Tammy,How Is Your Son?
 

I've been thinking about you and your boy and whats ahead for the both of you.He sounds like a great kid and very brave. When it comes to our kids we sure aren't brave ,right?When my son was released from the hospital he came home to recover.Everytime he winced with pain or struggled to get to the bathroom was like a knife in my heart.I'd run in his room to offer help at the slightest sound. Please give us a progress report on how your both doing when you get the chance.Love and hugs,Pam

Alex is doing so much better today. I'm not sure if everybody knew but my husband is active duty Navy. My son was taken to the Naval hospital when the accident happened. That was one nightmare after another. They let a med. student try to set his foot into place the first time. They botched that. Second time a doc did it. He got it wrong. Third time an orthopedic doc did it. Now, after all that, it is still not right!! They want him back in there to do it again. We were talking to the doc on the phone and he got irritated at my husband and I for asking questions and told us that he did not have time to stand around and talk to us and he hung up the phone on us!! That was it. I'm not going to let any doctor work on my son's foot who can not even take the time to answer my questions. I am so freaking mad right now it is not funny. So, we have decided to have him see a civilian doctor. He has a very bad break and one that could possibly give him a limp for the rest of his life if it is not treated properly. They gave us **** over trying to find a pain medication for him. One doctor said he could try demerol if the other meds did not help so when we called today to try to get them to do that a different doctor told us that he was in no way going to give him demerol. I guarantee if it was his kid it would not be an issue. I only want the best for my son, and I won't settle for some military doctor who does not give a crap treat my son. I don't want to diss military medical care, but I have never seen such a sorry group of doctors than I have here at the San Diego Naval hospital. We should be getting an appointment quickly for a doctor out in town. I will be curious to know what they have to say.

Alex is asking to try to take a wheelchair ride tomorrow. He so needs to get out some. He's a teenager and we all know that they don't like to be in one spot for to long. He is getting jittery having to lay around all the time. I consider that a good sign though. I know his pain is not as bad as it was. He's one tough kid. Personally, I don't think I could have done half as well as he has. He's very relieved to know that he will not be seeing anymore military doctors.

Thanks for the concern Pam :)

Glad to hear that Alex is better today. Hope you can find a nice dr for him ~ they do exist. I am a nurse ~ some dr's are nice some are jerks. Keep looking until you find a nice one.

Glad to hear he is doing better. My friends have had some horrible experiences with military docs as well so I know where you're coming from. Military or not, they should still treat you with respect and answer questions.

I am glad to hear he wants out and about. That is a real good sign. We are retired military. My DD had hurt her wrist and they said it was sprained, don't worry. Well, 6 months later, after many appts. They sent us to the outside world. It had been broken. By, this time it had healed. She now has problems with that wrist. In the ER once she was told she had appendicitis, but to go home and sleep with me and if she broke out in extreme pain, bring her back because then it burst. Excuse me!! She was around 6 at that time So, I know what you are talking about. Good luck and be strong.

Tammy, Glad to hear your son's spirit is so strong. I am furious at them with you.Outragous! Our military and their families should be given the best care thats possible to give.Glad to hear your not the "lay down and take it" kind of gal.I live by San Bernardino if you need some complaint letters written or e-mails sent to certin people I'd be happy to help. You sure do have my heart in this trying time. Pam

i'm APPALLED at this treatment!!!! how DARE they - and that san diego facility has some EXCELLENT physicians...

you go fight. but it's DISGRACEFUL that you can't get decent care for your son ... hmmmm do we feel a letter to the hospital director coming on here??? let me know, i'll put it together...

Good for you for standing up to them! Your poor son--teenagers have so much energy and not to be able to get rid of it must be awful for him, plus, of course, the pain. He sounds like a real trooper, though.

I can only imagine the pain and stress your son (and you and your family of course!) must be in right now. Bad things happen to good people all the time. Best wishes, and have a wonderful weekend. :)

I'm so sorry to hear about Alex's accident. I'm praying for your family and that Alex will make a quick and complete recovery. He's a lucky boy to have such a caring mother.

I can't believe the ignorance and arrogance of those doctors! Shame on them. Unbelievable. Why do people become doctors of they can't work with people? What a bunch of idiots.

Tammy, I'm so sorry to hear about this... I hope Alex gets much better soon, poor guy.

Tammy, I'm sorry to hear about the accident! I hope things get better for all of you real soon.

I would be so mad to hear about the treatment you all received. That is terrible. It's like they know you have no choice - if you could I'm sure you would have taken your business elsewhere.

Dana

Thank you all for being here for me. Thank goodness each day is getting easier. I think I am getting over the shock of it now and it is not my every waking thought anymore. I've had raging pms the past couple of days and have used it as an excuse to eat what I want. Normally, under stress, I don't eat. So, I know that PMS is making this difficult. I'm going to give it my best today today to curb some of the PMS cravings. They are just awful. I'll keep you all updated on what the civilian doctor says once we go see him. We don't have a appointment yet, but I suspect that we will be seeing the doctor sometime in the coming week. *Hugs* you all are the best!!

Tammy, this is unbelievable. I applaud your decision to get the best treatment for your son (poor guy) and find it reprehensible that you've been forced into this position by their arrogance and inhumanity. My heart is with you and your family, and I have every faith it will work out for you. :grouphug: And your son sounds like just a great guy -- you must be so proud of him. :)

Just an update. Tricare authorized us to go to Children's Hospital to get Alex's care. I think it was a very wise decision on our part. He had a doctor's appointment there this past Friday. They opened the splint and and took some new X-rays. Then they made my head spin. They said he was not going to go home and that he was going to have surgery right away. The biggest problem is that the break is right on the growth plate. They can not say yet if the growth plate is damage beyond repair. If Alex grows anymore and the growth plate is damaged they will have to open up the other leg and shave down his bone there so he won't have a limp. I know that sounds awful, but I am grateful that there are options if his growth plate was damaged beyond repair. By looking at his growth plate they don't think he will be doing much more growing. He is already around 6 foot, so it looks like he won't be getting much taller than that. But, he also made sure to let us know that they are not always right and that if he does grow alot more then they will have to do something about the limp.

At 12:00 p.m. Friday he had his surgery. They had to screw his bones back into place. The surgeon was wonderful, the nurses were wonderful, and the rest of the staff was just awesome. He was so worried he was going to wake up in the middle of his surgery, and they did so well at calming him down. He was extremely nervous. The doctor put alot of numbing drugs in the foot so that when he woke up the pain would not be as intense. I thought that was great. They give them something for nausea before they wake them after surgery also. So, he woke up with no problems. He was just sleepy for the next few hours. I sat with him while he slept off the drugs. He had very little pain. That made this so much easier for me. It is just extremely hard to see your children in pain and not be able to help them, which was the case with the initial time of when the car hit him and he was taken to the military hospital. If I have a choice I won't be taking him back to the military hospital for anything.

Now, another problem was found while he was in surgery. My son has very, very high arches and they have gotten worse over the years. Also, this has started pulling his toes upwards in positions they are not supposed to be in. To repair that he will have to have more surgery to cut the tendons that are causing the problem. The tendons get to tight and start to pull everything up. I had one military pediatrician tell me it was freaking normal a few months ago!! It is not normal! It could also be associated with a very serious neurilogical problem. Pardon my spelling, I am hot under the collar. So, once he is healed from this injury I am sure they will press on with the next foot issue. I am hoping and praying the insurance will let us stay with this doctor. I am going to insist on it!! I won't have my son jacked around by people who don't give a crap. I don't know much about this condition yet as the doctor said we would discuss it more in the office for Alex's check-up this coming week. I'm a bit worried about it, but I can't let the stress of everything that is going on get me down any further than I already am, so I have given in to the fact that what shall be, will be, and I will deal with it as it comes.