The good news is that Richardson is back at school for her senior year and determined to make it back into the Viking softball squad. She reached a milestone this fall when she pitched in a travel softball game, facing hitters for the first time since that state quarterfinal playoff game.


While not pain-free, Richardson is responding to a number of occipital nerve blocks which means that her chronic daily pain is nerve based. The blocks have enabled her to attend school full-time as well as participate in some “normal teenage” activities such as attend Homecoming Dance, participate on the Academic Team and attend sports events.

"Last year was really tough because I felt like I couldn't be a normal teenager," said Richardson.

Before the holiday break, Richardson and her family met with the Chief of Peripheral Surgery at Georgetown University Hospital and Richardson is a candidate for bilateral nerve decompression surgery. The surgery will be scheduled hopefully in the near future, as early as late January.

"We are very nervous and excited at the same time," said Richardson's mother Beth about the surgery.

There is no telling if Richardson can return again to the level of the pitcher who struck out 10 and tossed a 1-hitter to clinch the Vikings the AAA regional playoff bid in 2010, but she is adamant about applying the same determination to making the softball squad that she has applied against her illness.

"Last year I felt frustrated and angry. I just felt like I was letting my team down because I wasn't out there on the field pitching," said Kelsey Richardson.

Her return to pitching in September with her club team marked an emotional high: "I was on a high for a few days after that."

Richardson, who like most high school seniors is downing in college applications, is nervous about her return to the Vikings varsity in the spring

"I want to make sure I get on the field no matter what," said Richardson.

If all goes well the resilient Richardson will be back once again on the bus with her Loudoun Valley teammates.