Today we got the phone call every parent dreads. The USNA orthopedic surgeon called us today and our son broke his ankle today going down a hill and will require surgery to put in plates and pins. I am crying as I write this. I am in shock. We are over 2000 miles away. Should I make the trip to be there for his surgery? I asked if he could complete Plebe summer. He said he will not be sent home. This is my biggest fear. All he has worked so hard for. Doctor said our son is in fairly good spirits and taking it as well as can be expected. We have been through this when DS tore his ACL on the football field as a Junior. Please offer me some advice. I am coming unglued....
Just be glad something like this didn't happen
before I-Day ... or during the 1st week.
You're son is going to be fine. They'll fix him up. The worst part of his injury is not that his ankle is broken. That'll heal. The
worst part is that, I'm sure, deep down, he does
not want to dodge the full Plebe Summer experience.
He wants to be out there sweating on the parade field
with his classmates. He wants to be climbing walls and leaping obstacles
with his classmates. He wants to march with them,
in formation, not hobble along behind them with crutches.
Something like this happens all the time. You'd be surprised how well they manage to still incorporate an injured Plebe in the company's activities. He will not just be sitting in his room while they are off doing things. When his platoon goes somewhere, he will probably be going with them. He'll just have to keep up the best he can on his crutches. In some ways, it's harder.
He'll be fine and it will be something you laugh about in the future ... but not now.
It is disappointing, but he has already learned all the marching and military stuff. The second half of Plebe Summer is just a "Ground Hog Day" experience anyway.
Relax.
(that's easy for me to say, huh?)