Skater overcoming her greatest opponent: off-ice health challenges
On Monday and Tuesday, Gabby Kaplan will be performing a short program and a free skate with junior pairs partner Carter Griffin at the Prevagen 2026 U.S. National Championships in St. Louis.
For Kaplan, who with Griffin is on the U.S. National Team, getting there is a result of countless hours of training in the 13 years she’s been on skates.
It’s also a credit to modern medicine.
Kaplan, 15, manages a rare combination of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) conditions including collagenous gastritis, Crohn’s disease, and colitis.
“She’s a strong kid,” said her mother, Alexis Kaplan. “I don’t call her a warrior by mistake.”
Gabby, introduced by rink announcers as Gabrielle, has a comprehensive medical plan devised by her gastroenterology and immunology teams at the University of Chicago that keeps her competition-ready.
In addition to taking daily medication, she injects immunoglobulin therapy into her stomach weekly to strengthen her immune system and provide antibodies to help her upper respiratory system fight off infection.
Since March 2024, she’s also been visited every four weeks by Home Infusions Options Director of Nursing Kathryn Glaybo, an Elgin resident who administers intravenous biologic infusions to target Kaplan’s IBD conditions.
Were it not for these treatments, “I would 100% be at home right now, I would not be here,” Gabby said.
In February, she moved from Northbrook to Irvine, California, to live with a host family while training under head coaches Jenni Meno-Sand and Brandon Frazier, both former Olympic pairs skaters.
“I might be able to skate a little bit, but not at all to the extent that I am now, not close to the U.S. National Team or anything like that,” Kaplan said.
“I would definitely be in pain,” she said. “I’ve had flares, they like to call them, where my Crohn’s gets bad, and I can’t imagine if my life was like that all the time.”
Under Chicago-based Home Infusion Options’ College Connect program, Glaybo has flown to California to administer Kaplan’s infusions. The appointment takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
“I didn’t really know what to expect at first,” Kaplan said, “but it’s been such a great experience because I’ve built a great connection with my nurse, Kathryn.”
Glaybo last treated Kaplan on Dec. 4, and will be traveling to St. Louis to administer treatment following the Kaplan-Griffin free skate on Jan. 6.
“It’s been a blessing to be able to watch Gabby grow and overcome so many obstacles and still be so motivated,” Glaybo said.
An intermediate-level champion (with Riverwoods’ Matthew Soifer) at the 2024 U.S. Pairs Final and a pewter medalist (fourth-place) in November at the U.S. National Junior Pairs Final with Griffin, 20, Kaplan has had “a really successful season,” she said.
It included an international assignment, her first, to compete in October at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland.
“We just want to do the best we can, get personal-best scores,” she said of nationals in St. Louis. “For me, it’s my first nationals. I just want to stay composed and show what we’ve been working on.”
She’s an ambassador not only for Home Infusion Options but also for the online school she attends, ICL Academy. Once her skating career is over, Kaplan said she hopes to go into pediatric medicine “because of all of my health stuff” — and as a fan of the medical television drama “Grey’s Anatomy.”
“I definitely learned that I’m a lot stronger than I thought,” Kaplan said. “And that even though you go through hard times behind closed doors it doesn’t mean that you can’t keep chasing your dreams and reach your goals.”