Do You Have A Knife?

During football season, a freshman player came into my training room.  This is not an unusual occurrence.  He was a rookie in the training room (which is always fun to watch them flounder around for a few seconds), he had a cast on his wrist.  He wasn't quite sure what he was doing, therefore neither was I.  I was watching him, wondering what he needed.  He looked around for a few seconds; I was giving him the once over, trying to figure out what was wrong with him.  Sometimes, freshman just get lost and realize the training room isn't where they needed to be and they move on. 

As I was watching him, I noticed his cast was sitting lower on his arm than it needed to be.  Odd.  But hey, that's not the weirdest thing I've seen. 

I finally ask him what he needed.  His reply was........"Do you have a knife?"

Um...hmmm...I pause.  "No???"

"Oh, OK." And he walks out. 

A few minutes later he comes back. His cast is dripping wet, I mean soaking wet.  I finally ask him, "What are you doing?!"

"I need my cast off."

"Um, why?"

"So I can play."

OK, at this point I'm starting to figure it out.  This is the first time he's been in the training room, it's about a month into practice, so I'm wondering why he needs the cast off.  Usually, if someone has a cast, they can play just as long as it's padded.  I pad casts all the time.  It's really no big deal.  So I inquire, "Why do you want your cast off? Did your Dr say it's time for your cast to come off? Does your Dr know you are trying to take your cast off?"

His reply was no to all questions. I informed him that I will not be a part of cast removal, he needs to see his physician for clearance and removal of the cast.  Now, you are probably wondering why I mentioned the wet cast.  I finally ask him why his cast was wet.  He told me he was soaking his cast in the locker room shower so he could slide it off.  He also mentioned he used some Skin Lube to help slide the cast off.  I start laughing.  Now, if any of you have ever had a cast, you know that once a cast get wet, the padding swells.  Now, swollen cast padding makes it really hard to slide a cast off.  Not to mention that a cast is formed to the arm, skinny at the wrist, wide at the fingers.  Try sliding a tight bracelet over your hand - you will notice it doesn't work. Not even with Skin Lube and water. The cast moved about an inch, not nearly enough for removal. 

He gets mad that I won't help him cut his cast off and he leaves.  The next day he comes back, sans cast.  I ask him if he went to the Dr.  With a matter of fact look he says, "No, I cut it off with a steak knife last night." 

Um...Speechless two days in a row.  I ask him how long ago he broke his wrist, he says 4 weeks.  I ask him what position he plays (hoping it's not a position he will need to block), he informs me he is a kicker for the freshman team.  I then explain he can still play with a cast, especially as a kicker. 

At this point, I'm wondering where the parents were last night while he was using a steak knife on his cast. 

Tragedies

Within the past 2 weeks, the news casts have been flooding with reports of teenagers dying at sporting events.  There have been 4 deaths within 2 weeks.  This is a lot.  It may not seem like many in the grand scheme of things (especially with the Japan disaster), but it's especially scary to me.  I work with teenage athletes on a daily basis.  The cause of death for 2 of the 4 kids has been cardiac arrest due to an  enlarged heart.  This is a little more common than you'd think. 

This is where I start to stand on my soap box, so bear with me.  Sure, we may not know if the deaths could have been prevented, but I'm certain that a proper medical exam would have found abnormalities in these kid's hearts.  As of right now, the physical examination to participate in high school athletics is pretty minimal.  For college athletics, the physical exam is more intense.  I believe the pre-participation physical exam should encompass cardiac testing as well as neuropsych testing for concussions.  This should be mandatory for all high school, college, and professional athletes. 

Also, I believe that a certified athletic trainer and/or physician should be present for all activities.  This is hard for rural schools, but one death is one too many!  Also, an automatic external defibrillator should be provided for the ATC and Dr in case of emergencies.  The AED should be located close to the athletic facility.  They should not be on one end of campus while the field is on the other. The first few minutes is critical to saving a life!

I am saddened by the deaths in the sporting community.  These deaths are hard on all involved.  A death of an athlete is my biggest fear, no one wants that on their watch.  Thank God I have a great facility and administration. 

If you would like to read the latest news article on the deaths, I have provided it here. 

Biggest Loser

About 6 or 7 years ago I was going to college to become the wonderful person I am today, I was working at a local bakery, and just trying to survive the long college hours.  I arrived home to see a cute little post card addressed to me.  I got excited! I rarely got mail unless it was bills.  I flipped it over to check out why I was receiving this post card.  On the top of the card, in HUGE BOLD LETTERS read....

YOU ARE INVITED TO TRY OUT FOR THE BIGGEST LOSER!

Um, not the most exciting news one would like to receive in the mail, especially since I had just recently moved from single digit sized pants to double digit sized pants.  That was a very very sad day for me, I was just starting to get over that trauma when I received this invitation.  BAM! Blow to the self esteem!

I became offended and irritated.  After all, I wasn't obese, just overweight from all the raspberry cream cheese tarts I got to eat while working.  I put down the offensive, rude, insulting hate mail and tried to go on with my day.  No such luck! Those nasty 10 words were haunting my thoughts.  I went back to the spiteful piece of paper, continue reading the post card.  In fine, tiny print read the following...

You could be the next trainer at the Biggest Loser Ranch!

Now don't you think they should have lead with that phrase...they were asking me to be the next Jillian Michaels, not the next obese-turning-skinny TV star.  I kept the post card for years.  It hung on the fridge next to the niece's/nephew's art work and wedding invitations.  When I bought my home, I finally threw away the post card.  I regret that action as now I could post the exact post card so you all can feel my rage then relief.

I had forgotten all about the small piece of hate mailed to me until last night.  I received a text from my mom letting me know The Biggest Loser is doing casting calls this weekend.  Thanks for the reminder Mom!