So worried about DD and school, reassurance?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

So what's the medical treatment that she's been having for her knee injury/to strengthen it?


DD dislocated her knee in September. She had a brace, crutches and physio for it. It still swells up now, but all she does is put the brace back on (she was given it and told to keep it in her locker for PE and anytime it feels a bit sore, weak or puffy). She also got told in no uncertain terms that it was going to keep flaring up and stopping her physio from working if she refused to take anti-inflammatories everyday. She does exercises daily (she has to for scoliosis, anyway, so adds knee/leg ones in for good measure) and only does the PE/dance she is capable of/that hasn't been expressly forbidden by the orthopaedic surgeon for her back. She also goes swimming once a week.


If your DD isn't being seen by a physio at least, there would seem to me to be an oversight here that you should see the GP about.


And her school tried to send her home twice until they found out I didn't have a car, then they stopped suggesting it, as they were grateful she came in at all.

Mupette

I'd be really thinking not letting her go back until after christmas, especially if the doctor said she needs to rest it for 2 weeks.

Hopefully school will give her lots of work to do at home, if they don't get her to study what she has covered this term to keep her mind fresh.

Her knees need to last her a life time, and as someone has already said, school its just tinsilitis right now, too much excitement.

Mojisola

pulliptears wrote: »

We did ask her P.E teacher to show her some exercises to help strengthen the muscles she has neglected over the last 12 months, this was met with a "I don't really know any" from a disinterested P.E Teacher :eek:

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

So what's the medical treatment that she's been having for her knee injury/to strengthen it?

If your DD isn't being seen by a physio at least, there would seem to me to be an oversight here that you should see the GP about.

The P.E. teacher may not want to offer advice as it is outside his/her area of expertise. If a teacher suggested something and the child's knee got worse, there are some parents who would blame the teacher, whether the deterioration was caused by the exercises or not.

Push the GP for a physio referral.

pulliptears

To answer some questions...

When the fracture was discovered she was given crutches and not plastered. Nothing else was done aside from an MRI which showed no ligament damage. At that point she was discharged from the Fracture Clinic and told to 'return to normal'.

When she was sent home last week I immediately took her to our GP who advised the rest first, as I said 2 weeks is up a week tomorrow. To further complicate the matter DD (Like me) is Hypermobile and her kneecap is easily able to move from side to side so any walking she is doing on it is moving the knee, presumably with it being full of fluid also. GP is great actually, he just wants to give it chance to settle in its own right first I think before moving on to other things. He did say that should she still be struggling next week we would move on to draining the fluid and more than likely physio.
(As an aside, I saw the physiotherapist as we were leaving the GP's, we know her well as she treated DD for the 9 months her arm was injured. She did say that we could ask to be referred to her but it was more usual to prescribe rest first so wait and see really).

She was getting back to normal fitness before she managed this one, she'd been on 3 camps with the ATC over the summer and although she was building up slowly she was getting there. I think she's just fed up as well of missing out, she should have been going Ice Skating next week not to mention the parades she's missing with her squadron.

I'm going to try and arrange a meeting with Student Services tomorrow and see exactly what they can do to help. I am leaning towards letting her rest now until the new term if they can give me some assurances of help with school work. I've just used my log in to the school's VLC and I can see her grades etc, aside from a very poor attendance record her targets are all exact or above expected which has reassured me a little more than it won't do any harm.

Thanks all
x

Seanymph

We hit this with my eldest - she fell and said her knee hurt - I told her to stop making a fuss for about two weeks, eventually took her in and they x rayed it and found what was either a break, or early onset osgood schlatters. Bad mummy moment.......

We went and saw a private consultant who said non weight bearing would be the result whichever it was, and that he wouldn't plaster her if she agreed to sit in a wheelchair for six weeks. She agreed.

The school said they didn't want her on the premises as she was a 'health and safety risk' 'what if there was a fire'....... I was devastated - and can see echoes of that in your post.

It took me three days to come out fighting If you have a parenting partnership in your county they will help you no end.

I got in touch with them, they told me that the school HAD to teach her despite her new circumstances. The school refused to have her in again unless she was statemented - despite the fact that if there was a damned fire she could just get up and walk out with everyone else.

I got back to Parenting Partnership. Within four hours they had my daughter onto the agenda of the next emergency meeting (held every Thursday) where statementing is discussed. They had talked to the chairman of the meeting, the LEA AND The school. My daughter would be statemented immediatley on an emergency basis if the school insisted, but it wouldn't look good for them.

The school called me and agreed to accept her back in the following morning.

She spent five days in school in a wheelchair. Managed to dislocate her OTHER damned knee on a bouncy castle on one leg - truly - and then spent another couple of weeks on crutches.

The school is OBLIGATED to deal with your daughter. It is disability discrimination if they don't accept her on either crutches or in a chair. Personally I'd put her in a chair for school.

Google for your county and parenting partnership and if they are in your county they are invaluable.

I would want my daughter to be in school - not just for the academic reasons, but for the social ones too.

pulliptears

Seanymph wrote: »

We hit this with my eldest - she fell and said her knee hurt - I told her to stop making a fuss for about two weeks, eventually took her in and they x rayed it and found what was either a break, or early onset osgood schlatters. Bad mummy moment.......

We went and saw a private consultant who said non weight bearing would be the result whichever it was, and that he wouldn't plaster her if she agreed to sit in a wheelchair for six weeks. She agreed.

The school said they didn't want her on the premises as she was a 'health and safety risk' 'what if there was a fire'....... I was devastated - and can see echoes of that in your post.

It took me three days to come out fighting If you have a parenting partnership in your county they will help you no end.

I got in touch with them, they told me that the school HAD to teach her despite her new circumstances. The school refused to have her in again unless she was statemented - despite the fact that if there was a damned fire she could just get up and walk out with everyone else.

I got back to Parenting Partnership. Within four hours they had my daughter onto the agenda of the next emergency meeting (held every Thursday) where statementing is discussed. They had talked to the chairman of the meeting, the LEA AND The school. My daughter would be statemented immediatley on an emergency basis if the school insisted, but it wouldn't look good for them.

The school called me and agreed to accept her back in the following morning.

She spent five days in school in a wheelchair. Managed to dislocate her OTHER damned knee on a bouncy castle on one leg - truly - and then spent another couple of weeks on crutches.

The school is OBLIGATED to deal with your daughter. It is disability discrimination if they don't accept her on either crutches or in a chair. Personally I'd put her in a chair for school.

Google for your county and parenting partnership and if they are in your county they are invaluable.

I would want my daughter to be in school - not just for the academic reasons, but for the social ones too.

Oh that made me smile (sorry!) just the comment about her dislocating the other leg, that is SO my daughter. Hates for anything to stop her.

I've spoken to Student Services who are being quite helpful now so hopefully can get in there tomorrow and get some work for the interim. I'll have to see what the Dr says on Tuesday now and see what the next step is from there.

There is a PPS in our area, literally just down the road so I'll give them a call too. I wish I could afford to take her private but for now we are just stuck playing a waiting game.
Thank you!
x

DollyDabbler

Ask them if school use a web based programme called MyMaths. This is really useful to use to keep up to date with Maths work. School need to give you the password, so your daughter can use it at home if needs be.

We have children at our school in wheelchairs and on crutches, this is done on an individual basis, with each child having a risk assessment done on them before they come back into school, but we have a lift and are all in one building, which is useful. Normally they get let out of lessons 5 mins early at the end of each lesson and into lunch a bit earlier to avoid any mad rush on corridors.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

DD has hypermobility as well. Hence the physio referral, I would imagine. Either that or, as she was already having treatment for scoliosis there, they wanted to increase her frequent flier miles

Mupette

i have a username and pas sword for mymaths if they don't, pm me for it.

I have it as it is DS. but because i need a bit of a maths refresher on fractions for my bookkeeping he lets me use it

pulliptears

DollyDabbler wrote: »

Ask them if school use a web based programme called MyMaths. This is really useful to use to keep up to date with Maths work. School need to give you the password, so your daughter can use it at home if needs be.

We have children at our school in wheelchairs and on crutches, this is done on an individual basis, with each child having a risk assessment done on them before they come back into school, but we have a lift and are all in one building, which is useful. Normally they get let out of lessons 5 mins early at the end of each lesson and into lunch a bit earlier to avoid any mad rush on corridors.

We do have a MyMaths password, she was doing that at home when she was off before and does worksheets on site occasionally (partly why she didn't fall behind I think). I've planned a nice day tomorrow for her with some Maths and I'm currently getting the lowdown on the rest of her subjects so I can help her with some research there too.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

DD has hypermobility as well. Hence the physio referral, I would imagine. Either that or, as she was already having treatment for scoliosis there, they wanted to increase her frequent flier miles

LMAO, DD sent her physio a christmas card 2 years running now. Shouldn't laugh but I can see the funny side.
I'm glad in a way we finally have a Dr who took note of the hypermobility. I had no end of problems as a kid, and right through my teens with my knees. I was told so many times it was 'growing pains'. Some nights I'd cry in agony and tie my dressing gown cord around my thigh to numb the pain. I also have scoliosis (it's common to find them together I'm told) and as I have got older I do suffer incredibly with cracking and popping joints that can be agonising when they flare up. I'd hate for DD to have to suffer like that so in a way it is helpful that the GP is doing something about it.

Mupette wrote: »

i have a username and pas sword for mymaths if they don't, pm me for it.

I have it as it is DS. but because i need a bit of a maths refresher on fractions for my bookkeeping he lets me use it

Thank you hun, thats very kind. We should be ok to get back into the system and I managed to set up my login to the school's VLE last week (I'm apparently one of around half a dozen parents who bothered in a school of 1100.....) so hopefully online is the way forward. I really am incredibly poor with Maths so anything too taxing will have to wait until her Dad gets in lol.