GatewayRedbirds.com

We received some bad news with my son PaintItRed yesterday on an injury that just refuses to heal. He's a long distance runner and a good one, and he basically lost most of his Jr and Sr year of athletic competition to this. In the fall of 2010, he started having discomfort in his hip that really slowed him down the last 1/3 or his x-country season. In the spring of 2011, the pain resurface during Track and was diagnosed as a hip flexor strain. He would take a week off, go back and run, take another week off, ... In late April after watching him really struggle in a mile race, we took him to an ortho guy who did an x-ray and found a stress fracture in his hip that required surgery and pins to fix.

He gets the surgery, and by July he is rehabbed and doing light running. The expectation was that he would be back to reasonable states of 100% by the end of the x-country season - late Oct. It didn't happen, he continued to have pain and we continued going back for checkups. The pain was unexplained, and the doctor theorized that it must be the hardware.

So ... surgery #2 in November to get the hardware out. That goes not without a hitch - upon taking the screws out the doctor indicated that there was a clear fluid that came out, and that the screws were "loose". She didn't seem overly concerned as the fracture healed perfectly. The next 6 weeks on crutches Ryan said he felt no pain - and that was going through PT as well. He was off crutches by mid December, and walked around NYC on New Years Eve and stood for 8 hours. He did say it was a little sore, but who wouldn't be?

First of January we go to see if he can be released to start running and ... a new crack! The crack was not there a week after his surgery to remove the pins, so it was new. It is located right where one of the screws was. And this showed signs of trying to heal but not being able to. Surgeon was very concerned, especially with how it looked. There were signs that it has been there and trying to heal but unable to. So we go get a second and third opinion, and they both say that it was probably due to the hardware causing some weakness - his body didn't accept it for whatever reason. They felt 6 weeks on crutches would probably allow the bone to heal, even though the surgeon had concerns.

4 weeks later we get an x-ray and the doctor saw some bone growth and healing - good. 2 weeks after that - yesterday - we get a CT scan and find that the healing really isn't happening at all.

So now we are off to see a new set of specialists, and he is likely looking at surgery #3 for a bone graft. It's been [expletive]. The disappointment in our family right now is just hard to express. It's not just sports - the kid has been on crutches for I don't even know how ong and he's going to have to have a pretty major surgery after already having had two others in a year.

Long term prognosis is still excellent. Doc said once this heals he probably will forget which hip happened to in years. The worry is if the crack goes all the way through and damaged the head - that's a devastating and life changing injury for an 18 year old.

They have been consulting with doctors all over and there are no explanations, and none of them have ever seen anything like this.

One day at a time, that's what I tell him.

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

Tough to read this, jim. I can understand the pain and frustration he must be feeling, as well as what you and the rest of his family must be feeling.

My dad pretty much destroyed his knees from long-distance running multiple times a week for years. I've known so many examples of people doing serious injury to themselves from long-distance running that it makes me wonder at times why so many continue to do it.

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Enjoying Cardinal Pixie Dust since 1982.

My hobby

It's a sport for him. It's like asking why I kept playing baseball until I shredded my shoulder, why my son played football and shredded his knee ... You are on target with running and injuries, it's not an injury free sport by any stretch of the imagination.

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

Sorry to hear that. I understand how tough it is to see someone you love go through something that can seem hopeless. I've been in similar situations.

He's doing the right things.
He's in the right places.
He's talking to the right people.
That's all you can do right now.

I'll keep him in my thoughts. Good Luck with surgery #3.

Dang man that is horrible. The mental anguish is so much tougher than the physical pain in these cases.

There's really not much to be said in cases like this. You just have to keep a positive attitude and get through it....

I wonder if he can maybe swim/bike for cardio activiy and increase blood flow to the area without putting stress on it....

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No, he's asked. Need to be very careful. If this crack went all the way through and cut off blood supply the head then hip replacement. And that ain't good.

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"Boy, that was exciting. I always say it ain't over til it's over, but that one should've been over a while ago." ~ Yogi Berra

Man, that's tough to hear, you guys are definitely doing all the right things. I hope it takes its' turn for the better soon

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For I am but a simple caveman. I can't understand your fancy modern posts about sabermetrics. I just know that the cardinals rule all.

Jeez, that's a lot for a young person to deal with. It seems a lot of young athletes are dealing with overuse injuries that we just didn't see when I was a whippersnapper. I won't feel so bad about my body really talking back to me in mid-30s.

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Silence is golden.

Damn that sucks Jim.

Man, that's a lot for an 18-year-old person--and an entire family--to deal with.

I do hope the third time's the charm, and that he can set this behind him. This has got to be devastating for him, but despite all that, he's in good medical hands and has the strong support of his family. I wish him the best.