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UPDATE DD in college 17 hours away and she seriously injured her leg...

Jann in TX

By Jann in TX,
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katilac

katilac

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Wow, that sounds hard all around, particularly when she was looking forward to a fun holiday. I hope she gets an accurate and as-positive-as-possible diagnosis very soon. 

7 hours ago, Jann in TX said:

 One of DH's coworkers lives in the area and is on the way to hospital-- DD will spend night at her house if she is discharged!!

That's a sweet gesture!

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Innisfree

Innisfree

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5 hours ago, Pippen said:

support on campuses range widely. Universities apparently don't have to provide the same level of support for someone with a temporary condition in the same way they're required to for persons with disabilities.

This was our experience, also, after some fairly major orthopedic surgery that didn’t meet the college’s standard for accommodations. I hope OP’s dd will find her school handles it better, but there aren’t any guarantees.

 @Jann in TX, I’m thinking of your dd and all of you. I hope you can be with her soon and that she’s soon past the worst and into recovery. 

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Pippen

Pippen

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5 hours ago, Innisfree said:

This was our experience, also, after some fairly major orthopedic surgery that didn’t meet the college’s standard for accommodations. I hope OP’s dd will find her school handles it better, but there aren’t any guarantees.

 @Jann in TX, I’m thinking of your dd and all of you. I hope you can be with her soon and that she’s soon past the worst and into recovery. 

I have heard of campuses that are very accomodating, but it was such a let down. When my husband took her back, he stayed in town for a week to help get her settled into a new dorm room (with an elevator and close to the bus stop) and make sure she could physically make it to classes. The one thing that did work out in her favor was that she was able to do her physical therapy on campus as they had a PT program. She had excellent treatment by a therapist who had worked mostly with dancers prior to being hired by the university. 

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Thank you all so much!

DH is on his way to the airport-- I was going to drive him but 3yr old had a meltdown..

The CT scan was clear of vascular damage-- we are still waiting for MRI results (hospital was seriously backlogged on those).  They are monitoring her for the compartment syndrome (she is at high risk) but they think things are OK now --if anything changes with her leg then she goes to the nearest ER.

DD spent night at DH's coworkers house. 

--

DD has accommodations already in place on campus as she has a severe chronic pain disorder--full body CRPS (she is majoring in Neuro biology so she can research her condition!) She will file an additional request before classes start.  Her professors were more than accommodating the past 2 weeks so we feel confident that if she can get through surgery and the first 2 weeks of recovery she will be fine on her own (with her dance group friends and roommates around to help). 

I'll find out Monday when I'll need to go up.  I'm preparing to be gone 2-4 weeks.  Since I teach online I can do that from just about anywhere!  DD's roommates will be gone most of the break-- one will come and go due to her job.  DD's room is on bottom floor (again due to her other health condition) but there is not a ramp to the door.  DH and I will look into having one put in at the 'front door' (they always enter at the back but front has only 1 step instead of 4...)... the handicap parking for her building is just outside her apartment-- she should get her sticker on Monday.

 

 

 

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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1 hour ago, Pippen said:

 The one thing that did work out in her favor was that she was able to do her physical therapy on campus as they had a PT program. She had excellent treatment by a therapist who had worked mostly with dancers prior to being hired by the university. 

We are hoping for on-campus PT as well.

Her new Dr has one of the top PT programs in the USA-- but it is 1.5 hours each way!  Their facility is awesome-- this is where all of the college athletes and pro-athletes (Denver Broncos) go... She said all of the people in the waiting room were 'buff'-- the original Dr's waiting room was filled with geriatric patients...

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Update Dec 27

It has been so nice having dd back home (well she is staying at her sister's about 30 minutes away).  She has PT this week and next then we will make decision about how to get her back to Colorado and how long I will stay there with her (I will be there for surgery and a few weeks after).  Will be about a 6 month recovery...so she will miss a whole season of dance (well she will be filming and doing choreography just not performing).

Hopefully her PT progress will be enough that surgery can happen sooner than later so she can get on with her life!

It is so hard to see her hurting physically AND emotionally... 

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mommyoffive

mommyoffive

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3 hours ago, Jann in TX said:

Update Dec 27

It has been so nice having dd back home (well she is staying at her sister's about 30 minutes away).  She has PT this week and next then we will make decision about how to get her back to Colorado and how long I will stay there with her (I will be there for surgery and a few weeks after).  Will be about a 6 month recovery...so she will miss a whole season of dance (well she will be filming and doing choreography just not performing).

Hopefully her PT progress will be enough that surgery can happen sooner than later so she can get on with her life!

It is so hard to see her hurting physically AND emotionally... 

Glad she is home and you have a plan going forward.  I  am sorry she has to miss out on a season of dance, but I am glad she gets to be part of it somehow.

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Heading off to Colorado this weekend-- have Dr appointment in Denver to set surgery date on Monday...

I started a new thread on what I should pack--going to have to learn to be a minimalist for the next month or so!

DD is now able to 'walk' (more of a hobble) without her crutches and her brace!!  She has been faithfully going to PT and then doing her exercises between sessions.  This is a pre-req for surgery.  We are so hoping for surgery next week or the week after!

DD's surgery is a gruesome one-- they will replace her 'spent' ligament with a cadaver ligament.  Over the course of the next year her body will actually rebuild a new ligament using the cadaver one as framework-- cool and gross at the same time!

She will have to have her leg isolated (bed or wheelchair) for the first 2 weeks post op and will need daily assistance for at least one week after that...I'm planning on being gone at least 4 weeks.... going to miss my baby (well grandson DH and I are raising just turned 3 but he is still my baby!). 

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alisoncooks

alisoncooks

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47 minutes ago, Jann in TX said:

DD's surgery is a gruesome one-- they will replace her 'spent' ligament with a cadaver ligament.  Over the course of the next year her body will actually rebuild a new ligament using the cadaver one as framework-- cool and gross at the same time!

I had an allograft ACL replacement (cadaver) about 5 years ago. Definitely look into an ice machine if they don’t send one home with her. It keeps ice in a machine/cooler and circulates the cold through a knee wrap. It made icing my knee easier. 

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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2 hours ago, alisoncooks said:

I had an allograft ACL replacement (cadaver) about 5 years ago. Definitely look into an ice machine if they don’t send one home with her. It keeps ice in a machine/cooler and circulates the cold through a knee wrap. It made icing my knee easier. 

Thanks for reminding me about the ice machine-- I have one somewhere around here that I used with my shoulder surgery--

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Update Jan 11

We had our first pre-op appointment on Monday-- surgery scheduled for Jan 19-- IF we can get her into a pain clinic for an evaluation-- no evaluation no surgery-- we have called 3 providers so far-- NO ONE has openings until March...  Looks like I will be spending all afternoon on the phone...

We will drive back to Denver (1.5 hrs minimum) on Friday for another pre-op...

I can't believe I will be DD's college roommate for 4-6 weeks!  Learning curve (She will be 21 in 2 weeks)...

-- DD is still struggling with being 'abandoned' by her BF.... but they are now officially over... she said at least she knows more red flags to look out for in future relationships.

 

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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20 hours ago, fraidycat said:

I hope you are able to get her into a pain clinic, ASAP.

One would think that if that is a stipulation for surgery that the surgeon/hospital would have one in-house, or at least a reciprocal relationship with a provider to streamline the surgery process. 😞

The Dr has one they use but they are booked (no exceptions) until late March---- she needs surgery before then to prevent further damage...

Praying/Hoping that the clinic that sees her today accepts her as patient...

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Good news and bad news...

Bad news first-- dd's surgery was postponed a few weeks-- they want her to have even more 'rotation' of the knee than what they had asked for before-- so 2-3 week delay if she works HARD in PT...  Dr doesn't want to wait past February.

Good news-- the Dr was able to get her in with a Pain Specialist for support after surgery--- since DD has 'full body' CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome) she is at extremely high risk for a worse form of CRPS to set in in her leg...

I'm now 'on call' and will stay 2-3 weeks after surgery-- bummer is that it will be COLD for sure when I return for her surgery... we had beautiful 40's in Colorado this past week-- next week calls for lots of snow...

 

 

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katilac

katilac

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On 1/4/2023 at 5:11 PM, Jann in TX said:

 they will replace her 'spent' ligament with a cadaver ligament 

*faints in squeamish* 

On 1/11/2023 at 12:00 PM, Jann in TX said:

 

-- DD is still struggling with being 'abandoned' by her BF....  

Aww, sure, it hasn't been long. Internet hugs for her! 

Edited to add that I just glanced at the dates, and he sure did not waste any time! 

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  • Jann in TX changed the title to UPDATE DD in college 17 hours away and she seriously injured her leg...
Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Update Feb 13: I'm back in Colorado for 2nd time-- Surgery will be on Feb.14.  She should be walking with crutches in about 2 weeks...looking at estimated 4 month recovery.  I'll stay 2-3 weeks-- until I'm confident she can drive and care for herself.

Hoping the weather holds until we get back to Ft Collins-- there is a winter storm warning for Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday...It has been 25 years since I've driven in snow... (when we lived just outside Chicago...).

 

 

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Jann in TX

Jann in TX

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Surgery went well-- recovery was pretty scary.  DD was in a LOT of pain and her CRPS went crazy.  At one point she passed out and just as she was coming to she stopped breathing... thankfully they only had to 'bag breath' for her for a minute or two then she started breathing on her own... DD remembers them asking for a standby defibrillator... they only told me that she had a tough time for a while-- they kept her in recovery for a few hours more to monitor her.  She is 'Borg'-- lots of tubes (ice pump and pain med pump and pressure cuffs on both legs...) but is doing MUCH better.  We are in a holding pattern until Friday when the pain (nerve block) pump gets taken off.

It has been a LONG day-- DD is set up in her room eating dinner (9 pm here!)  But thankfully pain is under control and she is chatting away to friends.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

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