Background
We don't remember the days; we remember the moments.
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Chapter 16 Andrew's knee injury
In Chapter 14, I mentioned Andrew had a knee injury during a football game that kept him from attending West Point. I'd like to go more into this injury. We lived in South Carolina and the year was the fall of 2003.
The game was a home game against our school rivals. For some reason we hadn't beaten the bulldogs for many years. I don't remember the exact number. Our freshman and our junior varsity could beat them, but not our varsity. Some said the games were jinxed.
The best news is even though they were our rivals, we hadn't been the same conference since the day before a bulldog homecoming game. A few of our football players painted their field our team colors. That happened before the Army moved us to South Carolina, so I don't know the year. It was decided then that we should be in different conferences but still played each other and were still rivals.
This game was a home game for us. It was the fourth quarter, and we were losing only by a point. The score, we had six, they had seven. Only an extra point kept us from being tied. There were two and half minutes left on the clock, and we had the ball. Twenty yards to go for a touchdown and it was first and ten.
The center hiked the ball. The play proceeded. The play ended. We got eight yards. Only number fifty-four didn't get up. Andrew was on the ground. The head coach and an assistant coach ran onto the field. My husband, Brian, and I remained standing and held hands. The head coach called for the team doctor.
I was our church's youth director, and the youth group sat with us. One of the girls hugged me, "Ms. Barbara, Andrew's going to be okay, right?"
"I don't know."
"Maybe you should check."
"No matter what happens, moms aren't allowed on the field. I've had that hammered into me." I gripped Brian's arm. "You go down. Nobody ever said dads can't go down."
After a lengthy conversation and Brian realized, I wasn't going let this drop, he went down to check on the situation. When he returned, he said, "Knee injury, but the team doctor said he'll be okay. It's not serious. They're icing it."
A few plays continued and I watched Andrew limp to his coach, got down into the three-point stance, and attempted to talk his coach into letting him back in the game. To be honest, I almost went down to give Andrew a 'come to Jesus talk'.
I noticed the coach nodded and motioned for Andrew to go in. I prayed, and Andrew could not raise that leg high enough to step over the yardage marker chain. He tripped and fell. My prayer had been immediately answered. The coach ordered Andrew back to the bench.
Back at home, Andrew reported he was to report to the team doctor's office every day and get treatments. This treatment consisted of a type of shock therapy, massages, and some exercises.
Now, this is where it got difficult. I need to mention that right after Andrew's accident Brian was deployed to Afghanistan. I made the mistake of believing this chiropractor knew what he was doing. He reported that Andrew needed to keep coming, insurance was paying, and that Andrew could continue to play. I noticed during the games Andrew wasn't at his finest.
What I didn't know was to play each game Andrew took a lot of pain killers.
Andrew's typical day went something like, get up, eat breakfast, go to school, come home around 8:00 or 8:30, because of football practice, eat dinner, do homework, and go to bed. There wasn't an opportunity for me to really see what was going on and unfortunately when I asked, I got the standard fine. Boys!!!!
It wasn't until Christmas break when I spent time with Andrew I noticed things weren't as I was being told from him and the chiropractor. I finally sat him down and had a serious talk. Well, I asked questions, and he answered, and there were a few mom lectures included. This is when I discovered the number of painkillers he took.
Against Andrew's wishes, I made an appointment with his primary care physician, who referred him to physical therapy. Within the first ten minutes of the first meeting, his therapist diagnosed a possible torn ACL and referred him to an orthopedist. After all sort so tests, Andrew was diagnosed with ACL and meniscus tears. He recommended surgery, and it was immediately set up.
I had a discussion with the chiropractor and explained the situation. He was furious over the possibility of Andrew having surgery and stated he didn't need it. Mother Bear came out. I was finished being nice, but I was polite.
The following school year, this man didn't have a job, and a medical doctor took over being team doctor.
During this, I felt I had failed my son. Andrew's view is if I had taken the rest of his football season from him, he'd still be angry with me. Was it a fair trade off? I still wonder. Andrew and I discuss it still today, over twenty years ago. But Andrew and I do have a fantastic relationship.
Author Notes
Thank you, Google Images, for a poster of an ACL tear.
This post is a little over 800 words.
As something pops into my head, I take notes. I just following down my notes. The next post will be about Steven skipping on a football field. I'll get to Christmas with my granddaughters soon.
I do not edit this as much as I do my novels. You'll find many errors. I do edit about four times, but that's not enough. I just posted this and have already corrected three mistakes. I'm sure there's more.
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