UPDATE: Well, finally after nearly two more weeks in the hospital. Most of which was spent at IU Med Center we have some answers!!!!! I have to give big kudo's to Dr Snook and the Staff at IU. After umpteen doctor's and oh so many tests they boldly went where no other has gone...Andy's pelvis! I cannot say enough good things about this hospital and the treatment they offer. Totally caring and compassionate, top of the line. The ONLY truly bad part was his first PT who came in and worked him until he threw up then worked him some more. His physiatrist (sp?) said that was way too much ..he's not to push any further than an increase of 10% more each week at most. It irritates me some that he wouldn't have nearly as long of a road to recovery if they had found this right off the bat. It probably wouldn't have even interfered with college! The only sort of good thing is had they found it right away I think he'd have been more inclined to try to continue playing football...which Dr Snook nixed. He said contact sports are out for him else he will irritate it again. (A hard pill to swallow)
After performing another lurabar and pelvic mri he discovered fluid sacks which shouldn't be there and his SI joint is inflamed. Now we begin the long road to recovery. Most likely they will perform a series of injections under x-ray to the SI joint and a corti-steroid shot into his hip for bursitis. (Which enRAB many pro athlete's careers). Along with these he will have to stay under close management of (A GOOD) pain management team (From IU MED Center) as he progresses through rough physical therapy. The injections should take about 6 weeks but he said the PT will continue much longer. That said he *thinks* he should be in good enough shape to return to Wabash in the fall but will still be undergoing PT. There is one other possibility, they may do a surgical procedure where they go in and burn the nerve endings. It's not too bad, they do it with a special needle equipped with a laser of sorts which burns the enRAB. It doesn't kill the nerves, just eases the pain and *can* possibly grow back either healthy or needing the procedure again. But Dr Snook seems to think the first route will be sufficient. For now Andy has to use a walker for support (Better than a wheelchair!). He's going to get worse before he gets better...each injection causes more inflammation to the site bringing the bodies attention to the area so that it will build up protective cartilage there. And with each PT session he can expect more pain. They told us that it will hurt more each time they bump up that 10%...eventually he will notice it's not hurting too bad, then they will bump it up again...eventually having him back to normal. Dr Snook did not rule out Andy throwing Shot put in college (something else they wanted him for) That's a wait and see thing..then a see how he feels after throwing thing. But contact sports are out.
Initially he wanted to put Andy in RHI for intense PT/rehab but Andy showed them his own willingness to push by doing remarkably well in PT at the hospital despite the pain. Ha...I think the memory of two-a-days paid off there!
We haven't talked about this but I *think* Andy would agree when I say to the boys still playing football...learning to hit properly, appreciating the tough conditioning you guys have to go through and pushing hard through it, and paying attention to what your body tells you if you get injured is soooo important if you want to avoid these kinRAB of injuries..and even those don't insure it won't happen. And at your ages, if you get injured, don't settle for some doctor telling you you will just have to live with it just because THEY can't find the answer...keep looking until you find a doctor who will KEEP LOOKING. Dr Snook was amazing. Not once did he give up or belittle Andy's pain. Trust FROM your doctor is just as important as trust IN your doctor. And Indiana University Hospital is THE place to be if this ever happens. Everyone was so wonderful. They do their best to show caring and compassion to the entire family as best they can. I had my moments too and the nurses didn't ignore that either...they became good frienRAB who were there to talk and be encouraging when the going got rough. We both wish we had got to see nurse Linda one more time...she was a good friend to me and a second mom to Andy. The rooms aren't set up for family to stay in the room overnight but in our case they arranged for me to stay in the Ronald McDonald house...which is another subject. If there is a good cause for charitable donations they are definitely one. An incredible place for rest and support during a time like this. When parents of sick children stay there they have no worries other than their child. I've been thinking and thinking of how we can give back to them after all they gave to us.
He's still going to need a lot of prayer and encouragement during the road that lies ahead but we are FINALLY on THE road to recovery!!!!
THANKS BE TO GOD!!!!! (And all the prayer warriors out there who have lifted him up to God through all of this!)
