Decision??????

[silver]

Awww.....I'm so sorry to hear that. this is something that only you can decide. We can listen as you "talk" through the options, but we can't tell you the right decision to make. What do you feel in your heart?

[light_sabe_r]

luv2ride this is a BIG decision. And a scary one too. Amazing that you've been given this choice and you're 12. ^_^

the BEST thing you can do right now is GET EDUCATED. Find out EVERYTHING about the surgery and it's outcomes. GOOGLE is a great place to start or a university Anatomy text book.

If you don't know enough or don't understand, then book another appointment with your surgeon or your GP and get him to explain everything to you. (not to your parents) If your parents say you're making this decision then you HAVE to be well informed. More so than they are.

What exactly is wrong with your elbow right now? does it bend funny or hurt when you bend it? Can you live with that if you don't go through the surgery?

Yeah. You have to way all that up. Welcome to adulthood. ^_^

[margo49]

After my Near-death-by-squashing- experience with a tractor and a concrete wall ended in a totally mangled right arm here is my $0.02:

Since I was (then) 48 and had a family I just decided to get on with everything as fast as possible and the phuck the pain and to h#ll with the cosmetics and limitations. So I have a real mess there inside (metallica and scar-gunk) and outside (scars looking like a shark bit me) plus mental traumas still. I just put the bars on the bike a little bit off centre crooked to accomodate the unstraightenable arm and it is all mostly ok. Gave up swimming at all.
But if I had not had dependent kids I reckon I would have been more thorough and put more effort into getting it really sharp. Maybe not 100% but pretty close. I mean all those top sports-people have serious surgeries all the time and come back to world-class form.

[mimitabby]

my son has some scarring on his hand and "couldn't decide" whether to fix it or not. After almost 10 years (he's an adult) he's finally gotten to the point where the scars are more flexible now. The cosmetic aspect (how good it looks) doesn't matter to him.
But if i had been in control of the situation, i would have pushed him to get the surgery. Life's tough enough without stupid scars making you stiffer.
good luck.

[Tuckervill]

You're very young now, and you will heal much easier than you would if you waited until you were an adult. You'll have a job when you're older and you will have to pay for it all yourself, too.

My husband broke out his front tooth when he was 9, and so he had a fake one, which ended up being smaller than his real adult tooth on the other side. He had the fake one until he was 38! It looked funny. His parents should have spent the money when he was a teenager to make it right. By the time we married, it became an issue of affording to fix it. He made do until it broke permanently, and then I insisted he have it fixed. He's glad he did. But all those years he had funny looking teeth, and it would have been so much easier and cheaper to have it fixed in the 70s rather than the 90s!

If you were my child, and the surgery could make it near 100%, and with a passion like that (swimming), I'd try to make it happen sooner rather than later. It's not just the money. It's your quality of life that is at stake, and feeling better about yourself, and getting to do the things you love sooner.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Karen

[Pedal Wench]

I really think your parents should be helping in this decision, but I'll add my opinion.

At this point in your life, you really can't know for sure where life will take you, and what you'll want to do. You might decide on a job that requires full use of your arm. It would be a shame to be limited later because of something you could have done earlier. I would try to make it as close to 100% as possible, now, while you have the opportunity to heal quickly.

[luv2ride94]

Thanks everone! Alot.

First I think I worded it wrong the first time, when I said I was making this decision on my own. My parents are helping me, they just want it to be something that I am Ok with. Usually I have alot of my own different opinions and don't want any help with decisions even when its offered... But I am getting better at listening to other peoples opinions!


I spent the weekend at a swimmeet and talked to my mom alot and my coaches and got some great advice (THANKS wahine) and i think this is what I want and hopefully its right.. We are going to go back to my doctor and talk to him about it too and see what he thinks.

Try a different physical therapist or maybe even a different type of therapy before going the surgery way.. Make it a last resort, we thought this was all but have been looking and there are alot of different kinds of therapy I guess.

If it needs surgery I'd rather wait till after march 12 which is the last day of our 3-state championship meet. Hopefully I can pull of some decent swims even without a completely functioning arm and win a few. AND MAYBE the therapy will work and I will have full range of motion or atleast closer

Anyways I hope this doesn't mess anything up but I really dont want to lose this whole season and I want to try everything before something huge like surgery cause those recoverys are LONG too. Anyways THANKS again! KT