baseballmomx4 posted:Thanks again for all of the replies. I just feel the more you know the better and maybe then it’s easier not to stress about things if you know they’re normal.
There still does seem to be a lot of inflammation just looking at his arm. Hopefully that will start to go soon. He’s 3 weeks post op now.
Mr.Bumstead; his mental state is what I am worried about. A local baseball facility hired him when they heard he was hurt and back for the summer. They’ve know him for years. He’s coaching and doing camps etc so I think that has really helped him not dwell on not playing. The little ones also pump up his ego a little bit 😉. I will watch as school starts up again. He has the added anxiety of going back to a whole new coaching staff and not knowing where he stands after this year. He’s a senior and would have to do a grad year to play next year. One thing at a time I suppose.
Mine did some coaching this spring and summer as well. It did wonders for him as well.
Another word of caution about the mental side of it, since you have already expressed concern - pitchers, more so than maybe any other athlete, are taught/trained/conditioned to conceal emotions, control body language, or cover up anything that can be construed as weakness. And while I don't know your son, if he's a pitcher at that level there's a good chance that he can and will lie to you, his coaches, and anyone else to cover up his fears and anxieties. If he does lie to you, know that it has nothing to do with his character; he's scared, he's running from it by denying it exists, and he's dealing with it just like he's been taught to deal with it on the mound.
Educate yourself about mental health issues with athletes. The NCAA has actually published several articles about it on their web site.
Be vigilant for behavior trends that veer from his typical behavior. If you know some of his roommates/teammates and their parents, ask them to keep an eye out for signs of trouble (social disengagement, apathy, not going to class, mood swings, changes in appetite or sleeping patterns, etc.) and report them to you if it's outside his normal behavior patterns. You need boots on the ground for this.
Most of all, talk to him about the potential mental health side effects of his injury. Emphasize that it's nothing to be ashamed of. Ask him to read about some of the pro athletes that have recently come out about their mental health issues (Kevin Love, Demar Derozan, Michael Phelps, etc.). We didn't anticipate this happening to our son, so we didn't prepare him for it. So when he started down the hole, his fear of what was happening only drove him deeper into the hole. He got to the point that he didn't leave his bedroom except to eat, use the bathroom, or go to practice. I can't help but think that had he understood what was happening to him, he would have been able to deal with it better.