My daughter injured her knee about two weeks ago playing a sport at her college. The school has arranged for her to be seen by an orthopedist and he told her/us that she will need surgery. She has been hobbling around with a brace - can walk very fast with her brace (we visited her a few days ago), but she can’t bend her leg without pain, put weight on her bent leg, etc, or rise from that position. As long as she keeps it straight, she says she’s fine and it’s not painful.
She has a torn lateral meniscus, which is not nearly as severe as a torn ACL, but the ligament or cartilage that was torn acts as a cushion for the bones in the knee area so it needs to be repaired so there is no bone to bone rubbing or friction.
I have a few questions other than the title question.
Has anyone had a kid injured while playing a college sport? The school has been great and has arranged all the doctors visits, testing, etc. The orthopedist who she has been seeing and who will be doing her surgery has excellent reviews - he is the doctor for the most of the college athletes in the area where my daughter goes to school (at least 4 or 5 colleges). I feel pretty confident about having him perform the surgery, but am wondering if we should get a second opinion? How did you deal with your kid's injury? It feels weird to me that someone else has been taking care of my kid's medical needs and I feel like I should be more involved, but like I said, the doctor has a great reputation, so I probably shouldn't worry needlessly.
-I talked to the doctor today and he said that the surgery wasn’t an emergency and could schedule it at her convenience. The options are to do it the first day of her week long fall break in October and we could bring her home for that week to recover at home. But then she would be on crutches for 5 weeks at school after the break. Or she could have it done at the beginning of Christmas break and would be at home for a month and then only have to be on crutches for about two weeks after she returned to school. I think the Christmas break plan sounds better, except that is delaying the healing process. Any opinions on this dilemma? Her school is very small, so the distances she will have to walk while on crutches is not bad, relatively speaking, compared to a large university.
Her school has really been great in helping her deal with this injury. She was in a third floor walk up dorm room (and on the top bunk!), but they have transferred her to a second floor single in another dorm (that has a dining hall) so she only has to walk up one floor now and doesn’t have to go far for meals. She said that was the best option that they gave her, and since she has been able to get around pretty well, we think that will work fine, especially since she won’t have to be climbing up and down a ladder to her bed anymore.
Any advice or tips anyone could give to me or her would be appreciated. No one in our family has ever had to deal with a serious injury (just a few mild sprains), so we just don’t know what to expect or how hard this will be for her.
My daughter had to have foot surgery. She attends a large university. She was calling me crying every day towards the end of the semester in so much pain, so I get the dilemma. She did the surgery over the summer and went back to school in a boot.
I just asked hubby about it. Better to have a lateral tear than a medial tear. It could technically wait, unless she has a bucket tear. It really depends on how she’s feeling. Does she think she can handle the brace and wait 3 months? After the surgery she’ll be in a knee immobilizer, but not for too long. They will want her up and moving on it, so she may not be on crutches as long as you think.
My D had femoral and tibial osteotomies performed on her left leg the July after her freshman year and on her right leg the following Christmas break. In each case, she had exactly four weeks before school started again. She needed a walker for those four weeks as she learned how to walk again but transitioned to a cane for her return to school. She had to navigate two different campuses (both small) but managed just fine; she was able to ditch the cane after about three weeks.
Her biggest complaint was that it took so much longer to get to class. Also, weather was a huge factor that we didn’t consider when planning the second surgery (which could have waited until the following summer); it was icy in the winter which made getting around very difficult and scary for her.
If the weather will be a factor for your D, I would strongly recommend having the surgery done over fall break.
Thanks, @eyemamom and @teka49 I think she can handle the brace. It really doesn’t slow her down much now. Everyone on her team was surprised that her injury turned out to be so serious that it needed surgery because she gets around very well. She just has to keep her leg straight and doesn’t complain about pain now. I think once she’s on crutches things will change though and she will be less mobile and agile, and she’ll probably be in more pain.
I think reading the MRI report, it was a radial tear. There was something else about another small tear being suspected at some point where another ligament attached to the bone. I looked it up online and it wasn’t a bucket tear. Both the trainer and the doctor said it could have been much worse, so we are thankful for that.
The weather hadn’t occurred to me - thanks for bringing that up. Her school is in the NE (but not far NE), so bad weather is a possibility. I’ll have her ask her coach what he thinks would be best. He’s been in the area for a while - but with such weird weather lately, who can really predict what might happen. She’s kind of klutzy - the thought of her trying to maneuver about on crutches on icy sidewalks scares me. But if most of her recuperation could be done during the Christmas break at home instead of at school having to walk all over campus in pain everyday, I might want to take a risk and hope that there will be good weather for the two weeks she’ll have to be on crutches after Christmas break.
My D spent much of her freshman year of high school on crutches (tumor)
Things that helped- she got little crutch covers from amazon.
I don’t know that it would work at college -but shower chairs are cheap and they work. You can get them anywhere. There is no way she could have stood up in the shower.
She did fall one time in wet weather. She had to get aggressive about asking people for help with books and food and people were happy to help.
Also be prepared for general fatigue after surgery. Anesthesia takes a toll and she may need more naps while she is healing
Also -if you feel she isn’t managing the stairs etc… well - ask her doctor about a consult with PT or OT. My D saw both and they made sure she knew how to use the crutches.
My son had almost the same situation you describe … injury playing a sport and referral to the team’s orthopedic doc. The doc was very good and ended up doing the surgery (torn ACL and meniscus) but my insurance paid for (most) of it. The school’s insurance did not. Be sure and ask about that.
He was living on campus at the time but in a first floor room, so that was okay. His surgery was the Friday before spring break so he was home for several days. I’d recommend this if at all possible because there will be one (or more) pain meds, maybe anti-inflammatories, etc. to be managed.
Once he was back at school on the crutches, it was important for him to stay on the sidewalks and not cut across grassy areas where you can’t see holes or dips.
There will most likely be some physical therapy involved, which will involve getting to the PT’s office. If she can’t drive or doesn’t have a car, that will be another factor to consider.
D had hip surgery over Christmas break of sophomore year. Went back to campus on crutches and with a hip brace. She was extremely fortunate that there was a physical therapy office literally next door to her dorm. And she was in a huge suite that already had a handicap accessible shower. Make sure the backpack is adjusted to fit well with the crutches - abrasion can be a real problem.
D was in Maryland, so ice was definitely an issue. Generally there was always someone willing to help her - even some profs carried her books! She was told to call campus police if she needed transportation. Sounds like accommodations are being made, but if you haven’t been in touch with the disability services office, reach out. There might be options you aren’t yet aware of.
We sent her back with a spreadsheet of when to take each medication, and a travel pill carrier she could load up in the morning. She also had a small lockbox since she did have some opiods.
Her roommates really pitched in. She had to wear compression socks for a while and they had to be put on by someone else. She also had to use a continuos passive motion device for a few hours each day and someone had to strap her in, and also strap her into stabilizers so she didn’t roll over while sleeping. And for a while she needed help in the shower.
One thing we never thought of - fire drill scenarios! There was a fire drill in the middle of the night. Her roommate had to unstrap her, then she crutched down a couple flights of stairs. After the fact she learned there were specific spots on stair landings designated as disabled rescue areas - she could have saved a lot of crutching!
Make sure to think about what type of clothing will work best - D felt like a bum for weeks since she could only wear sweatpants and loose t-shirts to fit over the brace.
Good luck. The hip surgery was a miracle for my D - we’re so thankful she did it!