I'm going to start this post saying that this is a personal experience. I have been thinking a lot lately about my first job out of grad school. I was at a high school in Columbia, MD (Hammond High School). It was a great atmosphere. The athletes were amazing. I got to go back last weekend for the homecoming game and I saw a whole bunch of athletes that I worked very closely with. There were a few I didn't get to see, though. I have been wondering about one athlete in particular whom I haven't seen sjnce I left. I'm going to tell you his story...
He was a basketball player in sophomore year in high school. He decided he wanted to run outdoor track in the spring this particular year. He came to the ATR one day complaing about arch pain in his right foot. Said it had been there for a while, but thought it would go away. It got worse, so he came to see me. He had all the signs and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, and we treated as such. The next day he came back and said he was feeling better, what we did was working. During practice, he came inside again and told me his foot felt numb. He took his shoe and sock off and the sole of his foot and the tips of his toes were bleach white. His foot was very cold. But after a few minutes of being inside in the warmth (it was pretty cold ans rainy outside), his foot went back to normal color and it was warm and no longer numb. I told him he needed to come back if it happened again because it could be serious, though there was a better chance that he had his shoe too tight or he wasnt used to running outside in the rain. I even talked about Raynoud's. I didn't seehim for 2 days, and wheni saw him again, he was on crutches. Said his pain was so bad he couldn't walk on it. He had a doctor's appointment scheduled for that afternoon and said his mom would call me when they found out what was going on. This was a Thursday. The following Monday I heard from my AD. The athlete was hospitalized. He had blot clots running through his lower leg. I called his mom and cried and kept apologizing. She reassured me that it wasn't my fault. That they had been to 4 doctors because no one knew what happened. First they said he sprained his foot, then the next doctor said it was broken. That nught he woke up in excruiating pain and went to the local hospital, who couldbt figure it out. They sent him to John's Hopkins and they ran a whole bunch of tests to figure it out. I kniw that this has been a long story, so I'll spare the rest of the details for the folowing article. But I do want to tell you that he did have a BTK amputation. I was in touch with his mom for a long time. It took me even longer to accept what happened. I still beat myself up about it because I keep thinking I could have done more. He played basketball last year. He can't wait to play this year. He is such an amazing kid. So much courage...
Here's the story and feel free to comment below if you have ever had a traumatic injury before.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/howard/columbia/ph-ho-cf-ed-block-ture-0312-20150312-story.html
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