I received a PM from a poster a few weeks back, that I had become friends with, however had not been in touch with for some, just checking in asking about son. I used to post quite a bit for a while, but had been away, still checking threads, but not posting much.
Son had a great ride in HS, and fortunately I listened to the veterans on here, and learned how to soak it all in - from the HS seasons, to the summer / fall recruiting circuit. For those not familiar, he had quite a bit of early attention starting his Frosh year, and was steady throughout. He (we) held out with any verbal commits, and just prior to his actual early signing (this past fall of 2016) he was throwing at a PG Qualifier, and felt some twinge in his elbow / inner forearm.
You can guess...near complete UCL tear (Oops!). You have to kind know my son....he is a "team first" kind of guy, and really bought into the HS camaraderie, and loyalty "thing". His HS team had gone at least 3 rounds into the playoffs the previous 3 years, and his senior year should have been a solid team, going deep again.
We met with Dr. Keith Meister (Rangers team physician) - and he was awesome! Told Jr. he could do stem cell with PRP - hopefully providing enough healing / relief to maybe throw a few innings his senior year, but of course the trade-off - he would have to redshirt his Frosh year of college. Jr. thought about it for 5 seconds, and said " I have 5 years to play college baseball, but only ONE senior year of HS". So without knowing whether the treatments and rehab would result in being able to throw one inning, or maybe not even one pitch, he decided to give it a shot. Not sure if it was the treatments, or just luck however he threw 60 innings his senior HS year, leading his team to the final four in the Texas State championships at the Dell Diamond. It was an incredible ending to the HS experience, and glad to say - we (mom and I) enjoyed the ride....even though it was over in a blink of an eye.
Here is a pic of Jr. after his surgery yesterday....now onward towards rehab, and hopefully just as successful of a college career. Funny thing, was sitting in pre-op waiting to be called, with a gentleman sitting in front wearing a U of Florida T-shirt...he sparked up a conversation with Jr., only to learn he had TJ surgery years ago with Dr. Frank Jobe while playing with the Dodgers, and his son was in surgery that moment with our same Dr.,...his son pitched in this years CWS with the winning Florida Gators...had to come out due to "forearm tightness" which was diagnosed as a UCL tear....
Thanks to all that gave me great advice over the years, and I will continue to read, and maybe contribute a bit more than I have these past few years.
