Reasonable parental expectations regarding athlete injury

Parents Forum
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<p>Our DD is a D-1 diver at college. This is her senior year and she has been diving competitively for 12 years. In that time, she has had one club coach for over 10 years, two high school coaches and now two college coaches. She has competed on 1-meter and 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform nationally and internationally. In all those years, during all those practices and all those competitions, she has never hit the board. She has come too close at times, but her coaches--and/or the TiVo--always told her and she adjusted. I remember her club coach telling me way back when she was a 9-year old that diving wasn't dangerous unless the coach wasn't doing his job.</p>

<p>Two Fridays ago, she hit the board on a dive she has been doing since she was 9 years old. Her coach took her immediately to the Student Health Services, where her dominant hand was x-rayed. The middle metacarpal was clearly broken near the top of the bone. There was no doctor present (apparently they were traveling with the basketball team). The nurse splinted her arm with a wide elbow-length splint, told her take Advil and to return in the a.m. for pain meds. She was to see the doctor on Monday late afternoon when he made his normal visit.</p>

<p>Now this is a school that has a medical school and the hospital is within walking distance. However, because they Student Health Services folks appeared to know what they were doing, I could NOT get my DD to go the ER for either pain meds or to see a doctor. The injury happened at 4:30 p.m. and it was at 7:00 p.m. after she returned from Health Services (after sitting in a wet diving suit the whole time and freezing) that she called us---in tears. She said she had been unable to quit crying since it happened. So she surely was in shock as this one never cries.</p>

<p>When the doctor saw her late Monday afternoon, he said her index finger was also broken and there were cuts on her hand. He did not cast it due to the enormous amount of swelling and the presence of the cuts. He said as long as nothing moved, she would not need surgery. He re-splinted in the same oversized, square splint and told her to return today (the second Monday after the injury) late in the afternoon. That splint is so oversized and square that she is unable to wear many of her shirts and can't put it through the sleeve of her coats.</p>

<p>Mid-week, I was finally able to persuade her to get an appointment with a hand specialist, but that appointment also was not set for anytime earlier than today. She sent me a photo of her hand and it is mega swollen . . . . </p>

<p>So here's my question: What is reasonable for a parent to expect the Coaching staff to do in regards to an injury that occurred at an official practice? I am not happy that DD was not encouraged to see an actual orthopod until the Monday after a Friday practice. I have heard nothing from any of the coaches, not from her diving coach, not from the Head (swimming) coach. And . . . neither has she. She got bored one day and went to practice for awhile, but the diving coach just asked her to come help coach. </p>

<p>And here's a really big question: I believe, as does she, that the incident happened in large part because the TiVo has not been working since practice started this Fall. Their first scrimmage meet was held the Saturday before DD hit the board. In that meet, one of DD's team mates also hit the board on the same dive. (Luckily, she just grazed it and no injury). Despite that incident and despite the divers' constant request, the TiVo still wasn't fixed. After DD's injury, the coach promised it would be fixed. To date, it STILL is not fixed. The coach has yet to tell a diver that he/she is spinning too close to the board. So, two divers hitting the board on a basic dive and one seriously broken hand within less than a week and still the TiVo has not been fixed. The coach missed the diver's dives all the time and has little corrections to give, just comments on good or bad dive.</p>

<p>Is it appropriate for me to contact the coaching staff and insist that the TiVo be fixed NOW? I am concerned for the other divers. The divers use the TiVo to assess their own dives, see what the coach sees, and to make their corrections for placement, alignment, take-off, entry, etc. It is an invaluable tool for this sport and at this level of diving, I believe, it is irresponsible to continue to have it not working.</p>

<p>I realize our kids are young adults at this age, but when it comes to medical and safety issues, athletes still look to their coaches. Is it appropriate for me, as a parent, to make known my concerns about this whole situation, and especially the ongoing TiVo issue?</p>

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<p>Your daughter should do this.</p>

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<p>Yes, I understand that and usually that is exactly what I tell our daughters.</p>

<p>However, the divers have ALL been doing this since the season started. The TiVo remains unfixed–even after a broken hand. At what point should a parent add their voice?</p>

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<p>What have the athletes done to advocate for themselves? I would encourage your daughter to speak with the coach. If it is still not fixed then she should go to the athletic director. IMO the only time to advocate for an adult child is when they are unable to do it for themselves. If they are simply unwilling to do it themselves I would not get involved.</p>

<p>I am the parent of a D3 athlete.</p>

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<p>I hope your daughter’s hand mends well. </p>

<p>For a gazillion years, divers practiced without the benefit of TiVo. I’m not sure I would blame that. Unfortunately, your daughter misjudged that distance…it was an unfortunate accident. </p>

<p>Unless the college was paying all the bills for this injury, the first stop would have been to a more general doctor…some families have insurance that requires this step or the insurance will not pay. In other words, they require a referral to a specialist.</p>

<p>Thank goodness you were able to get her an appointment with a hand specialist so quickly…sometimes those take a LONG time to schedule.</p>

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<p>I wonder if it is time to call the student newspaper anonymously about this?</p>

<p>Also, she should see the athletic trainer perhaps about how to re-hab?</p>

<p>Also she should go to disability services and get accommodations for not being able to write.</p>

<p>Is she going to return to competitive diving? If so, she should not until the TiVO is fixed.</p>

<p>Since the students have been asking for the Tivo to be fixed and it has not, clearly students asking the coach isn’t working. Perhaps calling the Athletic Director and asking might help? Say that of course that you wouldn’t be calling if the students directly asking the coach had worked…but it may be the case that your daughter got injured because she had no feedback as to how close to the platform she was because of the lack of TiVo. You wanted to make sure they were aware of the situation as you don’t want more kids to be hurt because surely that would be negligence if neither the coaches nor TiVo was available to provide feedback.</p>

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<p>If you have a son or daughter playing college sports, you have to have your own orthopedic surgeon and primary care physician to provide a second opinion. I have personally witnessed agregious care by team physicians that amounted to either a fiduciary duty to the team and not the athlete or just pure incompetence. I can’t speak for all instances other than what I’ve seen.</p>

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<p>Parent of a former DI athlete here. Your D needs to talk to the coach herself. If nothing happens then she needs to make an appointment with the AD. Then she should follow up with an appointment with the NCAA liaison on campus. THAT will get everyone’s attention. There is also a NCAA hotline that she can call where the athletes are anonymous if she wants to find accurate information about what her options are. You can be supportive but this is really her battle. I would always use our own specialists as a second opinion. We have many friends who have torn ACLs that go outside the university health care.</p>

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<p>Your kid here, and it’s your call as the college does consider her DEPENDENT by their definition I would report the whole danged mess to the athletic director and raise whatever stink you can. This way if the coach gets upset, your DD can just throw up her hand and say, “yeah, I have a crazy parent. Sorry.”, and play it as she sees fit. It’s not easy for an athlete to force a coach to do anything. Many of those coaches operate as demi gods. So, my recommendation is for YOU to talk to the AD and NCAA liason, which gives her the out if there is a stink. </p>

<p>It’s all well and good to say they are adults, etc, etc, but colleges have been milking the parents with their own definition of dependence and getting to eat a lot of cake and keep it too. As a parent, YOU do what is best for your DD and you. To hell with the school and what others think your DD should be doing with her big girl pants. That’s a parenting decision, and sometimes young adults need more help that others. When it comes to health, safety and other serious issues, I take my gloves off at whatever age. For a lot of other things, I stay out of it. I certainly don’t suddenly step away when it’s a serious issue and I’ve not yet stopped or started the weaning process. You don’t try to teach someone how to swim while that person is drowning. You rescue them, and then start the lessons.</p>

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<p>Do athletes ever go on strike? What if the divers refused to dive until the TiVo was fixed? Would the team as a whole make a stink?</p>

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<p>I think it is absolutely unconscionable that she was not sent to the emergency room when there was no doctor present at the student health service. You should keep careful records of her treatment by the hand specialist.</p>

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<p>Actually, competitive diving is a mere 100 years old. The sport has progressed astronomically since it began. TiVo is an integral training tool, both for the coach and a diver. </p>

<p>Thank you all for your comments. I do appreciate them. I realize my original post was rather long, so perhaps I should hit the high points:</p>

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<li><p>Despite the divers’ repeated requests—and the coach’s promises—the TiVo has not bee working since practice season started. </p></li>
<li><p>This is this coach’s first season with these 8 divers.</p></li>
<li><p>The coach has given no one any corrections regarding spinning too close to the board.
So it was not a matter of DK not making coaching corrections. Without the TiVo to review her dive, she was unaware of correction being needed. </p></li>
<li><p>Two divers have hit the board on the same dive within less than a week. No coaching corrections had been given that they were coming too close in their dives. No diver has hit the board previously during DK’s tenure there.</p></li>
<li><p>Hitting a board is a risk in diving. However. It is rarely this severe and is usually preceded by warnings of getting too close from the coach. </p></li>
<li><p>No doctor saw DK until 3 days after her injury despite the coach taking her to Health Services. Why not the ER? It is right ther next to campus. Is this how universities handle athlete injuries? If so, I’m totally unimpressed.</p></li>
<li><p>Insurance is not an issue. The athletes must have their own insurance and we do. Our insurance does not require a referral before seeing an orthopod or hand specialist.</p></li>
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<li>No doctor saw DK until 3 days after her injury despite the coach taking her to Health Services. Why not the ER? It is right ther next to campus. Is this how universities handle athlete injuries? If so, I’m totally unimpressed.</li>
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<p>Wasn’t that your daughter’s call?</p>

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I don’t think so. I think it was unprofessional of the nurse at Health Services not to send her to the ER. Instead, the nurse (apparently) ordered an x-ray, did the diagnosis, and splinted the injury. Even if this was a trained nurse-practitioner, I don’t think that’s appropriate. This injury should have been seen by a doctor.</p>

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<p>While it does seem inappropriate that the coach didn’t insist she see a doctor that evening, at that point, after your daughter returned back to her home and got changed out of her wet clothing, the impetus really was on her to go to the ER if that’s what she needed to do, to see a doctor that weekend. </p>

<p>There are two different issues being brought up here…how universities handle (or don’t handle) athlete injuries, and what she needs to do to advocate for her own health needs (something our kids need to learn as young adults) when she feels those needs are not being met. It sounds like you tried to talk her into going to the ER, and what I’m wondering is why, if she was so upset to the point of tears, she wouldn’t do that.</p>

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<p>I agree, but we all will be faced with times in our lives that we feel our health issues are being dismissed, and often times it is because someone was unprofessional. And we have to learn when to trust our instincts and seek a second opinion. We can then later deal with the unprofessionalism of the health care professional. I find it quite alarming that it took her this long to get into to see the hand specialist, that they couldn’t get her in more quickly. Or perhaps the health care center sent over copies of x-rays and based on those, the hand specialist didn’t feel it was so urgent to see her more quickly.</p>

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<p>^^ That was my point.</p>

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<p>When does the season end? Will she be out for the season? If this is her senior year I am assuming this is her last season diving. Her injury was clearly mishandled by the health center and the coaches by not having her see a specialist right away. I do however, think your D needs to take the lead on this. (Perhaps prompted by you.) If it were me, I would not dive again for the team without the benefit of the TiVo. Your D may feel differently, in which case you are going to have to follow her lead.</p>

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It sounds like she put her trust in the “professional” at Health Services who told her to take some Advil and come back in the morning. While I agree it would have been better if she had listened to her parent and had gone to the ER, I don’t fault her for following the nurse’s instructions. I fault the nurse.</p>

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<p>A couple of years ago, H was in a very bad bicycle accident. It was a Friday evening, so I took him to an acute care center, thinking avoiding the ER on a Friday night was a good idea. He was only complaining of his shoulder area hurting and was supporting his left arm with his right hand. I was with him the entire time at the acute care center, and offered to bring in his helmet, so they could see where it had hit objects to determine if he had a head injury. They declined this. Their first clue should have been (now I know this; back then I didn’t) he had no memory of what happened. So their ‘examination’ (and I use this term lightly) consisted of a shoulder x-ray, which revealed a broken clavicle. They did not do any neurological exam, in fact, they never even had him take his shirt off so they could look at the area. They also did not offer to clean up his road rash. They said to call an orthopedist in the morning, and sent us home with narcotic pain meds.</p>

<p>Of course, once he started taking those pain meds, it started to mask the other pain he was also starting to feel and be able to verbalize he was feeling. By the next morning, he was in so much pain that I told him I was taking him to the ER. There he was diagnosed with trauma injury - a severely broken clavicle (which needed surgery - not very common as most clavicle breaks will heal themselves), six badly broken ribs, a pulmonary contusion and an obvious concussion (which is why he had no memory of what happened and wasn’t very clear in describing his injuries to me or the acute care center staff). He ended up being hospitalized for three nights and had surgery on Monday for the clavicle. </p>

<p>I was angry at the acute care center staff for months - I reported their treatment to their chief medical officer, and we did eventually get all the records from that visit. H was very, very lucky, especially regarding the head injury. I do blame the acute care staff for negligent treatment, but at the point where I believed he had not gotten adequate care for his injuries, I then needed to trust my instincts and get him seen by someone else. I can fault the acute care center, which is appropriate, but I (I say I because now I realize H was not in a good cognitive position to make decisions) needed to insist he go to the ER the next day. </p>

<p>I hope this young lady’s injury is not bad enough that early intervention might have changed the course of the outcome. Some people (not necessarily members here on CC) might think, “Oh, it’s just a finger,” but serious finger injuries can have detrimental side effects in ways most people take for granted (again… another long H story about a sliced finger and severed nerve, but I won’t get into it here). </p>

<p>What I’m trying to say is we can blame the student health center and they should be held accountable, but that doesn’t absolve us from listening to our instincts and getting a second opinion in a timely manner.</p>